The Ultimate Firewood Hoarders Club Experience

yeah if im not using it for a trip!

 

That's kinda interesting, That Lombard was (at the time) state of the art logging equipment, the rest was mostly hand tool's and horses, with the exception of maybe a steam powered winch.
Today, a skidder is pushing $275,000, and is one of the lower cost machines on a modern logging site.
The $150k the Lombard cost would only get you a road tractor and part of the log trailer today.

 

Sweet place LodgedTree ! We are only about 3 hours from Bangor so this might be a good excuse to renew my passport. I keep meaning to but has t been a priority. If you ever get your family over the border there is a place called Kings Landing about 30-40 minutes from the Houlton border. It's an olden days village and very well done. All the people working there stay in character as if they live in the 1800s. Lots of stuff to see and great fun for the family

 

Yes and no. I once read of a story where a logging crew had to move a Lombard from one logging operation to another and went overland to do it. This was a multi-day event and as they moved forward they just kept cutting dead blowdowns, stoking their fire and making progress. A modern day skidder can't even make that claim. Sure they can go anywhere, but they better have a huge tank of fuel they are lugging behind it. A steam Lombard Log Hauler though...yep self-sufficient.

(Not arguing with you my friend, just telling an interesting story how ingenious people made a go of it across the wilds of Maine on their own and their trusted iron steed).

 

Never really thought about it before, but in freezing temps, they had to keep the fire burning 24/7 in that Lombard!

 

Yep, about the only warm job on the railroad.

Keep in mind too, the steersman of the Lombard had burning embers dropping down his neck when it got all fired up. He also was the head of a very long train with a 19 ton machine being pushed by 200 tons of wood without any brakes going down hill on ice. The bravest were called "stick with em steersman"!

According to most logging operations, while the Steam Lombards were the wave of the future, they actually were more expensive to operate then the horses they were supposed to replace. The real cost was in cutting and splitting all that firewood the year before and in a place in anticipation of where they were going to be the next winter. Their main log trails were also more expensive to build. HOWEVER, when gasoline Lombard's came out in 1910, they were far more efficient and made horse logging go the way of the do-do bird.

The Blizzard of 1956 was the one I remember hearing about. Lombards had pretty much been replaced, but a few lingered in sheds. Then the Blizzard hit and these old trucks could not hack the snow. The old Lombards, most having been fitted with V-plows, came to the rescue. The old duffers that ran them knew a thing or two on what they had and only they would go, so they charged a pretty penny. My Grandfather was incensed...then and now about the whole thing because he had a plowing contract in this town in 1956. Because he could not do what he promised to do for the money, they paid the Lombard owner by taking pay from his contract to do so!! Today that would never happen! Not only do the sissies get a over-normal-snowfall bonuses, they would cry for FEMA money to boot!

 

There's just something cool about steam. I was saddened to see (a few years ago) that the steam engine's for the Cog railroad up Mt.Washington were replaced by diesel/hydrolic.

 

I think its because all the moving parts are on the outside. With steam all you have is fire and steam on the inside, but everything else is cranking and moving where you can see it. That is just not the case with diesel and gasoline engines.

The other thing I love about steam is the raw power. There is no build up of noise and churn of turbos; nope just a chuff and the thing lumbers off with amazing torque and horsepower.