In this episode on Tekniq, we will discover the long task of starting the boiler of the Lombard Steam Log Hauler, the first commercially availible tracked steam tractor.
This is from the Maine Forest and Logging Museum near Bangor. I visited the museum last fall and went for a ride in that very same Lombard Log Hauler. Awesome place, very friendly and knowledgeable team of volunteers-- highly recommend a visit during any of their operating events!
Great video, especially the delicate sounds! Two similar log haulers (Phoenix Centipedes) were imported to northern Finland. The first locomotive arrived at the port of Hanko in southern Finland 1913. From there it was transported by rail to Rovaniemi, near the Arctic Circle. After that there were no rails, only narrow gravel roads ("roads".... well, more like paths). The log hauler was dismantled and transported piece by piece, 300 kilometers. The same thing was apparently done with the second hauler, too, in 1914. Logging in these forested wetlands was done wintertime, so the 35 kilometer long "road" for the haulers was a frozen route, not an actual all-year-road. The timber was hauled to Lapland's biggest river, Kemijoki, from were it was moved downstream to sawmills in the Spring. After some time the haulers were converted to burning wood, as it was difficult to get coal (the steam engine consumed almost 50 cubic meters of wood/day). Both machines still exist, one in Tulppio near the Russian border, the other one in Forestry Museum of Lapland (Rovaniemi).
I had to look it up: The Phoenix Centipede was made in Eau Claire, Wisconsin starting in 1903. The company licensed the patents from Lombard, so the two machines are nearly identical.
What a terrible monster of a machine. I love it. There's little ways to describe such a fantastic beast and get the full majesty of what it is except to say that it's a terrible monster, absolutely so, and the world is that much more stellar to know that this is a part of it.
Thank you! The Lombard crew at the Maine Forest & Logging Museum do indeed love it and we take deep pride in being the stewards of such an amazing piece of history.
Coming from that tiny country 'across the pond' that even builds new steam locomotives I find this beast magnificent. Tornado clocked 100mph and there are 2 more engines being built. It's so good to see this old lady being treated so well. Well done chaps.
I didn't expect caterpillar tracks to have existed on vehicles before the invention of the internal combustion engine. What an incredibly impressive vehicle. Thank you very much for the video and also for letting me learn something again.
@@532bluepeter1 The cylinders are 9"x10" its rated for 90 hp at 175 psi. Maximum RPM is 250 which moves the machine along at 4.7 Miles per hour. The water tank (425 gallons) tends to make it look larger than it is.
Its actually not that intensive. This was the first run of the season and we just had it all opened up for the annual state boiler inspection so we went over it with a lot of care. It takes about 4 hours to steam up from dead cold. We could do it faster but we like to be gentle. Once under steam its just feed the fire, add water and oil here and there. Like any steam engine your always checking for loose fasteners and if the journals are running cool.
That is Steam Punk Ultimate! What a Glorious Beast of a machine. And the fact it still runs, is even better. I live in Cheyenne Wyoming, the home of the only fully restored Big Boy Engine. I love any thing steam powered and HUGE.
Fantastic, and fascinating. I love these big Lombards, and their similar engines, the Phoenixs; we didn't have anythingn like them over here in GB. Big, basic, rugged, and reliable. Designed for a hard, difficult and arduous working life, the film's a delight, as it is to know that at least three survive in working order.
Hoffentlich gibt es genügend junge Menschen, die diese Tradition fortführen können. Solche Maschinen müssen unter allen Umständen einsatzbereit den nachfolgenden Generationen erhalten bleiben.❗️
Absolutely! Machines like this are part of our history and culture. They can inspire and serve as a reminder of inventive genius and creativity. Alvin Lombard grew up in the backwoods of Maine. Had very little education yet he created this remarkable machine using practical knowledge and his invention of the first practical crawler track system has had a tremendous impact on the world we live in. Our mission at the Maine Forest & Logging Museum is to present history in a living format. As such we have very few static displays. The major exhibits in the collection are operated and demonstrated on a regular basis for our guests. What we do need is an influx of younger people to hand the torch over too.
Nice to see such an attraction. Great to see people care for such things and put a great deal of effort into preserving this history. I have never seen anything like it before. Beautiful.
@@gearheadgregwi Yeah, it probably started as a Frankentank, It looks a lot like a camelback switcher engine that got mated to this chassis. Seriously too top-heavy to be safe at any real speed off of rails with those points of contact.
@@Einwetok They worked very well. 82 were made in total. They were designed for winter use with skis rather than wheels. We have wheels installed so we can demonstrate it during the simmer months. Yes, stopping is interesting. There are no brakes. However you can use the reverse lever to admit steam in front of the cylinders which works well. When hauling sled trains of loaded with logs they would spread straw on the hills to create friction on the sled runners. The idea being that the Lombard would drag the sleds down the hill rather than being pushed by the sleds.
