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Lost a good friend and old time logger yesterday.

Started by Taylortractornut, April 06, 2012, 08:24:16 PM

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Taylortractornut

I got word this morning that a  good friend and logger/inventor passed away last night.   Jimmy Wells was hi name.    He could build anything from junk and  make it work better than a factory rig.    I met Jimmy when I was 15 in Belmont MS.   My brother was friends with his nephew  I I got to know him that way.      He was a  pulpwooder and built a ton of pulp loader both side loaders and   the  rear end type stick booms.   He had several old truck pictures he showed me of  rigs with 2 transmissions  and a dead axle so he could move as much as a stok 2 ton truck.   

I learned alot from him.   He  taught me about not giving up and   how a person could do any thing they set their mind to.       He was a hellraiser  in his younger years and ended up being  crippled from  several accidents.         He built a  4 wheel drive and steer loader that was about the size of an 863 bobcat.    He built it in  13 weeks from a wheel chair.    Counting  taking the donor vehicles apart and cutting down axles.       He also built a vertical band saw mill with a ride on carriage that his  wheel chair locked into.   
He also did hot shot hauling  portable buildings from a plant across the country.    He burnt the clutch out of his duallie in New Mexico.   He had a trooper take him to the nearest store and he bought a jack and a new clutch to  put in place.     He changed it on the side of the road.   He had tons of folks stop to see why a wheel chair was on the side of the road by his truck.


He had a thing about wheel loaders he  had old Michigans and an AC articulated loader both with elevators on them to get him to the seat.       He used to  not have anything but a torch and saw and welder.   He was at my shop a few years ago and  we had the welder  both lathes and  my table burner going.  He told me 25 years ago we could have made a million dollars building  pulp loaders.   

He got bad mood swings later in life as he got unable to work the last few years.     But still liked to share his knowledge.         He and I talked about building an old time stick wood trailer for fun.    I guess I will do the project on my own now. 
My overload permit starts after sunset

Bill Gaiche


Magicman

It is sad to loose long time acquaintances.  My condolences to you and his family.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Autocar

Bill

sawguy21

He sounds like an amazing fellow. You are fortunate to have learned from him. Treasure the memories and pass it on.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

sandhills

Very sorry to hear this, I also had to bury a long time friend yesterday and I'll bet I thought of him a hundred different times today.  My condolences as well, he sure sounds like the type of person many of today's kids could've learned a lot from.  When you get the chance go to full membership board and check out tribute to a good man, Tom's response to my original post there fits your post perfectly, I'm just not near as eloquent (for lack of better word) as Tom was.

WH_Conley

Sorry for your loss. Sounds a lot like loosing my friend Jimmy.

They are not gone as long as we remember them for what they did for us.
Bill

Taylortractornut

I  got to looking around the shop  and saw a few of the projects we had done in the past.      If he hadnt been so wild he would have been a  millionaire.      I used to  have younger folks that I  would  fix things for or teach them to fix it them selves.   Id here Im not smart enough big enough or I cant do that.   Id take them to see what ever Jimmy was working on. THey would get a change of heart when they saw Jimmy pulling himself off the  the chair and  pulling up one armed and welding some thing. 

I remember one pulpwood truck he built that I saw the remnants of.  It was a 53 GMC ton truck with a drag axle.     Had a  pulp boom on the  headache rack and     THe front 2 bolsters were also the stacks.  He had 2 transmissions in it for  gearing.      We took a ride in it before he  parted it out.    Pretty neat truck he did a small logging  job.       He always had a buggy built.  I saw an  old video of him in another 53 GMC 3/4 ton.     He had cut the frame in half and built an articulating swivel joint.   He put in a transfer case and a flipped over rear axle inthe front to make a   swamp truck.  The video showed him crossing  the deep part of bear creek floating on combine tires.   
I remember him showing me a few   power trailers as he called them made from  truck  halves       Put a half a truck  and make a trailer out of it. then  put a drive shaft from the pto to the transmission to run  the stick wood loader  and  if you needed a boost    you could engage the transmission  for  another set of pull wheels.     We started gathering for a smaller version of this  trailer.     I guess I got to get my monkey suit  out tomorrow to.   

My overload permit starts after sunset

Okrafarmer

Those power trailers-- people used to use them quite a bit up in Maine. I bet a few people still do. Pretty common to put them on the back of a John Deere A/B or Farmall H/M and use it for getting out 4-foot pulp or firewood, back in the day.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

Norm

Thanks for telling us about your friend TTN, sounds like a good man.

Magicman

Quote from: Taylortractornut on April 07, 2012, 12:55:09 AM
If he hadnt been so wild he would have been a  millionaire. 
Not being a millionaire did not mean that he was not rich.  Friends and family are our most prized possessions.   :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Taylortractornut

He was a character to be around.    Every trip out with him was an experience.  He dealt on a deal with somw old  cars going   up north.       He bought out a mans  collection of trucks and sold them  up north.   THe problem was most didnt have motors.       But they were on a hill.   He had me   take  a  lawn tractor and  pus them  off  the  hill.   The 9 car trailer  was something to see him   with one shot to get on the ramps. THe first rig was a full sized bronco.      We loaded 8 cars that werent running.       He had his moments where his health had him  down.   It was pretty hard to watch his health decline but  his  earlier years of  heck raising  took a its toll later. 
My overload permit starts after sunset

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