I thought you guys might dig this.

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Mike S.

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2007
Messages
398
Location
Northern California
I know this is off the subject but I think we are all the same in that we dig metal and old stuff and this is both, so I thought I'd share.

This "ball" has been on display in a metal fabrication yard downtown for as long as I can remember. I've passed by it thousands of times but never stopped to look at it. I always assumed it was an old wrecking ball until a friend told me the story. So, I finally stopped and took a look. I'll spare you the history and let you read the inscription. It is about six feet in diameter and the chain links are at least 1 1/2" thick. I like that some dude figured out and made all of the pieces and it turned out perfect. They did cool stuff in "the old days"!:)
 

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I know this is off the subject but I think we are all the same in that we dig metal and old stuff and this is both, so I thought I'd share.

This "ball" has been on display in a metal fabrication yard downtown for as long as I can remember. I've passed by it thousands of times but never stopped to look at it. I always assumed it was an old wrecking ball until a friend told me the story. So, I finally stopped and took a look. I'll spare you the history and let you read the inscription. It is about six feet in diameter and the chain links are at least 1 1/2" thick. I like that some dude figured out and made all of the pieces and it turned out perfect. They did cool stuff in "the old days"!:)


Amazing peice of history there.Thanks for posting that.[P[;):cool:
 
After I posted this I did some online research and found this old article. At the bottom it says "turn to page 17" which I couldn't find. I love old stuff like this... it's just cool!

JANUARY 1951

91875950

HIGHBALL for
HUNGRY HORSE

by JACK CRISWELL

Hungry Horse Project, Montana
Region 1 (headquarters at Boise, Idaho)



TALL TIMBERS TOPPLED by ball and chain. Photo by the Author.
YOU PROBABLY JIAVK HEARD about tile fellow wllO

went to the circus for the first time, and seeing a
giraffe eat ing leaves off tree brandies -20 feet in the
air, said unbelievingly, "Shucks, there ain't no
sech animal."

Writers, photographers, contractors, and engi-
neers express much the same reaction when they
first see the amazing "highball"' clearing method
pioneered this year in the 24,000-acre Hungry
Horse reservoir area in northwestern Montana.
One writer for a national magazine declared, "I
heard about it and didn't believe it. Now, I see
it, but I still don't believe it. It can't be done."

Actually, the new land-clearing method, which,
uses teams of powerful Diesel tractors towing up
to 2,000 feet of heavy wire rope with a gigantic
8-foot diameter steel ball fastened into the line
midway between the two tractors, has been so
fantastically successful that the system may well
revolutionize the clearing industry.

Product of the imagination and engineering
know-how of the two major clearing contractors
working in the big Bureau of Reclamation res-
ervoir, the new land-clearing method has been
aptly named "operation highball," not only be-
cause of the 41/2 ton steel balls used, but also be-
cause the mechanized scheme clears timbered land
at a rate rivaling the legendary feats of Paul
Bunyan.

Although the revolutionary idea was tried forj
the first time just last May, the almost unbeliev-
able speed -and efficiency achieved with the new
snagging method have already attracted wide-
spread interest among logging and clearing con-
tractors. The unique and spectacular nature of
the "highball" snagging operation has also at-
tracted great public attention, and as a result
it has been filmed by a national newsreel com-
pany, and has been written up in a great many
of the national construction magazines and trade
publications. Popular Mechanics magazine, for
one, carried a comprehensive article in the August
1950 issue, and also used a painting of the tractor,
cable, and ball set-up on the front cover.

The men who developed the revolutionary clear-
ing method and are using it to snag down the
timber on the steep mountain slopes and valley
floor of the Flathead River's south fork in north-
western Montana are S. L. "Red"' Wixson of Wix-
scn and Crowe, Inc., and John Trisdale of J. H.
Trisdale, Inc., both of Redding, Calif.

Basically, the "highball" clearing idea is a
refinement on a very effective mechanized clearing
method developed and used last year by the two
contractors, in which pairs of Diesel tractors were
used to drag up to 400 feet of 2-inch wire cable
through the timbered areas, snagging down all
of the trees, snags, and brush caught in the loop
of the cable.

