Skagit Iron and Steel Works, Sedro Wooley, Washington

[isx525]

I just found these and they're lousy shots compared to yours Skadill. I had to clean them up bigtime and added my logo for later, not realizing I'd be posting them here tonight.

It shows the factory cab configuration if nothing else.

This machine was in the Palmer, Washington area on the Green River around 1993.

Cecil Walker's machine. isx

 

[isx525]

I just found these and they're lousy shots compared to yours Skadill. I had to clean them up bigtime and added my logo for later, not realizing I'd be posting them here tonight.

It shows the factory cab configuration if nothing else.

This machine was in the Palmer, Washington area on the Green River around 1993.

Cecil Walker's machine isx

 

[JTL]

Here is an old Skagit on a truck thats at Brooks, Oregon at the Pacific Northwest Logging Museaum.

 

[Redwood Climber]

SY 717 Skagits

Simpson had 2 SY 717 Skagits on tank bottoms here in northern Cal out of Korbel in the 80's. They've been traded off years ago......don't know where they went.

They ran both grapples and msp carriages on them.

 

[lg junior]

Here is an old Skagit on a truck thats at Brooks, Oregon at the Pacific Northwest Logging Museaum.

Love the pictures sure brings back some memories. I had a BU 30-F it was a little different, the haywire drum was on the main drum shaft. Made the haywire really slow,took forever for a road change. Dad also had a GMC truck of the same model that this yarder is mounted on, he repowered it with a 4-71 and it was yellow. Wow I had better not sit around too much or somebody will stick me in a museum.

 

[Rusty Grapple]

Simpson had 2 SY 717 Skagits on tank bottoms here in northern Cal out of Korbel in the 80's. They've been traded off years ago......don't know where they went.

They ran both grapples and msp carriages on them.

I remember both of those machines. After the auction they were shipped to Eugene where Ross did some mechanical work and painted them both. They had operator's cabs on them a little different than all the other SY-717's I've been around. Sadly, Wershow-Ash-Lewis didnt ever publish details or serial numbers in thier auction brochures, and I wasnt smart enough to get them myself either....

They were auctioned at Arcata with all the Dutra trucks in a monster-sized truck sale. Lots of gear in that auction!

Sorry for the quick-pics here, I'm off to a meeting and didnt have time to deal with the scanner!

 

[Redwood Climber]

Skagit SY 717 Yarders

Thanks for the clarification on where the two 717's went Mr Grapple, I assumed they were traded off. I spent hours and hours chasing those yarders around. I was facinated by these small, agile, "super fast" (I was comparing them to a Skookum Tyee and 199's I was on at the time) Yarders. Every yarder I had worked on was big and heavy, not fast at all by todays standards. I had never seen grapple logging before that time. They were learning at the time, they had just moved Korbel from old growth to a second growth operation. Cool stuff.......

 

[Rusty Grapple]

Thanks for the clarification on where the two 717's went Mr Grapple, I assumed they were traded off. I spent hours and hours chasing those yarders around. I was facinated by these small, agile, "super fast" (I was comparing them to a Skookum Tyee and 199's I was on at the time) Yarders. Every yarder I had worked on was big and heavy, not fast at all by todays standards. I had never seen grapple logging before that time. They were learning at the time, they had just moved Korbel from old growth to a second growth operation. Cool stuff.......

Well, other than saving the auction flyer and noticing the machines at Eugene, I didn't do you much good. I suspect the big auction was a trucker's affair, and the logging machinery wasn't bringing any money at the sale. I suspect Ross saw this and snapped those machines up cheap thinking cleanup and resale would be quick and profitable. This was about the time Ross was selling overseas hot and heavy, and because I've not run across these yarders again or since, I suspect they went down under to Australia or New Zealand possibly. If yarders were in the Pacific Northwest somwhere I usually knew about them through my natures of work and travel.

I have recently seen many machines on this 'Forum' currently down under that I last saw at Ross in Eugene being painted and prepped, so maybe and hopefully they will turn up again and we'll finally solve another 'mystery of the disappearing yarder' case!

Fingers crossed!

 

[log frog]

Bu 70

Layed up during a downturn. Tidy BU 70 with 50' tower

 

[Redwood Climber]

Clean little yarder

I like the looks of that BU70. I've never worked on or around one, but it looks like it is a quick one piece mover.
Lay the tower in the cradle, drop the outrigger pads, back the truck under and go! I suppose the top half of the cab has to be removed for highway transport, but still quick to move.

With the tower being one piece (non-telescopic) your guylines stay spooled much better. It looks like 6 guyliines? With a telescoping tube it's much more difficult (time consuming) to keep guylines spooled correctly. You gotta work at it.

Thanks for the pictures, you have any of it working? Do you (or they) Highlead or skyline with it? If so, what kind of carriage? Is that an 1 & 1/8 machine? What's the reach on her? What she have for power, the tranny? You see, I have lots and lots of questions..........thanks for the pics. She's so sweet.

