Post by Muleskinner on Jun 29, 2012 13:21:30 GMT -8
I have had these on other forums long time back and decided to post them here since they pertain to logging. I have always had a sentimental spot for the Cats and crawlers of the logging industry not because I was Cat skinner, but for their historical value and what they stood for.
We have come a long way from the Muleskinner and his teams of horses and Bull Whackers with their teams of Oxen who first began skidding turns on the old skid roads of the west and the Donkey Punchers and their steam Donkeys which ruled the woods for many years after the horse and Oxen Disappeared from the seen. And like the flip of a coin, the steam era gave way to the internal combustion engine which forever changed the face of logging for generations to come (?).
These Cats and crawler models represent a cross section of that change from steam to Diesel on a small scale and were built to show that progression through the early years to modern day.
Although many of you have seen them before, I am posting them for the benefit of our members who haven't. I am posting them from oldest to newest so its kind of a walk through history for your enjoyment.
Early Cat with Wheeled hyster arch
CLETRAK used by the Mount Lassen Lumber Company in Northern California. This unit was sold to the Pacific Lumber Company of Scotia California and lived out its last days at Yeager Creek out at Carlota California.
D8 Gantry blade which I call the Hoopa Cat. It was owned by a logger named Tom Noble and it taught me the ins an out of Cat Skinning, Literally! Holds a lot of sentimental value, she does.
D8 with tracked arch.
We have come a long way from the Muleskinner and his teams of horses and Bull Whackers with their teams of Oxen who first began skidding turns on the old skid roads of the west and the Donkey Punchers and their steam Donkeys which ruled the woods for many years after the horse and Oxen Disappeared from the seen. And like the flip of a coin, the steam era gave way to the internal combustion engine which forever changed the face of logging for generations to come (?).
These Cats and crawler models represent a cross section of that change from steam to Diesel on a small scale and were built to show that progression through the early years to modern day.
Although many of you have seen them before, I am posting them for the benefit of our members who haven't. I am posting them from oldest to newest so its kind of a walk through history for your enjoyment.
Early Cat with Wheeled hyster arch
CLETRAK used by the Mount Lassen Lumber Company in Northern California. This unit was sold to the Pacific Lumber Company of Scotia California and lived out its last days at Yeager Creek out at Carlota California.
D8 Gantry blade which I call the Hoopa Cat. It was owned by a logger named Tom Noble and it taught me the ins an out of Cat Skinning, Literally! Holds a lot of sentimental value, she does.
D8 with tracked arch.
