8-15NC The Heel Boom Note CardThis scene shows a landing near Vida, Oregon in 1941. It depicts an early type of heel boom, loading a Douglas fir log onto a '41 gasoline-powered Federal truck.The Heel Boom is so called because the tong is hooked to the log on the boom side of center. When the log is raised the short end of thel og comes up and heels against the bottom of the boom, causing the other end of the log to raise. Then it is swung over the truck for loading. The Head Loader, shown on the right, selected the log to be loaded and set the tong. The Second Loader, on the left, signaled the loading engineer and unhooked the tongs for a return to the log deck. The light bulbs attached to the boom supplied light in the early morning hours when operations were on a "hoot owl" shift. This shift was worked during very low humidity days when operations were forced to cease around noon because of forest fire danger. Electricity for the lights came from a portable generator. It is good to reflect on the improvements that have been made in the forest products industry; improvements in knowledge and equipment, giving us a better understanding of our role in the stewardship of our country's greatest renewable natural resource. |
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