The Biggest Modern (Diesel) Yarders/Towers Built

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AlaskanLogger

ArboristSite Lurker
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Location
Juneau, Alaska USA
Seems to be all kinds of discussion here lately about big yarders since the Jay Browning skyline incident. Jay's yarder is a Skagit 739 and is medium as yarders go, not giant. There a many that are larger. Berger MARC VI- much larger. Skagit BU-199- much larger. Wahsington 217- much larger. Madill 052- Much larger. These are the bigger production machines, but lots of loggers built bigger custom machines, especially on the Olympic Peninsula. Berger and Washington made a few one-off machines (Washington 408- only 2 or 3 built, Berger Super-Snubber, one built) and etc. There were some huge yarders custom built around, and spooling 6,000 feet of 2" skyline was not that uncommon. In that world Browning's 739 is a toy. I'll post some pics and some brochures over the next couple of months of these machines. The 739 was a 'meduim sized' machine in the 1970's, as it only spools 2,000' of 1 1/2" skyline.

I was trying to post pics and brochures from the bigger machine,but all my files are to bigfor the site.
 
Looking forward to more posts on this.
I hooked on a 739 for four years and I swear it held 2400' of 1 1/2".
Did you ever hear of a big Madill built for Anderson Middleton out of Hoquiam?It was a tension skidder and I think it held 10,000' of 1 1/8" haulback. I think it was a one of a kind. I never worked on it but I remember their foreman spent a couple hours trying to convince my Dad to hook on it when I was a kid.
 
I'm really looking forward to this thread developing.



Mr. HE:cool:
 
AlaskanLogger said:
I was trying to post pics and brochures from the bigger machine,but all my files are to bigfor the site.
Click to expand...

Open the pictures in microsoft paint and choose the image menu, then click on stretch/skew. If you enter a number smaller than 100% it will scale the picture for you. To keep from clobbering your originals make a copy of them first in another folder BEFORE you resize them.
 
I was recently on a job with a 110' ft tall Madill yarder. I can't remember the model, other than it had rubber tires (tandem tandem) and that it was pretty old and freshly completely rebuilt. Any ideas on which model?
 
MR4WD said:
I was recently on a job with a 110' ft tall Madill yarder. I can't remember the model, other than it had rubber tires (tandem tandem) and that it was pretty old and freshly completely rebuilt. Any ideas on which model?
Click to expand...

Pretty hard to say. Telescoping for sure so increases the chances it being a slackline but no way to tell for sure. Pretty old, It would have to be if 110'.
Rubber tires, that doesn't tell you anything. Undercarriages varied on the same model.
 
2dogs said:
Who currently makes tower yarders? I know several companies make yoader/tong throwers but just curious if the big machines are still made, not just rebuilt.
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Depends on whhat you call big machines. If you're talking 90' and over towers with over about 1 1/8 skyline I think the answer is nobody. You could get a 70' madill though.
 
Posing pics to this forum is far too difficult, one at a time is ridiculous, so go to heavyequipmentforums.com and check out my threads there- lots of Skagit, Madill, Berger, Washinton. All the big yarders. My username is Contract Logger, you'll need to look in the 'forestry equipment' thread. lots of pics and brochures over there fellas.............
 
My heart palpitates just thinking about all the massive wood those things moved but is breaking at the same time to see them rotting away like that, it's like the last scene from "old yeller". Happy St. Pattys Day:cheers:
 
AlaskanLogger said:
Posing pics to this forum is far too difficult, one at a time is ridiculous, so go to heavyequipmentforums.com and check out my threads there- lots of Skagit, Madill, Berger, Washinton. All the big yarders. My username is Contract Logger, you'll need to look in the 'forestry equipment' thread. lots of pics and brochures over there fellas.............
Click to expand...

DAMN!!!!!!:jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop: Those are awesome!!!! I will definitely continue to keep checking on your pics that you keep posting!!!!:clap::clap::clap: Steve Awesome job AlaskanLogger!! Here's to you:cheers::yourock:
 
Yarders to me are some of the coolest machines around. They have a presence about them.




Mr. HE:cool:
 
There used to be 3 Skagit's sitting along HWY 20 between Hamilton and Concrete, East of Sedro-Wooley... I used to drive by them all the time going Steelhead fishing on the Skagit and Sauk rivers about 100 years ago.

I just drove up there about 2 months ago... they are gone. :cry:

Gary
 
AlaskanLogger said:
Posing pics to this forum is far too difficult, one at a time is ridiculous, so go to heavyequipmentforums.com and check out my threads there- lots of Skagit, Madill, Berger, Washinton. All the big yarders. My username is Contract Logger, you'll need to look in the 'forestry equipment' thread. lots of pics and brochures over there fellas.............
Click to expand...

Dude you da man! Your pics are saving a huge chunk of logging history. Thanks for letting it slip who you are in real life. Your bio speaks volumes.
 
2dogs said:
Dude you da man! Your pics are saving a huge chunk of logging history. Thanks for letting it slip who you are in real life. Your bio speaks volumes.
Click to expand...

Someone estimated (not at my request,lol) that i have somwhere near 20,000 printed photos- tower logging in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. If only I had a lifetime to scan them.............
 
Well, I stayed up quite late last night looking at your pictures and didn't begin to get to them all. Great photos that's for sure. Some of the stats on them showed me my memory to be faulty. I do question some of the numbers on the 199s. Just don't seem right to me. Also you said you thought all of the 199s were still around. I don't know about all of them but I'm sure one got cut up on the Clearwater. It was at Moes camp and had some pretty good sized alders growing up through the drums before it met it's end.
I may have a few to post over there that will interest you.
 
AlaskanLogger said:
Someone estimated (not at my request,lol) that i have somwhere near 20,000 printed photos- tower logging in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. If only I had a lifetime to scan them.............
Click to expand...

Prints or negatives can be digitized on put on a CD. I don't know how much that would cost you but it is an idea. Do you guys have a Costco anywhere nearby? Their photo dept is the cheapest I have found.
 

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