Skagit Iron and Steel Works, Sedro Wooley, Washington

[Contract Logger]

Larry Hofenbredl, BU-737 SP, round 2.

Here we can clearly see the sliding (side-to-side) cab option, and the attached gooseneck (left pinned-on, because it was a small job, close to the highway).

 

[Contract Logger]

Moving the BU-737 (off-highway and under its own power) to another job.

The gooseneck isn't on the yarder, and the crew is discussing an upcoming steep few miles of road- that will require some assistance.

It is very important that both yarder and dozer operator are on the same page.

 

[Contract Logger]

The big Terex/Skagit push.....

Notice for this the operator moved the cab to the uphill side for safety reasons.

Maybe too many similar pics, but I like this stuff!

 

[Contract Logger]

All right, last round, then on to something else.

Anyway, it was a steep push in places, and went like this for several miles.

 

[Contract Logger]

Shaan Seet BU-739

Skagit BU-739 yarder on Skagit T-100 HD Self-Propelled carrier.

In 1993, Shaan Seet Native Corporation (Craig, Alaska) sent this BU-739 to McPaul Machine (Chehalis, Wa) for a complete re-build. The completed machine was gorgeous, and before it went North again I got a few pics of it.

Sadly, after spending several hundred thousand dollars, the machine was pulled over in Alaska soon after, and was wrecked for parts. A friend of mine in Juneau put the 2 front stabilizer cylinders under his lowbed trailer gooseneck, and the radiator is on another yarder I know of. Many of the pieces still rust in Craig. I saw them last week, 17 years later......

 

[Oregon logger]

beautiful pics, My family had a number of Skagits when we were logging a couple gt3's on rubber, and a big 110' tube with a 12v92 detroit.

 

[JeremyM70]

Skagit swing yarder running grapples!

This is an interesting yarder, I was heading up to go fishing and spotted this swing yarder with a grapple set up in the middle of a pasture between Battle Ground and Yacolt, WA last week. So I made a trip back with the camera to get a closer look and see whose it was. Thought it was a T-Bird by the color scheme, but it was a Skagit. It was on private property so I only took pictures from afar, and couldn't get any serial # plate tags

 

[JeremyM70]

More pictures of the Skagit swing yarder

Didn't think it was very steep here, but I guess the pasture drops down to a creek/swamp and then back up the hill to the patch of alder on the other side.

 

[JeremyM70]

I rounded up some pics I took of this machine in the 1990's when Mike Pihl (yes, Axe Men) owned it. He ran this BU-737 (on a T-90 Trailer) for several years for Longview Fibre around Vernonia, Ore.

First 2 pics taken near Scapoose on Lv Fibre ground.
Last 3 pics were taken at Mike's yard outside Vernonia.

Too funny, it went from one Axemen to another
Sounds like at least Pihl and Browning are on board for another year of Axemen according to their Facebook pages.

 

[Contract Logger]

Skagit GT-3 on tracks painted Thunderbird colors:

In the mid 1980's, watching the success of Ritchie Brothers and others, Ross Murray (CEO of Danebo, Ross Equipment, Ductr Manufacturing, and Thunderbird) formed Pac-West Auctioneers, and did very well for a 10-year run. They hosted auctions for some of the Northwests biggest players- Ben A. Thomas, Jensen and Grove, to name a couple. Anyway, having ample supply of Thunderbird paint, lots and lots of yarders went through thier auctions and were painter these colors- no matter what brand. Spread around the globe now are lots of Skagits, Washingtons, Madills, and Bergers are painted tan and orange. There's a Washington 137W in the Washington thread painted tan for a Pac-West auction that's in NZ now- and boy it looked great with the fresh paint. The Madill 009's looked great painted this way also. (Jay Browning liked it so much he has painted 2 Skagits tan in recent years- one a restored BU series on a big wooden sled, sits at his house).

Anyway, the GT-3 was purchased by Gould Sunrise (Castle Rock) at auction in 1993, and they logged right above I-5 at Headquarters road with it for a summer in 1994, very visible from the highway. I hadn't seen it since then, and he sold it shortly thereafter.

GREAT find Jeremy! Cool thing about old logging gear, it pops up when you least expect it. The days I go searching I come up blank, then I forget about it and boom, there it is!

 

[Oregon logger]

Nice danebo carriage on the grapple yarder.


Axemen, is so edited and BS it makes all of us in the logging industry look bad. I know a number of people on that show and even they say its a bunch of crap, but cant turn down the money. in these hard times

 

[Contract Logger]

Axe-Men is here in Alaska now and has been for several months-- filming the Papac crew at Craig. They have some GREAT old-growth logging footage from up here, and I had a few beers in Craig last week with the filming crew. They seemed alright, and boy, are they having a blast in Alaska! Bears, Halibut fishing, 10' spruce, they have it all.
The editors will have thier way with it, so hard to tell how it will come out, but the filming crew has done a great job, and not been in the way too much I was told.

