Tyee Machinery Works / Skookum-Tyee

[trakloader]

Trakloader - you have got to get a complete shot of that yarder and post it - just for me. That old build plate looks like it's steel whereas mine was bronze - a little bit of aircraft paint stripper and a spray bomb made it new again - that old steel one might be a bugger to clean up. The reason I became an aircraft mechanic instead of a heavy duty was because my weapon of choice is a 1/4" drive socket set versus the 1/2" drive that they use. It also means I still have all of my fingers. Restoring an old beast like that would probably cost me a few digits. Then I couldn't type like I do and help make our book......

Sorry,but you'll have to be happy with what I posted here and in the Hayes thread. There is so much junk there that getting a complete picture is impossible. That plate is very thick iron, and is WELDED on! Similar to an old "EMPIRE" one that I know of. Serial number is 103.

 

[jackd]

Sorry,but you'll have to be happy with what I posted here and in the Hayes thread. There is so much junk there that getting a complete picture is impossible. That plate is very thick iron, and is WELDED on! Similar to an old "EMPIRE" one that I know of. Serial number is 103.

The side profile of that cab and the radiator grill makes me think that this might be an old Sparmatic - do you think? The red paint makes me think that this might be another old M & B machine. I might have to head up to your neck of the wood to have a looksie at all the neat things that are laying about. We fly there everyday.

 

[trakloader]

The side profile of that cab and the radiator grill makes me think that this might be an old Sparmatic - do you think? The red paint makes me think that this might be another old M & B machine. I might have to head up to your neck of the wood to have a looksie at all the neat things that are laying about. We fly there everyday.

It's the same yarder as the one on the Sparmatics you worked on, a K65. QCD had two or three of them, but they were on Madill spars. This was old M&B QCD J-91. For a better description, check the Hayes thread. I posted pics and a a brief history of the unit. Our two Sparmatic were gone lonnngg before my time, J-92 and J-93. In fact, I believe they only used them for a few years. Dad said that they seemed to be parked in the boneyard soon after their arrival. One of them had a converted steam donkey for a yarder, but I can't remember what the other one was. I can check my records.

Pacific Coastal?

 

[jackd]

Sparmatics were not a loved machine in my Division either and therefore I gravitated toward them. They got all the Goat shows and the foremen left you alone. I liked the extra lift from the 120 foot spar and the regenerator brake which made it easy to get slack on your rigging. Or so I was told. They must have operated for at least 25 years at Sproat Lake. Have a look through your records for any details that you may have. These animals are of real interest to me. The numbering range of the QCD machines (J-92 & J-93) make me think that M & B must have bought a bunch of them and sprinkled them around - ours were the J-87 & J -88. I'll check out your postings on the Hayes thread as well.

Not Pacific Coastal - I still value my life..... Just kidding on that one. No the other guys and don't think that I mean AC.

Picture of the J-88 and the L-231 back in '78. That's the back of Tom Armich - Hooker.

 

[jackd]

Trakloader - I couldn't find anything about the J-91 in the Hayes thread or even in the Mac & Blo area. Any other suggestions as to where to look?

 

[trakloader]

Okay, our Sparmatics each had a different winch. One had a big Skagit, don't know what model, but it originally had twin Cummins power. The other had a big Washington, originally powered by steam, later converted to diesel, then to a V12 Cummins. They ran three 1 1/8" chokers, and I'm told that the machine could snap them like shoelaces. Dad has no idea where they went, long gone before he started.

From what I've heard, the big problem with them was the weight, which was distributed over only four tires. They frequently broke through the roads, and even went through a bridge once. I don't think that the one you worked on came with the K65 winch originally. They also didn't have driver's cabs originally, you had to stand on an open platform to drive one. M&B was always big on re-building equipment, so the K65 yarder and driver's cab probably got added in the 70's. All speculation on my part, of course.

M&B QCD had quite a few Tyee yarders. J-23 was built right in the Juskatla shop, they mounted a new K-166 yarder on a Hayes HDX, and used the spar from an older tank mounted Madill. J-55,56 and 57 were converted to yard with a grapple, then later converted back to conventional highlead. J-57 sat outside of camp for years when I was a kid, in fact, I believe the cab is still there. Not sure where the others went, I don't remember seeing them around when I was a kid. J-55 had a really high cab, for grapple yarding. They also had J-166 and 167, twin K-166's. And I believe it was J-26, a tank mount Madill 009, and two 009's on four axle rubber. Dad says that they were totally useless, couldn't get up the hills, so they only had them for a few years. The last spar to arrive here was J-129, a big Madill on a P-16 Pacific carrier. Probably 1991 or so.

 

[trakloader]

Hayes thread, post #338.......

 

[jackd]

Holy Smoke, I read that thread yesterday and didn't see it today. Where's my brain?

I agree with you on the weight issue. I drove the J-88 on the last day of work - gassed on red wine as it were - and I was cautioned not to make too severe lever inputs into the steering hydraulic toggle or she would drive right off the tires. Way too much weight for 4 tires. I never heard of them going off the road or going through but I am sure it happened. They had a real snarl. The driving cab was a stand-up affair and it was built of plywood on the sides from what I recall. Home made.

When I visited that Tyee guy many years ago, he pulled out the files on those two Sproat Division Sparmatics and quoted off the specs which leads me to believe that Tyee supplied the winches from the very beginning. He wouldn't have had the specs if M & B had converted them, is my guess. I'm not sure if the geographic isolation of QCD caused them to be innovative in their machinery manufacturing. Sproat Lake was just down the road from Madill in Nanaimo and I did hear that they actually converted what became the J-73 at their factory from what someone here identified as being either the Hayes H-10 or 11. When we bought several 009's from Madill in the early '70s, they actually drove them across the Island (minus their pipes) in the early hours during weekends - that would be a fun convoy to meet.

