British Columbia built logging equipment, obscure makes....

[trakloader]

Post your pictures of BC built logging equipment from Chapman, VIEW, Hayes-Lawrence, Westminster Iron Works, C.C. Murdie, G.M. Philpott, Burrard Drydock, Jacobs Brothers, and any other BC built equipment. This would include anything cobbled together in local shops, too.

 

[trakloader]

Vancouver Iron & Engineering Works Sparmatic

These were designed by Frank Lawrence, same guy that designed the Gearmatic winch, etc.

 

[Contract Logger]

These pics were emailed to me, not sure where they were taken. I have some ViewSpar pics I took, but am having trouble finding them........

 

[trakloader]

These pics were emailed to me, not sure where they were taken. I have some ViewSpar pics I took, but am having trouble finding them........

Norm West took those pics, but I'm not sure where they were taken.

 

[trakloader]

Chapman 1800

They started out as Chapman Motor and Machine Shop, and built a lot of rock drills, etc. Later became Chapman Industries. I believe the 1800 was built using Lorain components, and I think they put together two or three as grade shovels, too. Later, they started selling Hitachi backhoes and built log loaders using Hitachi components. They were bought out by Cypress in the late 80's, they continued selling some of the Chapman machines under their own name. I have some pics here of their Drilmobile and Roc-Champ drills, but I'll have to scan them.

 

[trakloader]

These pics were emailed to me, not sure where they were taken. I have some ViewSpar pics I took, but am having trouble finding them........

Look closely, the white spot at the front of the machine in the first pic is the operator's hardhat. In the second pic, you can see the platform that he stood on to drive it. Hand levers for steering, clutch, leveling jacks, and a hand valve for the brakes. Pretty exposed, and not even a seat for the driver! Still, you can see that they would be much easier to move around than a Madill, and have a longer pipe, to boot.

 

[TorkelH]

Great

Great, all these forums are very interesting. Thanks a lot!

 

[Humptulips]

Mayr Brothers had a ViewSparmatic. I worked on it in 74. When you wanted to run the hydraulics the tires turned so you had to have it jacked clear of the ground when rigging up. Pretty good machine as I remember it but we had to spike one guyline. Didn't like that. I think they still had it in 85 when they went bankrupt the first time.

 

[trakloader]

Unique Steel Spar

My friend took this picture in Knight Inlet, in 1978. Truck is a modified Mack LRSW, yarder is a Berger, and the spar is a VIEW Sparmatic. Built in some coastal camp shop, but we don't know where or when, or by whom.

 

[furpo]

We have a machine which has a Chapman undercarrage on it. Does anyone know if Chapman manufactured their own track gear or did they buy CAT components? Ours look like D7 items.

 

[trakloader]

We have a machine which has a Chapman undercarrage on it. Does anyone know if Chapman manufactured their own track gear or did they buy CAT components? Ours look like D7 items.

One of Chapman's big items was their "Hydraulic Expando" carrier for tracked machines, but I don't know how much of it was actually made in house. I suspect the bulk of it was Cat or Terex stuff.

 

[Contract Logger]

One of Chapman's big items was their "Hydraulic Expando" carrier for tracked machines, but I don't know how much of it was actually made in house. I suspect the bulk of it was Cat or Terex stuff.

Chapman undercarriages were widely used in the late 70's and early 80's. Ross Equipment in Oregon/Washington sold many different lines that had Chapman under them-- Barko, Prentice, Bantam, Lorain, Thunderbird, etc, under mostly loaders but the PSY-200 and TMY-45 as well.

Not sure what Chapman used, but Ross would measure everything and sell Berco as the replacement part for rollers, idlers, etc. Today Berco or V-Track will be able to help you. Less performance than Cat, but alot less expensive.

Purely out of curiosity, what are you working on??

 

[rayb]

RMS Sidewinder

I'm looking for information about the Rosedale Machine Shop (RMS) Sidewinder Swing Yarder. There's a few kicking around the Northwest States and i'm wondering if they'd be a good salvage yarder. Any info about ease of operation and problems would be appreciated.

 

[furpo]

Thanks for the info Contract Logger.

The machine is a PSY 200. I put a few pictures up in the Thunderbird thread. It is the expanding undercarrage type and I remember seeing 1800 series on it somewhere.

Rayb;

Active Equipment had a sidewinder for sale not so long ago. They may have some information for you.

 

[rayb]

Is PSY200 the same as a RMS sidewinder?

Thanks for the info Contract Logger.

