From The Supply Post Archives: Port Hardy Bulldozing – Making Equipment Work

Aug 5, 2021 - 4 years ago

One of Vancouver Island’s largest construction companies is Port Hardy Bulldozing which employs up to 60 men in the vast area of the Nimpkish Valley.

Port Hardy Bulldozing Making Equipment Work — *Cat 253 excavator successfully clears out another logging road for Port Hardy Bulldozing.*

Owner John Milligan moved to the small north island community in 1964 to work as a log salvage contractor. The following year, he bought a Caterpillar D6 tractor and went into business clearing land.

Cat 253 excavator successfully clears out another logging road for Port Hardy Bulldozing. — *Rick and John Milligan*

Ten years later, Port Hardy Bulldozing has grown to be the most successful excavating company on the north island. They now have 22 pieces of machinery, which includes mostly Cat heavy equipment. As well as four wheel loaders — two 955’s, a 966 and a 980B, the company also has two D8’s and one D7. In April, they also bought a couple of new Cat excavators—a 255 and a 235.

In 1969, John’s son, Rick, joined the company as foreman and later became manager. “We have done just about everything except paving and home construction,” says John.

“We’ve been very pleased with Caterpillar equipment,” he advises. “They’ve run well for us and we’ve had excellent service from our local Finning depot.”

Both men are particularly pleased with the Cat 235 excavator which is being used extensively for logging road construction in an area above Beaver Cove, south of Port Hardy.

“The north end of the island has some of the worst conditions for building logging roads,” says Rick. “For us, it’s the whole concept of the Caterpillar excavator. We’re finding the 235 is very versatile for road building.”

The inconvenience of blasting stumps in logging road construction is reduced with the 235. “The power to weight ratio is excellent,” Rick notes. “We’ve dug out hemlock stumps up to five feet in diameter.”

Rick also says the 235 can even save time with rock. “We’ve gone around or over rock that would have stopped a bigger machine. And, because of the long reach, we are better able to strip the rock for blasting.”

Building logging roads with excavators in any terrain—especially the steep, rocky montains of northern Vancouver Island—is a comparatively new idea. John and Rick Milligan are nevertheless finding their new 235 Cat excavator to be particularly suitable for this application.

Rick says, “I’d recommend this machine to anyone. There’s no doubt about it—it’s a good machine.”

This article was originally published in Supply Post, March 1976 issue.

Editor's Update

Where Are They Now: Port Hardy Bulldozing

Port Hardy Bulldozing was taken over in 1977 by Rick Milligan and Ron Tupper, and is now owned by Ron’s son Paul, who is general manager for the company. Since the beginning, Port Hardy Bulldozing has been a locally owned and a family operated busines, with a diverse variety of equipment, as well as a vast range of experience. Nowadays, PHB (as it’s known) still uses primarily Caterpillar equipment, including excavators, skid steer loaders, and off-highway rock trucks, purchased from the local Finning branch. Recently, they’ve added a couple of John Deere excavators, purchased from Brandt in Campbell River. In addition to the usual construction, quarry, and civil projects, PHB has recently added environmental projects like water quality testing to their roster of services.