 

[trakloader]

jackd, what is the serial number on that plate you have?

 

[jackd]

S/n 406

I've got a feeling that you might have a list of all the machines that we're talking about. Am I correct? Here's the number from what I think was the J-87 or maybe the J-88. They were parked side by side and I ripped it off of one of them. Too many years ago to be sure. Tell me what you know.

 

[trakloader]

I've got a feeling that you might have a list of all the machines that we're talking about. Am I correct? Here's the number from what I think was the J-87 or maybe the J-88. They were parked side by side and I ripped it off of one of them. Too many years ago to be sure. Tell me what you know.

Just wondering, I don't have a list, but J-91 was #403. I believe the yarder on J-91 was originally on J-56, which was a 1966. So it would be logical to assume #406 was made in the same year. I would almost bet that J-87 and J-88 were pretty close to the last Sparmatics built, someone told me that they quit building them around 1965.

 

[jackd]

January 7, 1966

That's the date on the plate. I would really like to know more about these marvels of west coast engineering. I do have a lead on some info, but it might be a very tenuous one. If maybe Contract Logger or someone else can chime in with some info, please feel free.

 

[trakloader]

I do have spec sheets for some of the Tyee yarders, but I'm afraid that for everything else, that old fellow with the big cabinet would be our best hope. It really is a shame, so much of our logging history has been the victim of what I call "steam snobbery". If it wasn't steam powered, the people that were able to preserve these things didn't want them. Look at the 10-10 Lawrence, probably the most common gas donkey, yet I know of none that have been preserved. Tyee yarders, built in BC, and arguably one of the finest yarders of their time, yet none of those seem to have been preserved, either.

I know of several sources of old manuals, etc. that all went into the stove, because "nobody would have wanted them..." Thank God for guys like HDX, saving some of the old trucks. I'm glad, too, that the museum in Duncan saved that Skagit 555, and the Northwest loader. Still, if not for this forum, most of the important info would be lost.

We can really be proud of what this forum has accomplished. Thanks to guys like Murk, DBDLS, HDX, Truckmodeler, and Contract Logger, among others, we know how many Madill 044's, 144's, etc. were built. We know how many Cypress 7280's were built, and for whom. We know the story of the Butler Brothers logging trucks, and the story of the Madill logging truck. NONE of this info was readily available at this time last year! Probably more people know more about Hayes, thanks to Hayesno1 and HDX, than ever before. I check this forum first thing every morning, and always learn something new.

 

[jackd]

I'm going huntin' for that big cabinet early next week. It might be just down the road from where I live. It can't hurt to ask what happened to it.

 

[jackd]

Could Be A Lesson Here

I just got back from my hunting trip to the bowels of a machine shop in Burnaby. This was the last known address of a caretaker of Tyee, Gearmatic and other assorted Logging Equipment - the last known address of Skookum Tyee Enterprises Ltd.

The place was somewhat familiar to me and I remember why. I showed the old business card with Doug Ruxton's name on it to the new owner - a large man of about 45 years of age. He said that he had never met Doug and had bought the business in 2004. Doug Ruxton had passed away from a heart attack. With the business came the records of which I spoke. The man stated that he had kept these records but there was never a call for any parts or repairs in the ensuing 5 or 6 years. So as his shop was now in the expansion mode, room was needed and the files were pitched out. This happened 7 months ago..... He said that they contained operating manuals, blueprints and everything else that you could imagine. He didn't know that there would be historical value to it. He gave me a nice little tour of his shop to lessen the blow.

The reason I remembered the shop was that I visited it a few years ago to have some machining done. It never twigged to me at that time, that this was where I had visited all those many years ago and spoke to the Man who was the Caretaker of these documents. I'm not as disappointed as I was an hour ago but I realize that opportunities to preserve this information should be jumped on early.

 

[trakloader]

Ohhh..... I feel sick..... 7 months ago.....

 

[trakloader]

That is such a loss, for as you may already be aware, the Sparmatic was designed by Frank Lawrence. He was one of the greatest inventors in BC, invented the Gearmatic, the 10-10 Lawrence gas yarder, etc. As far as I know, all the records of Lawrence Manufacturing and Hayes Lawrence went with the Tyee collection. Such a waste.

 

[jackd]

I Agree

Yup it is quite the waste. I was reading about Frank Lawrence last night and I was aware of his legacy. I have no idea what might be in the Provincial Archives, the Forestry Museum Archives or even the Vancouver Public Library cellars in the way of historical data. Anybody have any knowledge here? Now's the time folks to speak up and try to get something happening to get all this information to safety somewhere. No point sitting on it if someone is going to pitch it out.

 

[trakloader]

Glooooomm..... All that info, lost forever.... You know, until I started this thread, there was NOTHING about Tyee on the net. And so it goes with many other BC companies. Wesminster Iron Works, later Westminster- Cargate, then finally Lamb-Cargate. Are they still around?? You're close enough to find out, jackd!

And Murdie in Victoria, Empire Iron Works in I believe Vancouver, Wright's Canadian Wire Rope, just a few of the well know suppliers of logging equipment. Most of these names are totally unknown by 98% of the population in this province today. We are in serious danger of losing our industrial history. I think we should also compile a list of all known logging companies in the province. For that, old copies of the IWA coast master agreement would be handy. Older issues of "Hiballer Forest" are indispensable, too.

 

[jackd]

According to the list of references in Ken Drushka's book 'Working in the Woods', the best source for technical information was "The Timberman" - some sort of publication that ran from 1889 - 1962. I'm curious if the Vancouver Library or Museum would have any idea on these.