I am anxious, but apprehensive, on how it will turn out.

 

[JeremyM70]

I knew you would know it's history CL The rest of the equipment was Levanen Logging out of Battle Ground, so I assume the yarder is theirs as well? They were featured in Loggers World last year and they mentioned having an Edco yarder, not this one but maybe they upgraded or added? I would love to get some video of them grapple yarding!

BTW which Gould has the shop just south of the school in Castle Rock? I have seen a 172 there once and I believe there is a Skagit back there as well? Gould-Sunrise or Gould & Sons?

 

[Contract Logger]

Skadill Yarder.

Skadill Yarder. (Madill 009 hoist on Skagit T-90 trailer).

Due to the reliability and simplicity of the Madill 009 and 046 hoists, loggers loved them! But the one-piece tower, and heavy, difficult-to-move Madill carriers were just too clumsy and time-consuming to deal with over the highway. Of all the towers, the Skagit telescoper was the fastest to rig-up and easiest to move over the road. Many loggers bought Skagit tower/trailers, and moved thier Madill hoists over to them for this reason.

Here is a Skadill 009, as they were called, that was painted TB colors at a Pac-West auction in Eugene in 1991. Trailer/tower is a Skagit T-90, so it's good for this thread and fits with Jeremy's theme of TB paint scheme Skagits too!

I took these pics at Oakville Wash, at Boyd Zepp's place in 1998. Don Zepp owned the machine at the time.

 

[Oregon logger]

Thats what I understand the film crew is nice to work with but the editing sucks. hence why a few outfits that used to be on there no longer are, told them where they can stick it. ha ha.

I bet those guys are having a great time up there!

 

[JeremyM70]

Nice danebo carriage on the grapple yarder.


Axemen, is so edited and BS it makes all of us in the logging industry look bad. I know a number of people on that show and even they say its a bunch of crap, but cant turn down the money. in these hard times

I agree! I just DVR it, skip thru commercials and aqua logger stuff, and then mute alot of the dialog. Just watching for the equipment.

 

[Contract Logger]

I knew you would know it's history CL The rest of the equipment was Levanen Logging out of Battle Ground, so I assume the yarder is theirs as well? They were featured in Loggers World last year and they mentioned having an Edco yarder, not this one but maybe they upgraded or added? I would love to get some video of them grapple yarding!

BTW which Gould has the shop just south of the school in Castle Rock? I have seen a 172 there once and I believe there is a Skagit back there as well? Gould-Sunrise or Gould & Sons?

Downtown shop there is Bill Gould's (Gould and Sons Logging). His brother Allen Jr, or 'Whoop' as they call him, owns Gould Sunrise, now runy his son Ed. Both were big loggers through the 80's, but have slowed now to just a few sides. Hobby or retirement logging, they call it. Just cause its fun!

At one time Gould and Sons (Allen, Sr, with both Bill and Allen Jr involved) was one of the bigger contractors in the area, running a dozen Skagit sides or more. That was the late 1970's, before the mountain blew.

Dad retired, and the boys each ran a few sides, then split them up with different companies to involve thier own kids in the businesses. Works good.

 

[JeremyM70]

Downtown shop there is Bill Gould's (Gould and Sons Logging). His brother Allen Jr, or 'Whoop' as they call him, owns Gould Sunrise, now runy his son Ed. Both were big loggers through the 80's, but have slowed now to just a few sides. Hobby or retirement logging, they call it. Just cause its fun!

At one time Gould and Sons (Allen, Sr, with both Bill and Allen Jr involved) was one of the bigger contractors in the area, running a dozen Skagit sides or more. That was the late 1970's, before the mountain blew.

Dad retired, and the boys each ran a few sides, then split them up with different companies to involve thier own kids in the businesses. Works good.

Thanks for the history. When I came down Signal Peak last week on the way back from looking at Castle Lake I saw the Gould and Sons lowboy hauling a Linkbelt shovel up the hill. Lots of logging going on in the state land now.

 

[TorkelH]

Skagit GT3

Thanks for taking the time to scan all the fantastic pic's of the 737's and 739 CL, and thanks also for all information!
Here's a quite rebuilded GT3 for sale now at ForesTech Equipment Ltd in Vancouver BC complete with wc brakes and Cummins engine!

The BU98 (i guess it is) with original MacMillan-Bloedell paint scheme in my pictures also have the shifting cabin. I think this machine now is in work somewhere between Cowichan lake and Port Renfrew on VI.

I was so lucky to meet Larry Ramsey in May, he probably knows what is worth to know about tower yarders, and he told me the big Skagits (98 and 199) with it's very wide drumset and hence had long shafts on the gears which tended to snap off pretty often. He meant the 737 and 739 was of a much better construction. If I didn't understand him wrong the TY90 is more or less an improved copy of the 739. Just feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[TorkelH]

Nice GT3

And wasn't the GT3 here a nice little machine, maybe even suitable for Norwegian logging?