Great video Skadill, Thanks for the memory. I saw and commented on an earlier video You did on this machine sitting static. I spent six years in the seat of that very model American Heel Boom Loader with a Mantle Boom & Grapple. A lot going on in that cab with the two Levers for the Loading Lines in Your right hand, the Swing Stick and Tag Line in Your left hand, a Brake Peddle under each foot and a Knee Throttle. But . . . I do have to comment on His operating skills, at 3.15 He comments on wasting a lot of time collecting the Slack in the Lines, IF He had learned how to pull the Levers together especially the Haul back/Holding/Opening Line as He is spooling in the Main/ Closing Line there would be less slack when it came time to open and swing the Grapples out for the next grab. This also holds true for the Main Line especially if You are Cherry Picking and You want he Grapples to close and stay upright not falling of the log after a long cast sometimes 40 to 50 feet past the end of the Snorkel, and YES on the low side of the road I could cast and grab logs as far as 50 feet past the reach of the Snorkel. I know the Levers look to be very far apart but believe Me when You are in competition with Your buddy on the TL6 over at the other landing to get the load on faster and without spilling the Truck Drivers coffee so You can get the next Truck and carry the high load of the day bragging rights to the Cook Shack You do learn how to grab both Levers. Operating them old school Line Grapples was an Art. Thanks again for the memories of My younger years swinging logs on the Coast.
+Brian Tomlinson Thanks Brian,these machines are clear gone now from this site,not sure where they went,but probably an easy guess unfortunately.Always wanted to do what you did,but born too late.i envy the previous generation of loggers.Although it was just normal everyday routine then running the biggest logging equipment ever built in the world,on the biggest mountains,loading the largest logs on the worlds biggest logging trucks.
Brian Tomlinson thanks Brian, it's one thing to see it run it's another thing to see it run as intended. I thought what you said about the slack lines but see what you wrote confirmed my thoughts. Excellent comment about your past. Thanks Bob Ordewald Staunton Virginia
"One of the few things left from 1958." Wait a minute, I'm left from 1958! It's sweet to know this is still in use. Thanks for the inside view! My dad was still logging then, so he could have been operating one of these, but most likely a Skagit.
Great video ! Nice to see what goes into operating one of those machines.I like the way he cast out that grapple to get the log a bit further out. Skill !
I've had many a log loaded on me by heel-booms & Young grapples. One nice thing about these types of shovels is they didn't use a lot of fuel. It was amazing to watch a guy that was good with one of these machines. We didn't use snorkels down here much as most shovels were working with yarders. Good video, Todd.
wow! now how cool is this! these old machines goes on forever when new machines lasts for about max 10-15 years with all sophisticated electronics, computers etc....
My dad used to run grapples like that and Madils. Was a logger for 44 years. 22 of those in same camp called Port Eliza owned by Frank Beban Logging on Vancouver Island. Spent many days watching him operate that equipment so smoothly and efficiently. I learned alot from him
Somehow, I didn't come across this video until just now. Like others on this YT comment page I just love this machine. You certainly found something positively very special. To me the owner of this operation is a sharp businessman. By using a log loader like this instead of a new one he saves himself a fortune. He conserves his investment capital bigtime. Thank you for showing a great video.
Thank you for getting up with operator, I like watching the guy pull levers and use feet, on old heeling boom machines. I also love the small boom ( tug) pusher for log rafts. I remember ones that had a big outboard motor that the operator turned the whole outboard around in the middle of the Bronk. work tug very old school
I remember as a kid riding in one like it down in oregon the shovel operator could through the grapple and snag logs out of reach normally it was pretty awesome
Awesome vid, not many people get to see these from the operators seat. The place I apprenticed for was still using a flat track, chain drive 5675 for parbuckling loads off off of fat trucks trucks just a few years ago up Seymour Inlet.
They're in the same boat as Pacifics and Madill 009 towers,them and line loaders havent been built for decades now.Wonder the age of the youngest operator of one of these in B.C.
I ran those cable log loaders around 1974 at Simpson Timber near Shelton Wa. The air assist are harder to control than manual. The air puts a delay in the action of the controls. Especially when your waiting for the brakes to release. With the manual controls you can feel the drums grabbing as you press the pedals or pull the frictions.
There's nothing wrong with running old equipment... nothing at all. I still run cable pull scrapers with D8Hs or D8Ks up front and usually direct drive ones at that. Love them. This is a great machine too.
Those American's, Washington's, and Northwest's were the ultimate in Right of Way Cherry Picking and Landing Loading in their day. Even at the size they were We often had logs We could not heel and had to load one end at a time, and still not spill the truck drivers coffee I might add. They were FUN to operate and were My goal to get onto from My first day on the rigging in the early 60's. Took a few years but I did achieve the goal. The complexity of operating them cost companies a lot of money and time to train good operators. I heard once it was an industry standard of eight months steady before an Operator started to pay for His keep. There time came to an end with the introduction of the "Juicers" that an Operator could become productive and profitable on in as little as eight to ten weeks. I do indeed feel privileged to have been a part of the industry when ten to twenty piece loads on an Off Road Truck were an everyday routine. The industry has changed so much, no more Choker Men, Rigging Slingers, Chasers or Head Loaders standing on the Bull Boards and jumping onto the load between logs to stamp both ends as they were loaded. All nice Sound Controlled, Air Conditioned and Stereo equipped specialized machinery now eh. Too bad some will never experience the days of Glory in the Woods.
+skadill Thanks for the link My Friend, Good film for sure, Heel Boom Line Loaders, Steel Towers, Butt Rigging, Full Brim Tin Hats and Boots on the Ground. Work to be proud of.
I'll bet the operator is pretty good at that arcade game with the claw that picked out prizes and dropped them down the shoot that was nearly impossible to win, really neat old machine, looks like it does pretty good at it's new job
Funny to think how simplistic and labor intensive this seems compared to some more modern machines...but how amazing this would seem to men doing it all with steam winches and peavy poles. Or with muscles and oxen or horse teams! The ease with with you can pick up a log and move it across the yard and drop it in a pile would blow their minds.
Awesome! Operator must be a bit rusty, huh? Or is he just learning? That's not a 7280 either, I think it is a 795. Try to get a video of him moving the machine, those old things make all sorts of neat noises when they are on the move.
Most wood in this region ,once bought and separated into proper matched sorts,goes into log booms in the water and is towed to a mill,which usually have water access.
Wonder if, as a very young man, the operator of this thing was popular with the girls at the carnival, playin' those little "cheat me" cranes in the glass boxes on the fairways, pickin' out cig lighters, and other trinkets? Well, I mean, hell: It looks to me it's the same game, 'cept a LOT bigger, an' a lot more time for your coin...!☺
@ skadill - Why can't someone keep some of these lovely 'old girls' before all that is left are just photos and memories that are dying with the people who drove them. Soon they will all be gone to the scrap-man, - oh yes millionaires can't wait to get their hands on cars that they get done up better than when they left the manufacturers. Trucks are getting preserved which is good, but the real "workhorses" like these and the mill are now gone forever. When these are kept in a museum the public don't want to know them, they would sooner look at the "flashy" cars their, - if the place doesn't have any, the museum just has to shut down through lack of funds and it's off to the scrap-man for them. I think a lot of the trouble today is people forget about what built, (and goes on building), their Country.
