Kenny's Loggin – The Origins of Cat Logging

Aug 24, 2022 - 3 years ago

In 1904, Benjamin Holt replaced the rear wheels from a Holt steam tractor with a pair of tracks to help farmers deal with soft soil. During a field test in 1905, the company photographer exclaimed that the machine crawled like a big … Caterpillar. The Holt family and friends helped persuade Benjamin that “Caterpillar” was the logical choice for a name. In 1909 the first Holt tractor to wear the Caterpillar name crawled off the assembly line.

The Origins of Cat Logging - Kenny's Loggin — *TD 20 with integral arch*

In 1910 Holt registered the name “Caterpillar” as a trademark. In 1925, when Holt and Best merged to form their new tractor company they used the name so familiar to people around the world: Caterpillar. The Caterpillar Tractor Company is today known as Caterpillar Inc. and is a world leader in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment.

The first Carco winches and blades were introduced in 1932 for the Pacific Northwest logging industry for use with cleat tractors and logging arches.

In the 1940’s and 1950’s Cat logging with an arch proved less expensive on favourable ground which a Cat can operate on than cable logging.

Cats with winches had a “drum line” made of cable spooled on the winch. These drum lines were up to 100 feet long and inch and one eighth in diameter for the bigger Cats and seven-eighths diameter for the smaller Cats and skidders. Chokers were 7/8 inches for big Cats and 5/8 inches for the smaller machines. Chokers were usually 15 to 20 feet long with an eye on one end and a knob and bell at the other end. The first eyes were spliced and you slide a bell over the other end then put a knob on, in the early days the blacksmith made up the knobs as they were poured with molten “babbitt”. Later furled knobs and wedges were invented for quick changing. In fact these knobs were called “quick change knobs” by the loggers. You just need a marlin spike and hammer to change one. Eyes no longer had to be spiced as they used a steel furl and a press to make the eyes.

One end secured to the winch and the other end had a “bull hook” to which you attached “chokers” which went around the logs. The “hooker” was the man on the ground who pulled the drum line and chokers out to hook up to the logs. It was the hooker’s job to get the most logs to the landing, in the fastest amount of time. Some of the time the crew would run “hot and cold” chokers. The hooker would send a “turn” of logs into the landing which had four chokers with logs in them. While these logs were going in, the hooker had four more chokers which he set to be ready when the machine came back. If no arch was being used the hooker had to lift the chokers off the ground when the Cat was backing up or you could damage the chokers.

The knob and bell were usually at the opposite end of the eye of the choker, a person dragged the choker from the knob and bell end. One would slide the bell up the line and put the knob end over the log. Reaching over the log you pushed it under the log, reaching down under the log you grasped the knob and put it in the bell.

Arches had been used since horses, mules and bulls were used to drag logs out of the bush. Loggers were soon using arches for Cat logging. Many styles and shapes of arches have been used to assist in moving logs. Some had tracks and some had rubber tires (possibly war surplus stuff). The winch line was threaded through the arch so the operator can pull up the logs a little to free them from hang ups and stumps and they drag a lot easier when partially lifted off the ground. When pulling an arch the operator had to be on his toes as it was really easy to tip them over. Simple enough to right them but a nuisance, loosing production! Getting a flat tire on the rubber tired arch was also a problem.

Log skidders came along with an integral arch built in, and finally it occurred that you could integrate an arch on a dozer as well. Nowadays most of these small dozers and skidders are equipped with a grapple.

In the 70’s I worked for my Dad (Wilco Logging) he had a T.D. 20 International Cat. We used it to put skid roads in for the two skidders we had. It had a winch on the back and he would bring in some logs when he wasn’t building road. Winter shut down one year we thought it would be a good idea to put an “integral arch” on the back of the Cat. Dad did some searching and couldn’t find one to just bolt on. Somewhere he found a “roller” for it. He then went to Fauchons’ Engineering and Welding. They designed and cut out some plates of steel for Dad’s arch, he took them to our shop and welded them up. Presto we had an integral arch for real cheap. Dad liked it so much that we had to remind him to build some skid trails, not yard logs.

With the use of excavators and lots of steeper ground, Cats weren’t used so much anymore as the industry was starting to use grapple yarders and portable steel spars for logging.

Ken Wilson worked in the logging industry in B.C. for over 50 years. Ken is a regular contributor to Supply Post newspaper with his column “Kenny’s Loggin’”, and resides on Vancouver Island, B.C.