I believe this is a Phoenix Log Hauler. They were built in Eau Claire, Wi circa 1901. I saw one in edgar, WI in 2014. Fantastic machine. Would not wish to be the driver.
No this is a Lombard made in Waterville, Maine. The Phoenix was a licensed built version. Alvin Lombard received a royalty for every machine Phoenix produced.
No, this is a Lombard tractor. The Lombard is the predecessor of the Phoenix tractor. When Lombard went out of business, they sold the patents to the Phoenix company. Phoenix changed several things in the design. For instance, the Lombard tractor has a "saddle tank" for water for the boiler, the Phoenix has the water tank below the boiler in the frame. Also, the steam cylinders are arranged different. The Lombard has horizontal cylinders like a railroad locomotive while the Phoenix has vertical cylinders like a Shay geared steam railroad locomotive. I have an old video on my youtube channel of the Phoenix engine from Wabeno, WI running at their annual "Steamup Days" from 2011, I think.
@@amberyooper Lombard did indeed proceed the Phoenix. However the Phoenix was a licensed built version of Lombards early machines (pre-1905) Lombard did in fact use vertical cylinders on his pre-1905 machines with the exception of his initial prototype built in 1900. After 1905 Lombard went with the saddle tank and horizontal cylinders while Phoenix stuck with the earlier design until the end. What adds to the confusion is Lombard offered a lighter, cheaper machine concurrently with his big 19 ton log haulers. These used a vertical boiler with the cylinders mounted vertical on the front of the boiler barrel. The last steam Lombard left the Waterville factory in 1917 though they continued to manufacture gasoline powered log haulers (Tractor-Trucks) until 1936.
First off I love what your doing. I have been to Clarks in Lincoln, NH over the last several decades when they light up their steam vehicles. I have even rode one throwing a lever or two. Being always fascinated by steam I love it. I have this deep respect for the brave souls back in the day of steam. Crazy real dangers were always present, perhaps more than one could count! Unlike rail transportation this ground mover has 4 men to just drive it. The idea of two men out front! To two men operating the boiler! Folks nowadays don’t realize what real men were back then. I can never get enough of observing this spectacle. My deep thanks to those that are dedicated to preserving and sharing this now hobby 😃
That is an amazing piece of steam technology to watch in operation never seen anything like it before. Impressive amount of speed for what is quite a large vehicle, innovative and its great to see it running right at home amongst the forest where it belongs not some static display in some museum. Lovely location.
Thank you. The Maine Forest & Logging Museum in Bradley, Maine (where this was filmed) uses a living history format to present Maine unique forest centered history and culture. Visitors can see how the technology functioned as opposed to just static displays collecting dust.
the American Thread Company in Milo Maine had two Lombard log haulers, my friend's father was a steerer on one, sat in a little wooden box affair on the front and steered the skis, he said the best part was when it was 30 below zero he sat next to the boiler and stayed warm , bad part was if it left the trail you were the first one into the woods, there were still parts and pieces near my old camp on First Buttermilk Pond where the trail passed near my camp
An amazing machine. In the UK, there is the Road Locomotive Society: "Founded in 1937, the Society’s objectives are: The enhancement of education and research into the past history of all types of self propelling steam engines (other than those running on rails) and those types of stationary steam engines known as portable engines, the results of such research shall be made available through the Society Journal and other publications." I reckon with those tracks this machine was off road dragging those logs most of the time!
It's always been my impression these were most often used in winter-time, with a pair of runners in place of the front wheels. They would pull trains of sledges carrying logs, over snowy paths and frozen lakes. It would have really resembled a train, only without the rails. I don't expect they would have been quite so useful in the summer.
@@jetporter Correct. We do have a set of skis for it. The steam powered Lombards such as this one were equipped with skis and only used in the winter. We have wheels on this one so when demonstrate it during the summer months.
First time i saw this in a clip some time ago, i thought it was some Frankenstein thing,Then i looked it up! Such a beast, great video, truly brilliantly shot! I can almost smell the steam oil from here in Australia.
Awesome old machine. I can't say I would like to run it all day with 117 deg.F heat index, like in my area, at this time. With the heat coming off that boiler, Killer. I would like to see it pull, as a demonstration, in a tractor pull event. With that sized cylinder, and the traction of those tracks, it should be capable of dragging the fully loaded sled home. Nicely done video.