 

[hoechucker]

Hey R C wasn't there a 70 or 80 parked at the old gas station by murphys about 6 years ago or so.it was on the other side of the highway by hoovens yard for a while

 

[log frog]

I like the looks of that BU70. I've never worked on or around one, but it looks like it is a quick one piece mover.
Lay the tower in the cradle, drop the outrigger pads, back the truck under and go! I suppose the top half of the cab has to be removed for highway transport, but still quick to move.

With the tower being one piece (non-telescopic) your guylines stay spooled much better. It looks like 6 guyliines? With a telescoping tube it's much more difficult (time consuming) to keep guylines spooled correctly. You gotta work at it.

Thanks for the pictures, you have any of it working? Do you (or they) Highlead or skyline with it? If so, what kind of carriage? Is that an 1 & 1/8 machine? What's the reach on her? What she have for power, the tranny? You see, I have lots and lots of questions..........thanks for the pics. She's so sweet.

Sorry RC, thats all I know, other than she is owned by a gent up Gisborne way, and leased to a contractor in Masterton. Will take a closer look, next time I pass by, and report back.

 

[furpo]

Sorry RC, thats all I know, other than she is owned by a gent up Gisborne way, and leased to a contractor in Masterton. Will take a closer look, next time I pass by, and report back.

The owner is a family friend and yes from up Gissy way. He was the polytech tutor. This machine sat for a long time before coming down to the Wairarapa.

It is powered by a 6V Detroit. I suspect a 71 and has a two speed trans. It is a highlead machine but has the mounting on the tower for skyline sheave. Was it just a matter of changing the rear drum rope to go skyline with these machines?

From memory it had an inch main on it.

 

[furpo]

Well, other than saving the auction flyer and noticing the machines at Eugene, I didn't do you much good. I suspect the big auction was a trucker's affair, and the logging machinery wasn't bringing any money at the sale. I suspect Ross saw this and snapped those machines up cheap thinking cleanup and resale would be quick and profitable. This was about the time Ross was selling overseas hot and heavy, and because I've not run across these yarders again or since, I suspect they went down under to Australia or New Zealand possibly. If yarders were in the Pacific Northwest somwhere I usually knew about them through my natures of work and travel.

I have recently seen many machines on this 'Forum' currently down under that I last saw at Ross in Eugene being painted and prepped, so maybe and hopefully they will turn up again and we'll finally solve another 'mystery of the disappearing yarder' case!

Fingers crossed!

The only 717 that came to New Zealand had a hydraulic undercarrage. Sorry you have drawn a blank with us as well. Kiwi Logger was going to get us some current pictures. It is freashly painted Thunderchicken Tan.

 

[Redwood Climber]

Disappearing 717 Skagits

Thanks Mr. Furpo, you are correct, that is not one of the 717's from northern Cal. Both of these were on tanks, and the cab was much like, if not exactly like the standard Skagit cab with the leaned forward front windshield.

The search goes on..........


On that BU70, that "back drum" being your haulback would become the skidline if you were to skyline with it. If it had the skidline fairlead in the tower, just thread the haulback through and you are in em! I ran a BU90 like that for several years.
I can't see from the picture if the haulback drum is over or underwound, probable over. It makes a difference, in a hard pull there was a good chance it may lift the back outrigger pads off their blocking. The BU90 did this quite a bit, not enough weight and too much leverage. Anyway, she sure is a sweet looking tower. Half a world away, and I'm drooling........

 

[TorkelH]

Hi pal! Thank yoy for all your interesting posts! Only wish someone could teach you how to post pictures, I know you have some!!

 

[Redwood Climber]

Howdy there my Nordic Friend......

Hi pal! Thank yoy for all your interesting posts! Only wish someone could teach you how to post pictures, I know you have some!!

Thank you for your nice compliment......my crew thinks I just babble on & on too much! Yes, if you could teach my low tech mind to high tech picture post, I'd love to share the pics I have. Some I do not have permission from the machines owner, so out of respect for them, I will not be posting those. I have pictures, the quality is poor on most of them, ( high tech camera, low tech operator). But I'll still share them. I have pics of a BU95, Washington trackloader, 717 Skagit, and one I think will test everyones yarder I'ding ability. I got some of my pics on disc, but ran into difficulty sizing them. I read the "help" thread, but don't quite get it. My hat is definetley off to you high tech dudes out there.......

 

[TorkelH]

High tech and high tech... and what's that to know the rigging of a BU199?... I'll drop by next time I'm in California (not too often, but was there last year...) and teach you!

 

[Idaho Logger]

Last I knew a guy out of Libby Mt. had 4 717's (I know the guy personally but don't know the serials of the machines he had.) I have "Lucky number 13" sitting in my shop lot and know for a fact they only made 15 of the 717's. The original build sheet for mine was for Stimpson down in California.

 

[shawgo12]

When i worked for B&M we rigged alot of them i only seen one on a road and a tail tree, but they always told me a story about 3 intermediates and 1 tail tree. I have never seen a Bowman that could go over one we always had to use and Eagle.