British Columbia Forest Products Ltd.

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. Over the years in the Logging Industry many ideas were tried . Here is a Euclid repurposed to be used as a rock drill . And a D8 Grade Cat equipped as a Rock Drill .

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. Over the years in the Logging Industry many ideas were tried . Here is a Euclid repurposed to be used as a rock drill . And a D8 Grade Cat equipped as a Rock Drill .

Weyerhaeuser Snoqualmie had a D8 set up as a rock drill although nothing as nice/compact as in the photo.
One thing I'm always impressed with were the creature comforts on the equipment in BC. I don't think Weyerhaeuser or any logging company ever owned a drill with a cab. You were always right alongside the drill (even on the D8) breathing rock dust alternating between muddy and dusty depending on the day. It was always a throwback to the days of "you hired out to be tough, now be tough." These days, I really like my creature comforts.

 

[Welder Dave]

Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. Over the years in the Logging Industry many ideas were tried . Here is a Euclid repurposed to be used as a rock drill . And a D8 Grade Cat equipped as a Rock Drill .

There was some pretty good engineering in the D8 rock drill.

 

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Weyerhaeuser Snoqualmie had a D8 set up as a rock drill although nothing as nice/compact as in the photo.
One thing I'm always impressed with were the creature comforts on the equipment in BC. I don't think Weyerhaeuser or any logging company ever owned a drill with a cab. You were always right alongside the drill (even on the D8) breathing rock dust alternating between muddy and dusty depending on the day. It was always a throwback to the days of "you hired out to be tough, now be tough." These days, I really like my creature comforts.

The early Grade Cat to Cat Drill were quite a bit more primitive than this one .

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. A couple of Grade Cats one with an "Arch" one with "Rippers"

 

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Peter Mortensen BCFP Renfrew Div. #204 HDX Hayes Logging Truck , HD Hayes " Chunk Truck" with a Courtnay style loader , A former Gravel Truck being reperposed for a Fire Truck tanker .

 

[Welder Dave]

Not sure a Fargo belongs in the same thread as Hayes trucks.

 

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Good point LOL BCFP had a lot of Dodge and Fargo's . I think E.P. Taylor the Entrepreneur that created British Columbia Forest Products Co. Ltd. must have had investments in Chrysler Motors . Everything in camp had Chrysler engines in them . Fords started showing up in the mid 1970's .

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div.

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection .

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div.

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. An early Photo showing a "Jill Poke" used to dump railroad "Skeleton Cars" into San Juan Bay at the Beach Camp log dump. This picture may have been taken during the Malahat Logging era . Several years ago a new Pleasure Boat Marina at Port Renfrew was built along the shoreline at this location .

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. When the Timber on the East side of Williams Cr. and North side of the San Juan River was harvested , logging was completed in those areas . The Williams Creek Trestle was also at the end of its life . To continue to be able to travel from Port Renfrew to Shawnigan Lake with "light vehicle traffic" required a bridge over William's Cr. . Somebody came up with the idea to build a "Swinging Bridge" on cables . The bridge served its purpose for a good many years and now is also lost in history .

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. When the Timber on the East side of Williams Cr. and North side of the San Juan River was harvested , logging was completed in those areas . The Williams Creek Trestle was also at the end of its life . To continue to be able to travel from Port Renfrew to Shawnigan Lake with "light vehicle traffic" required a bridge over William's Cr. . Somebody came up with the idea to build a "Swinging Bridge" on cables . The bridge served its purpose for a good many years and now is also lost in history .

I drove over a similar bridge crossing the Skykomish River. Just west of the town of Baring. Once was enough for me. If there would have been a different way back I would have taken it. The bridge was originally built in 1930 and is due to be replaced in 2026.

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. #73 a Model 6 Northwest Log Loader , #204 HDX Hayes Logging Truck . The #73 was originally a grade shovel that was used to build railroad grade and logging roads . About the same time "Cats" were being perfected and used to build roads , Log loaders were being developed to load logs . Grade Shovels were recycled to use as log loaders . In the picture a "Goose Neck Boom" has replaced the shovel boom and dipper stick and a single line is use for a "Tong Line". A couple of years later the operators cab would be raised , the boom would be set up to use three lines to control a "Grapple" . This machine may have been built in the late 1930's or 1940's and was still loading logs in the late 1970's . It's sad to think that after paying its own way for so many years , it was probably cut up for scrap !

 

[donkey doctor]

Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. When the Timber on the East side of Williams Cr. and North side of the San Juan River was harvested , logging was completed in those areas . The Williams Creek Trestle was also at the end of its life . To continue to be able to travel from Port Renfrew to Shawnigan Lake with "light vehicle traffic" required a bridge over William's Cr. . Somebody came up with the idea to build a "Swinging Bridge" on cables . The bridge served its purpose for a good many years and now is also lost in history .

Many many years ago I was sent to Renfrew on a field service job. Somebody had told me I could get through from Shawnigan so of coarse I had to give it a try. I did cross the bridge but there was quite a pucker factor in the process. I didn't come home the same way. d.d.

 

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Many many years ago I was sent to Renfrew on a field service job. Somebody had told me I could get through from Shawnigan so of coarse I had to give it a try. I did cross the bridge but there was quite a pucker factor in the process. I didn't come home the same way. d.d.

It was always good for a chuckle to have somebody in the car or truck that had never been on that road before. As you approach the bridge , speed up alittle . As you can't see the bridge until your almost on it , Their reaction was always interesting . LOL

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. #205 HDX Hayes An early attempt to convert a Northwest grade shovel , to be used as a log loader . Loading over the cab at a wooden home tree .

 

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Peter Mortensen Collection BCFP Renfrew Div. An HDX Hayes hauling a load of logs through the old Harris Creek Camp .