Yarding Pictures

[Humptulips]

You have some good points there. I don't understand the one leg of haywire thing, how does that work? I don't pull haywire from the landing to often. Lucky for me the company I work for only does clear cut logging, so most of the time I can get away with making the hook up right by the tail and flying the haywire with the rigging. That way I only have to pull two real short legs of haywire. One major advantage I would like about the standing skyline set up, would be not needing to clean under the tail block during fire season.

What I mean by one leg of strawline. I usually left my transfer out so maybe only set its back line up every few days. You know well every situation different so that's pretty general.

I know in clearcuts you're flying the lines over but usually more to string then if you only had the waste line and the road line to string. It's really bad on those running skyline rigs when thinning. You have to string both sides of the layout all the way to the landing, ouch!

Another way I used to handle the backline when thinning was to string it on the road ahead. When the road was changed you can leave it lay and it works for your road line on the next change. You're always stringing wire two roads ahead. Last road you get to flop over so you get a break. You usually end up spending it nothching stumps for the next setting. A hooks work is never done!
Around where I have worked never used the term running skyline. Always called them tension skidders or just a grapple yarder. It's really just a grabinski.

What kind of machine you work on? I worked on a Skagit PSY200 about 25 years ago and a Thunderbird (forget the number) more recently.

I got a bad scare while working on that Thunderbird. I was standing beside the mainline drum watching it because the engineer was worried about wear on the end of the line when boom. We broke both gantry straps. Down she come. Nothing touched me but it put the fear of god in me. We had new straps with Ds and the line shop neglected to clean the acid off the line before pouring the babbit. Corroded them just inside the D where you couldn't see. 4 months old when they broke.

 

[slowp]

That happened with an ancient yarder here. I was on the landing along with other people. BAM, the tube(not really one but more crane like) falls down and the skyline hits the ground. The guy running it just had his son out that day, and said his son was either dead or had messed his pants. He hollered and his son was ok.
He welded on some more reinforcement. I'll get some pictures if he ever gets the thing going this year. It is an old Skagit and runs on gas.

 

[PB]

No, but there is a relationship between the purging of foresters from an agency and the replacement by 'ologists on a timber sale planning team.

Should I be insulted?

 

[Bushler]

Was that an SJ-4 Skagit? What an abortion, I actually ran one for couple months. The guy line drum dogs are on the bottom of the drum, and the springs that hold them in place don't last long. Once you get the machine in a good pull the dogs fall out and the machine tips over on its beak.

 

[Gologit]

Should I be insulted?

Not unless you want to be. Go weed your potatoes and check back later.

 

[slowp]

The ancient Skagit is yellow, has a separate area for driving it up or down the road, and a yarder cab. All I can tell you is that it is yellow, probably 1950's vintage, maybe 60's, and runs on gasoline, not diesel. I don't even recall how many drums. It does have a neat Jetson style chair in the cab. Looked last time like the windows were vandalized. Maybe I'll get up there tomorrow with my camera.

The story is that it started out as the current owner's father's machine. It then made the rounds of the local loggers and ended up in a field, covered in blackberries. MMMMM, those are going to be ripe soon...oops. The current owner salvaged it and got it running and used it a little. He plans to use it again this year. What I've seen is that it is broke down about the same amount of time as it runs. He uses a Christy carriage with it.

 

[redlaker]

so what exactly is haywire? I use the term about 10 times a day to describe any practice at work that I consider crazy or irresponsible, or really unsafe.

example. holy **** man, that rigging is ****ing HAYWIRE!!!

or

I don't know if I want to work with that guy he is HAYWIRE as all ****


OK thats a little haywire, hopefully we don't get killed


I dont work in the logging industry so I guess it has a different meaning there..

 

[Humptulips]

so what exactly is haywire? I use the term about 10 times a day to describe any practice at work that I consider crazy or irresponsible, or really unsafe.

example. holy **** man, that rigging is ****ing HAYWIRE!!!

or

I don't know if I want to work with that guy he is HAYWIRE as all ****


OK thats a little haywire, hopefully we don't get killed


I dont work in the logging industry so I guess it has a different meaning there..

Haywire means the same thing here used as an adjective. When used as a noun it indicates small cable 1/4" to 1/2" used to pull the bigger lines around. You can string the smaller stuff by hand and use it to pull the skyline out or the haulback around. It's also called strawline.

