American Loggers

[Peter Drouin]

I was watching this show, All I can say is wow. Pelletiers logging in Millinocket Main. Moving 20 TT loads a day or more. Mills with piles of logs as far as the eye can see.
That golden road is something else. Trailers are at least 12' wide and 40+ feet long.
Does anyone watch it?

[quilbilly]

I think I have seen it in the past. I was really impressed with how big those trucks are. Loads are deceptively big. Are they still going or did I hear Pelletier went out of business?

[g_man]

I found this picture a while back taken on the Golden Road.
It says 79.5 cords 374,000 lbs or 187 tons.





gg

[barbender]

Those Bouchards though!😊

I wonder what those old trucks were outfitted with for an engine and transmission to get all of that moving?

[g_man]

 
Also says truck is 160' long, 14 axles, 64 tires powered by a Kenworth Brute C-500.

gg

[Riwaka]

From what I see the loggers were sold in 2022. 

On November 14th,2022 A&A Brochu, LLC, acquired Pelletier Brothers, Inc. and Gerald Pelletier, Inc. (aka "Pelletiers"). 

There is a trucking operation and (truck and trailer sales and trailer building) 'Pelletier Manufacturing Inc' still appears to be in operation.
2022- off highway log truck
https://youtu.be/sKCSo4OLB5g?si=PH35hndP0xU5dJz3

[Mooseherder]

I was at Frank Martin and sons in the Fort Kent location last fall getting filters for my excavator and as I was leaving saw the Frenchman log loader operator from the show getting parts.  He is still in the business but I think works for himself. 
A few years ago I met one of the younger Pelletier brothers in Sinclair at Martin's store while atving. He was the guy building the log trailers. 

[GRANITEstateMP]

Those Bouchards though!😊

I wonder what those old trucks were outfitted with for an engine and transmission to get all of that moving?

Just a guess here, No DEF or automatics in those Golden Road trucks!

It has been awhile since I watched the show but I seem to remember there was a big to do about getting away from the MACK HD trucks they were running, then maybe switching to Int, then a quick switch to Western Star?  They had some neat iron for sure.

I enjoyed that show because of the lack of mfg drama. When they add that, I tend to tune out

[Resonator]

From what I read online the tv show ran from 2009 to 2011. 

Would think the trucks were very heavy duty spec for sure. Reminds me of Australian "land trains", where they run 4 trailers at a time with crazy long combination lengths.

[Frickman]

In my head I called the show "American Log Truckers."  It was more about trucking logs than logging.  There wasn't any manufactured drama like "Ax Men."  That was nice.

[Peter Drouin]

They did move a lot of wood. It seems like there was no white limit for the roads.

[Frickman]

A visit to the Golden Road is on my bucket list.

[Mooseherder]

There's another beautiful ride if you're in that area that is on the road North side entry of Baxter State Park that goes thru the woods to Shin pond on the way to Patten.  There is a few miles section It's a canopy of trees but you don't see the dirt riding on leaf matter mostly when I went thru it.  We did it one year on a trip from Florida to Maine using every back road we could find. It took us 8 days to get there.