The machine is a PSY 200. I put a few pictures up in the Thunderbird thread. It is the expanding undercarrage type and I remember seeing 1800 series on it somewhere.

Rayb;

Active Equipment had a sidewinder for sale not so long ago. They may have some information for you.

Hi Furpo:
Is the PSY200 by Pierce (or Pacific ) a different machine than the Rosedale Sidewinder? There's a sidewinder for sale at Goshen Equipment in Oregon which peaked my interest.

The Acme carriage website has lots of photos of their carriages in use. One series of photos shows "Hubbard Logging" using a yarder which appears to be the Sidewinder.

 

[furpo]

Definatly not, the PSY 200 is a medium sized yarder were as the sidewinder is quite a bit smaller. The first part of my previous post was a responce to a question from Contract Logger.

I have only ever seen photos of the sidewinder however they appear to be a usefull little yarder. These would be getting a few hours on them now so you would be wanting to have a good look at the drums, drive mechamism (including clutches), chassis, and tower for signs of wear and fatigue. These are expensive items to replace compared to engines, etc. The tank carrier should be given a good look at too.

 

[jackd]

These pics were emailed to me, not sure where they were taken. I have some ViewSpar pics I took, but am having trouble finding them........

I would have to say that my favourite Yarder was the Sparmatic - we had two at Sproat Lake Division. I worked on them for a couple of years - they had something called a 'regenerater brake' I was told, which let you power off slack from your drums - it made getting slack on the mainline quite easy. On my last day as a logger, I had the pleasure of being involved in towering one down and because so many of us were being laid-off, there was celebrating going on - we got into the red wine. The operator - Tom - asked that I keep him company up at the driving end as we drove it down the mountain. This animal is a stand up affair and so off we went and the steering was via a hydraulic toggle valve. I even had a go at it. What could they do - fire me? Big tires on this beast and you had to put your control imputs in very gently or the thing would go straight and roll the tires right off the rims. Good to see pictures of it once again. I have a builder plate off the winch of one of them and it hangs on my basement wall - heavy duty bronze thing. It says K65 3 drum yarder- built Jan 7, 1966, s/n 406, built by Tyee Machinery in Vancouver, B.C. So I am imagining it as being a Tyee winch on a Sparmatic frame with a 120' pipe.

 

[jackd]

Another story... They were putting in a log dump down the Alberni Canal at Mactush Creek back in the '70s. If I remember right, the dump machine was made by Madill. From what I was told, when they set the 'A Frame' up, they used an old Sparmatic frame as a deadman offshore. Well, they hooked the wire rope to it and kicked the frame into the water and watched as the old Sparmatic slid to its final resting place. Thing was, they had no idea how steep it was offshore and the old gal kept on going! They might have had a thousand feet of cable on that thing and they lost it all. Had to go to plan 'B'.

 

[trakloader]

I would have to say that my favourite Yarder was the Sparmatic - we had two at Sproat Lake Division. I worked on them for a couple of years - they had something called a 'regenerater brake' I was told, which let you power off slack from your drums - it made getting slack on the mainline quite easy. On my last day as a logger, I had the pleasure of being involved in towering one down and because so many of us were being laid-off, there was celebrating going on - we got into the red wine. The operator - Tom - asked that I keep him company up at the driving end as we drove it down the mountain. This animal is a stand up affair and so off we went and the steering was via a hydraulic toggle valve. I even had a go at it. What could they do - fire me? Big tires on this beast and you had to put your control imputs in very gently or the thing would go straight and roll the tires right off the rims. Good to see pictures of it once again. I have a builder plate off the winch of one of them and it hangs on my basement wall - heavy duty bronze thing. It says K65 3 drum yarder- built Jan 7, 1966, s/n 406, built by Tyee Machinery in Vancouver, B.C. So I am imagining it as being a Tyee winch on a Sparmatic frame with a 120' pipe.

The K65 was a great machine, lots of the early Madill spars came with them. I think all the Sparmatics had different yarders on them, seems no two are exactly alike.

 

[jackd]

Correct me on this one. Did these winches have 5 speeds? I got to work on them way past their prime but they still pulled well. I remember hearing them change gears as the turns were making the final run into the landing. I also remember opening up a hatch in front of the mainline drum and sticking in a pry bar to flick a 'butterfly gear' into another position to allow the machine to change from forward to reverse when driving them around. The best thing about them was the foremen always put the machine on the worst shows because of the 120' pipe and therefore cut you some slack - though I was a producer. It was fun being a young logger in his early 20's back in those days.