Kenny's Loggin' – Working With "The Prince"

Oct 25, 2023 - one year ago

With six steel spars, five grapple yarders, and at least six log loaders, it was possible that someone was away or doing another job.

Kenny's Loggin' - Working with "The Prince" — *Loading logs on right of way.*

After I got my thirty days in, my previous experience paid off. One day I was sent with Gordie McCubbing on the 115 log loader. This Northwest loader was on rubber tires and had a wooden long boom. This loader being mobile, Gordie was usually by himself loading out the logs that were beside the newly built roads, called right-away logs. Just a few days at one place then on to another. Gordie usually got his five loads and we would move after that which involved overtime.

Gordie saw that I had some experience with a power saw and wanted me to work with him. He knew when he needed a man, so he would get the pickup warmed up with the power saw in it ready to go to work. He lurked out beside all the buses and would signal me, I would grab my lunch and caulk boots and sneak over to the pickup and we were gone. This would work good for a few days, but sooner or later someone would rat me out and I would get bumped by someone with more seniority.

We were loading some right-away on Salmon River A which was the first spur to the right just after the canyon. All the other equipment was farther out Salmon River Main. Mel Boyd was backed in with his trailer down. Mel was a contract truck, his nickname was “Anvil Head” — not sure why, but he was pretty bald. Gordie had put a large hemlock on the bunk and was trying to pull it sideways to fit against the stake when the boom broke! It fell to the right and miraculously nothing fell on the logging truck. Mel didn’t say much, just put the truck in gear and away he went, all the way to the dump with one log! Not sure if he made it back for his third load or not. Meanwhile Gordie and I stowed the rigging as best we could and headed for the shop to replace the long boom.

We were on early shift up on a road called SouthFork A 4 G 6 A (nicknamed Alphabet Mountain) in the fog and bugs. I was second loading and they had George Olson landing buck for us. George was a very large man who started working at a very young age before power saws were invented. His hearing was nil. When they put him in the booth to do hearing test, he sat there until they opened the door he asked, “When are we going to start?” He hadn’t heard a thing in the head phones.

George was old school. He had his caulk boots and rain gear on when he left his house in the morning. Management was worried that he was getting too old for falling and put him landing, bucking. When we got to where we were loading, he would get out grab his saw and stand beside the pickup leaning on his saw. Early shift brought out swarms of mosquitoes and black flies. He would stand there all day even eating his lunch — he was ready to buck all the time!

George was an avid wrestling fan, when the wrestlers came to town he could be seen at the Community Hall engaging with the wrestlers. One wrestler got in the ring and slyly threw some salt down in the corner of the ring, for rubbing in the opponents eyes. While George was yelling at wrestling legend Gene Kiniski, his wife hurriedly brushed the salt onto the floor! He had to be restrained from getting into the ring which was hard to do because of his size. Rumours were that he got into the ring in Courtenay.

Nicknames were common back then. Everyone had one whether you knew it or not. Loader operators were considered prima donnas. Not sure if he knew it, but Gordie’s nickname was “The Prince.”

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.