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| Dave and Marg at our dockside campsite. |
With our friends Dave and Marg, we took a quad riding camping trip to the head of Powell Lake.
This is an active location for our local logging company,
Western Forest Products. We're lucky. They responsibly maintain our renewable forest resources, and generate jobs and income for our community. You can find a detailed forest map
by clicking here.
We didn't get to see any equipment in action, but we did find lots of unique machines at the ready.
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| All lined up and ready to go at the Head. |
Heli-logging is used to reach cut blocks out of reach for traditional methods. There were two helicopters ready to transport loggers and
extract trees.
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| A VIH Kamov Ka-32 and it's grapple for lifting trees to the roadsides. |
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| A smaller Hughes MD500 for transporting personnel. |
Here's some of the heavy equipment we found while riding the logging roads out in the bush.
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| A multi-purpose CAT harvester/loader blocking the road. |
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| A Madill mobile yarder to pull cut logs to the roadside. |
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| Self loading logging truck. |
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| An old water tanker truck poised for possible fire suppression. |
Back at the log sort there were more vehicles parked than I've ever seen. In addition to lots of pickups, there were ...
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| Another yarder owned by Olympic Forest Products. |
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| Large "fat" logging trucks to haul logs only on logging roads. |
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| Wheeled log loader at the log dump. |
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| Two dozers to move logs around in the log pond. |
And how do they get all of the people, equipment and logs moved around? Boats, tugs and barges make the long journey from Powell River to the Head almost daily throughout the year.
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| River Yarder offloads a fuel truck at the barge ramp at the Head. |
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| Work boats at the logging dock at the Head of Powell Lake. |
It's so interesting to see how the logging industry works.
Each year Western Forest Products conducts forest tours. Last year I had a chance to go. If you ever have the opportunity, take it.
p.s. I am not an expert with logging equipment, if you see any errors please let me know. -- Margy
Labels:
Forestry,
Powell Lake
Posts
Such amazing equipment, the part of logging we rarely think about.
ReplyDeleteI never knew how it was done. We are lucky to have such a responsible logging company around the lake. There are others nearby that aren't nearly as careful with their practices. - Margy
DeleteAll that gear is a none-to-subtle reminder of why a 2x4 is so expensive these days. That's a pile of dollars sitting there!
ReplyDeleteSome of the equipment is very old, but still serviceable. The water truck has been in action for many, many years. But what about the cost of taking the equipment up and down the lake many times over? That adds up too. - Margy
DeleteWow, my grandson would love to be there. And I too.... :-)
ReplyDeleteKids love machines, and not just boys. - Margy
DeleteWhere can one find out about those tours?
ReplyDeleteOur local tours are advertised in a local magazine. They are so popular that they don't need to do much. Unfortunately, the tours for the last two years were cancelled due to bad weather. For some reason they can't arrange a rain date because they use the school buses for transportation. - Margy
DeleteAmazing stuff - that sure is a lot of equipment. Their innovations are quite creative.
ReplyDeleteAnd they keep making improvements. The scariest of them all (for me) is the helicopter logging. - Margy
Delete