In reference to the McGiffert log loaders, they were all manufactured by the Clyde Iron Works in Duluth, MN. The 5 discussed here are all that remain in the US. In addition, there is one that is upside down along the shore of a lake in British Columbia, where it has been abandoned since the 1920's. This makes a total of 6 of these machines known in North America. The one at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum has been an on going restoration project by a pair of volunteers for the last 10 years now, and they are about ready to install the booms and cabling. The machinery has been sufficiently restored so that it can run on compressed air.

As far as other logging equipment goes, the museum also holds the last remaining Clyde double drum, rehaul log skidder, with enough parts to restore the booms, should finances and labor ever come together to do so.

Let's see, from Barnhart Log Loaders, to McGiffert loaders, to the only remaining Clyde double drum, rehaul skidder, no topic drift here! And just to add to drift, while visiting the office of the company, where two men still worked in the accounting department, I learned that one was the son of the retired head of the company's maintenance shop. He told a story about the skidder. Everybody has heard a story about the steam locomotive that was shopped and then never fired up. The skidder nearly qualifies, it was fired up once after a complete overhaul to make sure the machine was ready to go. The overhaul was at the behest of the patriarch of the company who doubted his then young sons' belief in the small Caterpillars they were buying to drag logs up to the rail lines. The Cats proved quite capable and the rebuilt skidder was never used. Able to pull logs from four directions simultaneously, and then return the cables using light haulback lines threaded around pulleys cabled to stumps, the machine must have been a show to watch. The museum's sign also mentions that it was quite dangerous, logs moving at 8 mph, haulbacks moving at 15 mph. The machine sported the only three axle archbar trucks I have ever personally seen. A roller chain ran over one inside axle and back to a clutched sprocket amongst all the other machinery so the machine could move itself.

And now the question, why does a closed down company need a two man accounting department? Perhaps it had something to do with the oil wells on company land.

Alex Huff, who found the now fully mature brothers quite amenable to people taking pictures on their property as long as the proprieties were observed. You stopped in the office and chatted with them before asking permission.

Alex,

As long as we are drifting, I love your story about your visit to the property, and I hope that you can some how find a way back.

Just for the record, both of the members of the accounting department that you visited with have since passed on, as have the brothers who were managing the operations at that time. The brothers were the grandsons of the founder. Now the company is managed by the great grandsons and a great-great grandson of the same founder.

As for why you need that large and accounting department for an apparently inactive company, the company today harvests and plants 3 MILLION trees each year to maintain steady growth and production annually and has done so since the end of World War 2.

The story about the skidder has been told to me before, but it is good to hear it again from you. Apparently, during WW2, the skidder was used to harvest the last timber from the west end of the Red River and Gulf RR (50 miles west of Long Leaf) and was overhauled so that it could be moved over to the east end of the logging operation, some 20 miles east of Long Leaf. Since the mill at that time was supplying around 50% of the lumber used in the Higgins boats (landing craft) the company was allotted some bulldozers which were very effective in doing the job that the skidder had been doing with less danger to the workers so that was the end of the skidder.

I am glad to see that you found the signs on our web page. There is a lot of carefully gathered information on the signs, and they are finally going up next weekend so that more of the site can be self guided.

If you have any pictures or memories of your visit that you would like to share, we are making great strides on two books that the museum will publish in the next year (hopefully) and we would love to include anything that you would be willing to share.

Everett

While the rail mounted skidders are a love of mine they are not Barnhart loaders. Let's continue the skidder conversation at a new thread "Rail Skidders".

There is a log loader at Fort Missoula, MT - not sure what make.