1940's Logging. Wow! Big trees, big mills

[GCroyle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_YNZn_kaQ

Gang, typical youtube surfing looking for Dutch Oven stuff and stumbled on this 1940's logging film. Hand felling monster trees and milling. Some of the biggest boards I've ever seen.

 

[WCPoe]

Great find. Thanks for sharing

 

[BIGNASTY]

Redwoods, and Sequoia National Parks are two of the must see's in a persons life.

 

[Wayne M.]

Thanks. I started it and my son came along, we were glued.

 

[TFucili]

Man that's a great find! Having grown up in the lumber business, I could smell the redwood sawdust. Those old time timberjacks were animals.

 

[seafish]

A little known and very interesting fact is that 90% of the giant redwoods were cut down BEFORE the advent of the chainsaw..which means almost all of these giants were cut down by hand like shown in the video. Another lesser known and more unfortunate fact is that LESS then 2% of these old growth, giant trees remain standing.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Man that's a great find! Having grown up in the lumber business, I could smell the redwood sawdust. Those old time timberjacks were animals.

Until they got caught up in a de-barker at a lumber mill :-laf not much left after a few SECONDS of that!! Trinity lumber Weaverville Ca was an industrial injury waiting to happen :-laf

One of the most asinine things that I have ever done was go for a ride in a log hauler truck when I got laid-over in Weaverville those are some pretty whacked out drivers.

 

[jclark5810]

I could watch those old logging movies for hours. My grandfather and his brother were both loggers and I love the old pictures and video.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Those Sequoia trees they mention are about 15 minutes from here. Inside the Sequoia Park, very little is mentioned about the loggers and what the endeared to get those bad giant logs to the mill. It's all global warming propaganda, man is evil to mother earth garbage.

Even in this movie, they mention natural climate changes and the fact that redwoods are resistant, hardy survivors.

Thanks for sharing. I'll be passing this along to many.

 

[TFucili]

One of the most asinine things that I have ever done was go for a ride in a log hauler truck when I got laid-over in Weaverville those are some pretty whacked out drivers.

We snowmobiled a lot in Maine and Quebec. The signs where trails intersected logging roads basically said, "Logging Trucks Yield To Nothing", and let me tell you they meant it!

 

[Regcabguy]

A little known and very interesting fact is that 90% of the giant redwoods were cut down BEFORE the advent of the chainsaw..which means almost all of these giants were cut down by hand like shown in the video. Another lesser known and more unfortunate fact is that LESS then 2% of these old growth, giant trees remain standing.

Yes,damn shame they had to nearly obliterate the old growth. Lots of younger trees to harvest out there.
On the other hand selective logging in wilderness would be beneficial.
They were hardworking men,that's for sure.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I think these trees will be here long after mankind is not around.

 

[seafish]

Yes,damn shame they had to nearly obliterate the old growth. Lots of younger trees to harvest out there.
On the other hand selective logging in wilderness would be beneficial.
They were hardworking men,that's for sure.

Agree with all of that...the mills are buying anything that is bigger than 6" (yes six inches!!) on the small end.

 

[ringneck]

remenber setting chokers when i was 12.my uncle had a tie mill,glad i wasnt big enough for the green chain.step dad drove a mack themodite,he would blow down those cow trails.with logs bigger then the truck,they were super men.no tv bed time was soon as it got dark,time to wake up when it was still dark.my hat is off to all those that built this county.

 

[GCroyle]

I've never worked anywhere near the logging industry but seeing some of the processes, felling, the falling sighting tool, bucking the log where it fell, the Cat dragging one log at a time, the slab mill huge?, the guy that cut out the bad sections with the multi saw and then that guy that was on top of the pile with the log elevator stacking the drying stack. The cable train. Pretty awesome stuff.

BTW that poster has a whole bunch of other historical videos, found one last night a Military training film about keeping your weapon clean, it was an M1 to boot.

 

[GTSimms]

Here in Felton,CA. There are some very nice campgrounds on the San Lorenzo River, in the summer they put down a foot bridge so you can cross over to Henry Cowell State park it's right below the train tressal. You can walk around the Redwood trails then go over to Roaring Camp railroad where they do good reinactments of the life in these mountains, then you can ride the Skunk train or take the larger train down to the Boardwalk and come back up later in the day. One of my old friends is a retired teacher and is one of the conductors and tells great history stories as you ride. If I didn't grow up here it would be a great RV trip.

 

[Jim W]

remenber setting chokers when i was 12.my uncle had a tie mill,glad i wasnt big enough for the green chain.step dad drove a mack themodite,he would blow down those cow trails.with logs bigger then the truck,they were super men.no tv bed time was soon as it got dark,time to wake up when it was still dark.my hat is off to all those that built this county.

What type of machine where you using a skidder wheel or track or was it a high lead operation? You where taking your life in your own hands when setting chokers!

I use to design Cat skidders for awhile until moving on to the big boy toys at Cat.

Jim W.

 

[JR]

Those trees are truly majestic. I am no green weiney by any means but do have a big soft spot for mother nature, it is a shame they were ever allowed to take those beautiful trees to begin with in the numbers they did.

That guy that was topping toward the beginning is the manliest of mans! Chopping a tree that appears to be 3+ feet in diameter, probably well over 100 Feet in the air with an ax. Takes some real kahunas!

 

[BIGNASTY]

We snowmobiled a lot in Maine and Quebec. The signs where trails intersected logging roads basically said, "Logging Trucks Yield To Nothing", and let me tell you they meant it!

I don't know that much about log hauling in ME but have seen some of the trucks that haul logs up there. The log haulers in Ca OR Wa are no where near the weight and size of those trucks, but some of the roads that the trucks in CA, OR, WA drive on up in the mountains are not to be believed, after just one ride I stuck to sitting in the lumber mill parking lot and have a lift drop the cut wood on my truck, that was as far as I willing to go.

Just getting to some of the lumber mills ON ROAD was an adventure in its self. A 270" wheelbase tractor pulling a 45ft flat, some turns were blind taking both lanes and both shoulders IF THERE WERE SHOULDERS!!

 

[jhenderson]

What type of machine where you using a skidder wheel or track or was it a high lead operation? You where taking your life in your own hands when setting chokers!

I use to design Cat skidders for awhile until moving on to the big boy toys at Cat.

Jim W.

Are you the SOB that came up with the 518? If so, thanks. That thing would pull a house off the foundation. When I bought mine it had been abused and neglected.It was from the mid 70s and Had 10,000+ hrs on it.It never let me down, although I did curse the winch from time to time.