Things I saw in Canada

[Bill Gaiche]

These are some photos of some intresting things to me while I was in Canada this past week. The truck is in the same town where the 3 year old was missing and then returned to.The overpass is for wildlife to cross over highway #1. The stump, a western red cedar is in Stanley Park. Its over 750 years old. The one my wife is standing by must be a pup.  bg















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[paul case]

that is some neat stuff there!

i had a dumptruck like that one except mine said tonka instead of titan. ;D ;D  pc

[Paul_H]

Bill,

you were in Squamish?It looks like Squamish Mill's drysort by the water with a DeCook truck getting unloaded.
How long were you in town?

[Bill Gaiche]

Paul H, was in town during the afternoon on Tuesday, spent the night and drove around town the next morning. Neat place. Garibaldi was the name on the sign at the logging co. in town.Same as the plack above. What do you know about that name.
PC mine was almost a Tonka. I dont think they were invented yet when I was a kid. bg

[Brucer]

Let's see -- Sparwood to Stanley Park. Either you went North to the Trans-Canada (highway 1) and then drove West, or you took highway 3, drove right by me, and picked up highway 1 west of Vancouver.

[Bill Gaiche]

Brucer, drove east from Vancouver to Golden on #1 and south on 95 then east to Sparwood, over to 22 and then north on 22 to Calgary, then to Banff, back to Golden over to Kamloops, up to Cach Springs, next 99 on down into Vancouver. Great trip. Canada is very pretty. bg

[sawguy21]

You did not do that in a couple of days. ;D  Neat how we unload log trucks isn't it?

[Magicman]

Thanks for the pictures Bill.  Tonka was not invented when I needed it.  Mine was a 2X4 with sewing thread spools nailed to the sides.  My dozer was same except it just did not have wheels.

[Paul_H]

Garibaldi was the name on the sign at the logging co.

Garibaldi is the pointed mountain north of Squamish that seems to sit on top of the hills.It is a dormant volcano that was named in honour of Guiseppe Garibaldi by Capt George Vancouver.
The A-frame in the photo is where we dumped most all our logs.The company named after Garibaldi is a fairly new co.

[Bill Gaiche]

sawguy21, It took 4 1/2 days to make the trip. Yes on the unloading. Paul H I guess we were very close to your place at Enderby? Thanks for the info on the name also.  MM those were the days when we didnt have tonka. Cant say I didnt mind not having any tonkas at all. bg

[sandhills]

Great pictures!  Sounds like you had a great trip, seeing the jaws on that loader above the loaded truck really puts it's size into perspective.  They obviously don't mess around with their iron up there.

[Bill Gaiche]

More things I saw. bg

[Coon]

That picture with the sign saying Brisco is the mill that my uncle Ron works at.  Had the gate been open and you went to the scale shack you woulda seen Yosamitty Sam himself.   :D 

[Brucer]

Looks like you managed to dodge around me coming and going.

Did "Golden Timber Frames" look a little deserted to you?  They went bankrupt after only 2 years in business. I was given the opportunity to bid on their assets -- it was a little rich for my blood.

[Bill Gaiche]

Coon, thats neat that he works there. Saw several mill while we were there. Two mills had closed down which looked to be quite large at one time. bg

[Bill Gaiche]

Brucer, would have been nice to have visited with you. Didnt realize how many of you guys live in Canada. Yes it was deserted looking. There was a vehicle at the big building, but the roads were blocked with timbers. Looked like a good place to have a nice business. I was suprised to see that there were not many log homes in our travel. bg

[Brucer]

Lots of timber frames in Canmore -- you'd have passed by it on your way West out of Calgary. I doubt you'd see much from the highway. Most mid-sized communities have a timber frame or three hidden away among all the stick frame buildings. Conventional log homes aren't all that popular in the interior -- they don't provide that much insulation and it can get pretty darn cold in the winter.

You'll find some of my timbers in the Yukon, Kamloops, Montana, and half a dozen smaller communities around this area.

Golden Timber Frames was started in 2009 by a couple of experienced timber framers. They had a really nice setup -- Meadows mill that could cut 40' timbers, Hundegger planer and CNC machines, two storey high fabric covered building 60' x 360', Cat 980 loader. They were leasing the site from an indian band and also had an agreement to buy logs from the band. From what I could tell, they over-extended themselves: plenty of capacity but not enough market.

[Coon]

Bill, I have had relations working at the mill in Brisco for as I have been living and then some. I have family all throughout that area from Golden on down through to Edgewater.  I have lived out that way in the past too,  ;) but being born and raised as a flatlander something brought me back to the prairies....  :D   I plan on moving back out that way at some point just not sure when. 

[WildDog]

Interesting pics there, thanks Bill

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, about the log homes. We have one outfit here that has gone down 3 times and another just a short distance down the road here that isn't putting out much volume. They seem to start a home and long before it's ever finished the peeled logs are all gone gray. The problem that I see is they are set up in low a density population and the market is a very long way off. I only know of about a dozen log homes around and most of them are more of a camp than a permanent home, although they are just fine for a home. Cousins of ours out by Paul_H had one burn down and the insurance would not let them rebuild a log home. Your at their mercy when all your possessions are gone and looking to rebuild on the claim. They went to a hockey game one night and returned to flames.