logbarging on the west coast

haywire woodlot · November 07, 2009, 04:36:18 PM

Here's a couple of photos I took at work the summer before last, ( there was no work this summer)

Tom · November 07, 2009, 05:28:22 PM

That just looks, to me, like a really fun place to work.

Tom_Averwater · November 07, 2009, 05:41:46 PM

Where do those logs go to from there ?

Ironwood · November 07, 2009, 06:42:26 PM

So that is a barge? WOW cool
Ironwood

wi woodcutter · November 07, 2009, 08:58:48 PM

Quote from: Tom on November 07, 2009, 05:28:22 PM
That just looks, to me, like a really fun place to work.

I will agree 110% with that!

haywire woodlot · November 07, 2009, 10:34:53 PM

Logs are collected from various points on the central coast or Queen Charlotte Islands, any where that sea conditions make moving wood by log boom impossible. Log barges dump in booming grounds on the south coast in Ladysmith or Howe Sound, which some of you may remember from the CBC television series "The Beachcombers". After the barge dumps ( In the case of the Seaspan Forrester featured here, as much as 20,000 tonnes of wood) the logs are boomed and towed to sawmills in the Fraser River and on Vancouver Island. On occasion the barge is also employed to haul pulpwood to pulp and papermills.

Onthesauk · November 08, 2009, 11:22:51 AM

I've seen the barges hauling pulpwood to the papermill in Ketchikan, (since shut down.)

D Hagens · November 08, 2009, 05:33:43 PM

Haywire, do you know if they still have the log dump in Powell River? Years ago I spent many mornings walking around there.

haywire woodlot · November 08, 2009, 06:34:25 PM

D Hagens,
I don't think they've dumped barges in powell river for a long time, all of the catalyst mill's fibre comes on chipbarges now. The dryland sort at PR looks pretty quiet, I think all the booming for wood cut in the area is done down the coast at Stillwater Bay or up in Jervis Inlet.

This lovely load of helicopter logged cedar is about to be dumped at Security Bay, in Smith's Sound on the central coast.

sawguy21 · November 08, 2009, 10:48:14 PM

I was on a show near Powell River some years ago and was amazed at the off highway loads. Wood was stacked as high as the loader could reach on 14' wide bunks, they had water pouring off the brakes while crawling down the steep grades.

I was a little disappointed at the size of the wood, around 24" dbh, until I realized this was the third harvest. They grow em big and fast on the coast :D
I have not seen many large booms being moved on the coast recently, mostly barges. Too much wood was being lost and the enviros were sniveling about the waste product polluting pristine waters.