Fortunately they were only used in the winter. Yes, tremendous pulling power. Its only rated at 90 hp but produces over 11,000 ft/lbs or torque at the tracks. Depending on the terrain and the condition of the ice/snow road they could pull up to 300 tons of logs loaded on sleds and forming a long sled train. Originally equipped with skis we have wheels on this oneso we can demonstrate it during the summer months.
Very nice to see this tracked machine running. Many people believe the Lombard was the first tracked machine built, possibly but Hornsy had built and patented the fully differentially steered tracked machine, with lubricated track pins, very similar to what we see on modern equipment. Holt and Best bought the patents from Hornsby, and pirated the slogan CATERPILLAR from the English, and formed the company we now know.
Yes, we can't say the Lombard developed "the crawler track". Others had come before. However, his track is recognized as the first practical crawler track to actually go into production as opposed to being a one-off. Hornsby patented their first track in 1904 (nearly four years after Lombard's 1900 patent) and did indeed build the first "full track" (or tank track) type machine.
@@stevecarlisle3323 Lombard had his first track system in operation by November 1900. Which coincides with his patent application filed on November 9th, 1900. No need to rely on that date alone - Plenty of primary source material including his own testimony in court proceedings, photos, first person accounts, and contemporary articles. His second patent was filed on November 22nd, 1905. By then he had already built 17 machines featuring his track system including the prototype, which was used on a logging operation by Lawrence, Newhall & Page during the winter of 1900-01 and 1901-02. In fact that February they tested a electric powered version on the same operation. The patent filed in 1905 was at the heart of the litigation with Holt. Interestingly Lombard had already built several machines that conform to his 1905 patent before he even filed it. One such machine was sold on October 25th 1905 to the Western Lumber Co. of Lothrop MT. and was also at the root of the lengthy litigation with Holt.
@@terryharper2024 Ya, I am aware of all the controversy. There is a reason they bought the Hornsby patents, as it was the real deal, turns in its own length, not hoping the machine will steer eventually. The Mammoth is sitting in my backyard !
@@stevecarlisle3323 remember these were built for a purpose and regional use. Hauling long trains of heavily laden sleds in Northern New England and the Maritime provinces. Maneuverability was secondary to power, speed and stability. in 1920 With the availability of early tank type machines such as the Holt it was found they were not suitable for the work the big steam and gasoline powered Lombards excelled at. The Holt (Hornsby) type steering system - which yes allowed the machine to turn in its own length, became a liability. For instance the steering input reversed depending upon if the machine was pulling or being pushed. If descending a grade with sleds or wagons pushing from behind, the operator had to reverse the steering inputs as opposed to normal control inputs applied while pulling. The other issue was traction. When turning a corner the Holt (Hornsby) system transferred the power applied to the inside (disengaged) track to the outside (driven) track. This increase of power to the outside track coincided with the lose of 50% of available traction due to one track being disengaged. Thus on large operations through the 1920's Holt tractors were usually restricted to hauling the short distances from the cuttings to the main haul road with Lombards making the long hauls. All this is minutia. The important fact is that Lombard developed the first practical crawler track system. I hope the Mammoth project is moving along well. I have the pleasure of operating the steam Lombard and the two gas Lombards (a third is due soon) on a regular basis - amazing machines.
I've only seen these in pictures in Minnesota. I understand there's an operating one in Wisconsin somewhere. Definitely want to see one in person someday.
Ça doit être un monstre de puissance, pas très rapide mais super puissant. Bravo à tous ces bénévoles qui font que ces machines continuent à vivre.👍👍👍👍👍
No. These machines were built new at the factory in Waterville, ME. The boiler is a locomotive style boiler but they did not come from a locomotive. They were built to Lombard's specifications.
Actually, it was a conversation in 1900 between a lumberman and Alvin Lombard when they happened to meet on a trolley. The lumberman expressed a desire to replace horses in the woods. Lombard went home and created a model than built and patented the first practical crawler track system. Before that halftracks were simply unknown.
Its a lot worse! The steering is very low geared. As we like to say "Steer early, steer often!" Also with the center pivot wagon type axle you do not stick your fingers or thumbs through the spokes! Back in the days these were used exclusively in the winter and were equipped with skis. We have wheels on it so we can demonstrate it and move it around during the summer months. It steers much better in snow with the skis.
BRILLIANT ! I never knew such an Engine existed - how wonderful. I've just subscribed and will have to investigate you fascinating channel more. Thanks - take care 🙂
I wonder if that's the museum I visited decades ago. I remember being shown a very big circular saw blade which had replaceable teeth which I had no idea even existed prior to that.
Is there any differential or variable speed between the tracks on each side when turning? Seems like not so much of a problem on snow but maybe more on dirt.