 

[Humptulips]

The ancient Skagit is yellow, has a separate area for driving it up or down the road, and a yarder cab. All I can tell you is that it is yellow, probably 1950's vintage, maybe 60's, and runs on gasoline, not diesel. I don't even recall how many drums. It does have a neat Jetson style chair in the cab. Looked last time like the windows were vandalized. Maybe I'll get up there tomorrow with my camera.

The story is that it started out as the current owner's father's machine. It then made the rounds of the local loggers and ended up in a field, covered in blackberries. MMMMM, those are going to be ripe soon...oops. The current owner salvaged it and got it running and used it a little. He plans to use it again this year. What I've seen is that it is broke down about the same amount of time as it runs. He uses a Christy carriage with it.

More then likely a tracloader. Could be an SJ4. I don't think they made any of the tension skidders in the 50s. Yellow indicates a vintage too old for a tension skidder. I think they were all blue and white. Obsolete about 30 years ago.

 

[Bushler]

Haywire, strawline, guinea line. 7/16, 3/8, 5/16 Seems like what I remember.

Bet that old yarder is an S-J 4, worlds worse except for the worst of all, Coos King. Look behind the seat and see if my old caulks and rain coat is still there.

We're talking old. I set tongs and loaded logs with S-J4 and S-J5 both. The 5 was an upgraded machine and had a nice diesel engine. Both had mechanical frictions and were great for killing birds and squirrels with the butt rigging.

 

[Bushler]

Two drums and a niggerhead if I remember correctly. The 5 might have had a third drum...the 4 I ran was old and worn out, I think I worked on it in 1970 for Christopherson of Cedro Wolley. They had a contract with BPA to clear right of way from Bandon to Gold Beach, OR.

As you drive down highway 101 between Bandon and Gold Beach you can see some of the tower sights I did. The steep ones we couldn't use the cats and skidders on we did with the SJ-4

I hated it. I finally just quit and wouldn't run it anymore, and they put me on the cutting crew. I liked that.

 

[PB]

Not unless you want to be. Go weed your potatoes and check back later.

It's raking blueberries this time of year.

 

[Zodiac45]

It's raking blueberries this time of year.

Sure is and they're looking great this year!

 

[PB]

Sure is and they're looking great this year!

I am hauling blueberries starting Thurs. morning for a produce company. I am not getting paid from school until Sept. so this is a good fill in. I should get all the blueberries I want, if I don't pick them in the woods first. Up to my neck in berries. They are paying me way too much money to drive a truck.

Sorry, back to yarding.

 

[slowp]

I did not get close to that old yarder today. One of those days
Markers not marking, which holds me up, which holds up cutting, which rolls on..found a spring in a unit, more road construction than planned, and a lot of this is "I told you so." which I did during the planning stage. 2.3 years to go....nobody to whine to but the dog. OK, now I'm fine.

 

[Humptulips]

Haywire, strawline, guinea line. 7/16, 3/8, 5/16 Seems like what I remember.

Bet that old yarder is an S-J 4, worlds worse except for the worst of all, Coos King. Look behind the seat and see if my old caulks and rain coat is still there.

We're talking old. I set tongs and loaded logs with S-J4 and S-J5 both. The 5 was an upgraded machine and had a nice diesel engine. Both had mechanical frictions and were great for killing birds and squirrels with the butt rigging.

Maybe not the worst. Ever see an SJ-3.

 

[Bushler]

Can't remember ever seeing an SJ-3. The 5 I worked on was fitted with drums from an SJ-7 I think. It was good enough for what we were using it for. The engineer was too old though, and couldn't hold the haul back brake tight, when his leg would get tired he just lift his foot...and the haulback drum would free spool and snarl line down around the heffer shaft.

The third time he did it I not only kicked my hat, but stomped it flat, threatend to kick everyones ass and left mad on a truck.

 

[Humptulips]

Can't remember ever seeing an SJ-3. The 5 I worked on was fitted with drums from an SJ-7 I think. It was good enough for what we were using it for. The engineer was too old though, and couldn't hold the haul back brake tight, when his leg would get tired he just lift his foot...and the haulback drum would free spool and snarl line down around the heffer shaft.

The third time he did it I not only kicked my hat, but stomped it flat, threatend to kick everyones ass and left mad on a truck.

SJ-3s only had about a 220 degree swing. No air either as I recall. probably like a 4 but limited swing.

 

[slowp]

And I still didn't make it up there! It is like I really need to now. It is like a game...
GUESS THE MYSTERY YARDER

 

[slowp]

Skagit SJ-4F

Bushler guessed the yarder! Congratulations.

Tomorrow, I hope to get a restored 1940 yarder on here. Stay tuned.