Last night I caught a program about logging in the 20's to the 50's, called "Lumberjack, Sky Pilot". It was short clips taken mostly by a loggers minister and narrated by him. I am not sure what year the program was first broadcast, it looked rather old. The movie was fantastic. It showed a vast number of logging camps, mostly in the Adirondacks, but a few in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Penn. It showed men felling trees, peeling logs, hauling huge trains of log sleds with usually just a single team, it showed a cable brake (from the top) for the heaviest and steepest pulls. It showed them building big dams to hold water for the spring when they floated the logs down to either a mill or a better location from where a log truck or train would haul them. Much of the film was before chainsaws were common, but a few showed up later but were only used for bucking not felling. My guess is they hadn't mastered running a motor on it's side yet, but maybe they just thought a 2 man saw was easier to get a tree to fall where you wanted.
This was shown on WCNY, a public broadcasting station based in Syracuse, New York. This station often repeats broadcasts several times. If you can catch it over the air or online I highly recommend it. It was on channel 24 locally.
Several scenes were of the logs being floated downstream and the loggers keeping them from jamming and also them breaking up jams. It showed guys bucking pulpwood with a bucksaw, gave names and told how many cord some of them bucked in a common day. Very impressive numbers.
It turns out the Minister was retired when the show was recorded, and was publishing books. One of these books he either wrote and/or published was Adirondack French Louis, a book I have read a few times.
I seem to recall that minister giving a talk at one of the alumni weekends at the Ranger school years ago.
He had his book there but I didn't buy a copy.
Watch it here.
http://watch.wpbstv.org/video/2191652058/
It is great, and hope this site keeps it available.
What is a Minister?...nevermind...I figured it out, didn't know people preached for loggers in the woods.
Truly amazing how all that was done !
Signed first printing. :)
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I have both ofRev. Frank Reeds books,and the video he made at "cabin country" I believe the narrator Bill Saief (SP) is still alive. It has some nice shots of the Gould paper co. Linn Loghaulers in action, and some of the earlier chainsaws. Don
That really brings back memories of my humble beginings, On that job at Carter
Station where the green GMC truck was cabled up the hilled with the load of 13-4
that nearly tipped over was owned by Ronnie Blandchard and was driven by Eddy Damuth. Oliver Scouten was the crane operator to load the logs and 13-4.
He and C j Strife were great buddies and done lots of logging jobs together.
My brother and I were hauling 4ft peeled spruce from this same job to Corinth, NY. My bother had a F-8 ford and I had a K-7 Internatioal. We hauled 71/2 to 8
cord of 4ft pulp per load.
Getting back to Ronnie B, He had two log trucks,he drove one and Eddy D drove the other one. In the early 60's Eddy drove a tandem dump truck for me
hauling sand & stone from Boonville to Old Forge Concrete plant.
Rev Reed was an awsome Godly Man, He wanted me to start a sawmill
in Old Forge, A Bolter-mill ( short Logs). I didn't know enough about it and I was always a dollar short, also to involed with wood Hauling.
It would take a week or two to describe my hauling and woods expierance
with them! Good Night and rest easy my friends.
2-leg
Very interesting to hear you knew some of those men in the film. Would like to hear more stories, as I suspect others would as well.
You mention a Bolter Mill. I've tried to look up information about them, as used to hear a fair amount about them being used in the 50's and into the 70's. Pushed a bolt through/past a saw blade to make boards. Apparently many thought it was too un-safe and may have disappeared when the OSHA gendarmes marched in guns a blazing. ;) Do you know much about them? Is it spelled Bolter, or Boulter ??
Quote from: two-legged-sawmill on June 09, 2013, 07:47:41 PM
It would take a week or two to describe my hauling and woods expierance
with them! Good Night and rest easy my friends.
Can't wait to hear of your experiences two legged. :)
I poked around some more looking for info on "Bolter Mill" and found reference to it being named "Boulter Mill". Not much other than a job description given for a Boulter (Bolter) saw operator. Said job was to load short bolts onto mill for sawing, etc.
Ran across a few links to an interesting yearly publication of "The Disston Crucible, a Magazine for the Millman". The oldest I was able to read was Volume 7 for the year 1917. A lot of short articles, editorial every month, and quite a few pictures and descriptions of a different wood each month. Very interesting reading, and a fair amount of discussion of the Disston saws, be they circular, band, crosscut, barrel, or hand saws.
Google "Disston Crucible" and pick a volume or two. 1917 was during the WW I time so encouragement to help the war effort was evident. 96 years ago, and amazing how sawing has not changed in a big way.
A portable mill was pictured on p77, in the June 1917 month.
bolt wood= 50" wood usually. could be white birch, beech maple or oak for lobster trap stock