Don't show this to people on the internet the outside of the building I don't want the location to give away cuz you will come back and there won't be nothing left in there
It's actually pretty interesting and you should share the location as they're may be some people interested in either finishing what the prior company wanted to do or someone else that would like to repurpose the site
The arc welders and the forklifts and the fairly new rubber tired machine inside are worth thousands and i'm surprised some scumbags haven't helped themselves. I hope someone will do something with the good equipment and not let it rot.
This was probably boring to some people, but I found it very interesting. My dad was a logger in NW Oregon and later in N. Calif on the Klamath River and around McCloud. Both of my grandfathers worked in a sawmill as did one of my uncles, who was the millwright at the mill in Cherry Grove, OR. That was an old fashioned mill, fully powered by steam other than the saw filing room. That mill ceased operation in 1958 and burned when they were in the process of removing machinery, most of which was going to be scrapped anyway. It burned because it was constructed of wood as most early mills were, no modern steel buildings like these two that were used as warehouses. You didn't mention the location of the mill site and that is a good idea. It was refreshing to see the lack of vandalism and thieves hadn't been there for whatever copper they could find. Someone spent a lot of money even if most everything was used, the loader certainly looked new. I'm surprised that they haven't had an auction of what is there, but maybe it is tied up in litigation. My dad retired from logging in 1984 if I recall correctly and a lot of that was due to the Spotted Owl issue. The Spotted Owl was always a symbol so those opposed to logging could get a lot of it shut down. Closing mills is a good way to do that as the remaining mills have to get logs from much farther away and that drives up the cost of lumber, hence higher home costs. I read an article a year or so ago, where it was discovered that another owl species was gradually pushing the Spotted Owl out of habitat in N. Calif. The solution was to try to thin out the populations of the other owl species to save the Spotted Owl. Mankind can't seem to let nature do what it has done for millennia, we have to interfere. Thanks for posting this, I understand your feelings having worked at that former mill site. I spent a little time working at a planing mill, but was lucky to spend four summer working in the woods, logging with my dad. Looking back it was the most enjoyable job i ever had.
Great video! I love places like this. I have some answers to a couple of the things you weren't quite sure about. The LeTourneau log stackers of the vintage you are talking about are DC machines. All the motors are DC, as that's what the company was famous for back in the day. The Wagner machines are both older, and the one with the two wheels close together is a two wheel drive machine. The one with the full axle in the back is a four wheel drive version. The two wheel drive is the older design, but still built today, as is the four wheel drive machine. That's the way to tell which is which, two or four wheel drive. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure the machines are basically the same.
thank you for the clarification. I always worry about giving the wrong information when just talking from memory. The Wagner factory just outside of Portland, its pretty impressive.
my uncle passed away he knew his kids would have sold the mill before he was in the ground he will it to me to keep running it his kids are pissed off at him and me too i think it is safe now that the kids are now running the operation to get them into his dream of generations owning the saw to
Interesting, but the equipment in the storage building left at a standstill, was not the sawmill equipment abandoned in the original mill. Quite different. Sad to see when a venture runs out of money and must go bankrupt.
Sounded like vehicle traffic in the background . It's a miracle the electric motors and electrical wiring is still on site with the price of scrap copper .
Logging was a hard job. I started logging for my dad in nineteen fifty eight and also drove a logging truck for him. I was his mechanic, truck driver, choker setter, whistle punk, yarder engineer, I did anything dad needed me to do because I was expected to help dad. He was a gypo logger meaning a three or four man crew, if they were still drunk on monday morning, I did the missing mans job. After dad quit logging, I went to anyone needing a truck driver or mechanic as working in the brush was really hard work where many men died doing that job. I will not tell how many men I watched die but when drafted in late 66, I was used to see a man die in the woods. If Trump is elected and those logging areas are opened up to men who still would do this kind of work were still there, maybe this mill can still be put into operation. I seen some of those welds, and truthfully would not trust them as far as I could pick up the piece its welded to. If any of this equipment was running only a couple years ago, it will still run fine! Lots of stuff to repair but its there to be used and fixed to operational condition. I still remember how to turn wrenches and weld, but being crippled is why I quit entirely as anything of use
It's really hard seeing so much still useful stuff out there. From the tools to the scrap. Quite familiar with the industry. My wife's father is a retired logger, my father is a retired forester. We grew up together in WA.
Thank You for making the video! Similar things in Europe too, i found this strange since the price of construction wood has realy ramped up abowe the extreme in north Europe the last couple of years, but the supplier are still heavily underpayed and the delivery prices are still a joke, it is still just not worth selling large batces of timber anymore, the supply strains to the sawmills and the loop of downspiraling is cloosed and people loose the jobs, has to leave their homes, etc.
Thankr for exposing a sawmill kit of components. Our Southern Susquehanna Valley Pennsylvania sawmill only cuts 4 x 12 incremental hardwood cribbing. Always wanted to know how a debarker functioned. Saw the mills operating just before the 2 year enbargo on railfaning trips flying to Spokane and driving to Essex, Montana, their log yards were unimaginative stacked high!
