The river is rising from the snow melt in the Andes . This is the time of year that the people who have worked for the last year harvesting logs bring out the harvest. The methods are a bit crude but it gets done.
The majority will spend Christmas on their barge of logs coming in with the river current. When they get to town they will try to sell the logs . What is shown in the photo with the kids winching the log out is a Lupuna log that is cold peeled for plywood.
The barge shown is Big Leaf Mahogany and Spanish Cedar. These photos were taken on the Javari River which is the border between Brazil and Peru. The barges take from 2 to 3 weeks to get to the three frontiers area where Brazil, Peru and Colombia meet after the water rises. They simply float down to Benjamin Constant in Brazil or Islandia in Peru for sawing and then shipped out.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/Copia_de_winch__logging.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/Copia_de_Javari_barge_64.JPG)
They consider that a Merry Christmas.
That is cool, thanks for sharing. Looks like a sketch out of an Eric Sloan book for pulling stumps.
Ironwood
Is there much border contention about which side of the river the barge floats?
Is this work being done by grown men of the family, or all family members taking part? Or, is it not even a family operation, but business with employees?
Interesting pics Jim, are the barges ever pirated? or do they usually make it alright.
How far from where the cutting takes place to the river ???
I have never heard of a barge being pirated. There are a lot of 16 gauge shotguns coming down with the crews if ever needed but I have never heard of a problem.
Most logging crews are an extended family, Granny and Ma cook , the old man hunts for food , fishes etc. and the young strong ones do the work. You will find aunts uncles etc.. Life is much better when poor in the jungle than in a slum.
I have seen trees winched as far as a mile and a half if there are enough there to make clearing a trail that far worth while. These groups get about 30 cents US per bf delivered to the mill. They have costs for the chainsaw , gas, chains etc. and buy salt and sugar, they live off the land and have minimum costs.
There are no problems with the police on either side bothering the people. There is a lot of respect for these people and the police dont make problems. The only place that it is possible to have problems is on the Putamayo river which is the border between Colombia and Peru. There the terrorists (FARC) extort money from anyone using the river.
Very interesting.How long does it take them to winch a log out of the woods 1½ miles? I suppose the winch is made out of materials found in the woods? How long does it take to move the winch? Looks like there is another log in the back ready to be winched out of the woods. Can't see how the pole is attached to the log. Looks like a lot of work. But many hands make light work.
It could take a couple of days to get the deepest logs out and they build a series of winches. The same cable that is used on the winch is used to lash the logs into a barge to float them in when the big rivers come up. The cable is attached to the logs with 4 inch staples made from rebar as shown in the photo
All but the cable are on site materials. The pole that drives the winch is put thru the center of the vertical pole. It looks like a delicate mess but it works. The pole is normally a blackwood tree that is extremly strong and will bend but not break.
In terrain where there are small creeks the logs are rolled into the creeks and a man stays with them 24 hours a day and moves them down a little farther with every rain. When it is not raining he maintains the creek to keep it free of fallen trees or whatever obstacle.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/Barge_DSC04946.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/Barge_cancamos_DSC04939.JPG)
Jim, Thanks again for sharing, my 7 year old is following the story and pics. Some of the "winchmen" look no bigger than he (although it may just appear that way, our one son is Vietnamese, so we know "small framed").
Ironwood
Ironwood:
Your observation is right on. When ever a new person comes to town and they are describing someone they have met they will always say short, dark skin and black hair.
That covers 99.9 % . I know what it is to be part of a minority.
Boy, that is right you sure do. ;)
Ironwood
Boy, that's a whole 'nother world. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing, what a little ingenuity will do, We sometimes forget with all the machinery we have.
Interesting for sure.
We saw the same technology when we visited the Kauri museum here in NZ. Same sort of winch was used 80-100 years ago here in NZ.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/ianab_kauri_museum_horse_winch.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/ianab_kauri_museum_horse_winch_pic.jpg)
The old one seems to have been rated at 2 horse power, the modern one is 6 boypower? :D
Ironwood, your Son would be right at home among those young workers in Peru. I saw several winches very similar to the one Jim is showing, when I was in Vietnam. Those people are very resourceful when it comes to getting a lot done with nothing but manpower(or womanpower or kidpower). :)
Yup, I call that type work, "pyrimid building", just back to simple physics. My other saying when you gotta dig a bit deeper for gumption is "time to open a whole new can of BUST ARS" I use that one alot even w/ forklifts and cranes, there is a ton of BUST ARS needing opened around here .
ironwood
Very amazing story , it makes me think back in our own history how much wood was moved this way . I know a lot about the grand falls flowage in the state of maine as my fathers side of the family had a lot to do with getting the logs to the mills in woodland ( Bailyville) and calais .
Scott