Working largely in burned over areas last year,
the contractors found the cable snagging method



THK RECLAMATION ERA




SIAMESE CAT, above, clears about 1 acre of debris per hour.
Plhe pull of heavy timber is so great on tractor (at right), op-
erator must drop dozer blade on stump to prevent skidding.
Photos by A. E. AlcC/oud, Region I.



so efficient that they were able to complete about
95 percent of their joint contract for clearing 7,210
acres of land before winter stopped operations.
However, land being cleared under new contracts
awarded last December 6,840 acres to Wixsoii
and Crowe on a bid of $2,446,850 and 7,855 acres
to Trisdale on a bid of $2,484,360 is mostly in
areas from which merchantable timber has been
removed by logging contractors. Recognizing
that the cable would hang up on the stumps left
by the loggers, Wixson and Trisdale put their
imaginations to work and came up with the idea
of using the 8-foot diameter steel balls to keep the
the cable high enough above the ground to prevent
snagging on stumps.

Effectiveness of the big steel balls in increasing
the efficiency and speed of clearing operations has
surpassed the most optimistic estimates of the con-
tractors. Xot only are the balls accomplishing
their primary purpose elimination of cable hang-
ups on stumps but the additional leverage ap-
plied by catching the trees several feet above the
ground instead of at the ground level has speeded
snagging operations to an amazing extent. Work-
ing on fairly level ground under ideal conditions,
one pair of tractors pulling one ball actually
snagged down in 4 hours all of the trees on a
heavily timbered area of nearly 200 acres. Aver-
age daily production for one pair of tractors and
one ball working under varying conditions, in-
cluding steep hillsides, marshy ground, etc., has
been close to 100 acres per 10-hour shift.

As a result of the speed of the "highball" snag-
ging method, the two contractors were able to com-
plete approximately 60 percent of their new con-



tracts in just over 7 months of work, and it is an-
ticipated that the entire clearing job will be
finished by December 1951 more than a year
ahead of the scheduled completion date.

Although the "highball'' clearing method was
an entirely new and untried idea, Wixson and
Trisdale had enough faith in their brain child to
gamble a small fortune on its success. Their com-
bined bids were nearly $2,000,000 under the first
bids submitted for the clearing work. The orig-
inal bids were rejected because they were too much
above the engineer's estimate. As soon as the
contracts were awarded to them, the two con-
tractors moved swiftly to translate their revolu-
tionary idea into the new type of clearing equip-
ment. Five steel balls were fabricated in halves
out of %-inch boilerplate steel by the Consolidated
Western Co. of San Francisco. Installation of 6-
inch steel shafts in Timken roller bearings and
final welding of the 8-foot diameter, 4i/ 2 -ton steel
spheres were done in the Redding, Calif., shops of
the two clearing contractors, and the balls were
then trucked to the reservoir area.

First experiments in use of the new equipment
indicated that the fastest and most efficient set-up
consisted of one ball pulled by a pair of tractors.
In making a snagging "pull" the two tractor
operators bulldoze their way through the forest on
approximately parallel paths 100 feet or more
apart the distance between the tractors varying
with the type of terrain and the size of the trees
to be snagged down. In light going, the tractors
move through the timber snagging down the trees
caught in the loop of cable as they progress. How-

(Please turn to page 17)
 
After I posted this I did some online research and found this old article. At the bottom it says "turn to page 17" which I couldn't find. I love old stuff like this... it's just cool!

JANUARY 1951

91875950

HIGHBALL for
HUNGRY HORSE

by JACK CRISWELL

Hungry Horse Project, Montana
Region 1 (headquarters at Boise, Idaho)



TALL TIMBERS TOPPLED by ball and chain. Photo by the Author.
YOU PROBABLY JIAVK HEARD about tile fellow wllO

went to the circus for the first time, and seeing a
giraffe eat ing leaves off tree brandies -20 feet in the
air, said unbelievingly, "Shucks, there ain't no
sech animal."

Writers, photographers, contractors, and engi-
neers express much the same reaction when they
first see the amazing "highball"' clearing method
pioneered this year in the 24,000-acre Hungry
Horse reservoir area in northwestern Montana.
One writer for a national magazine declared, "I
heard about it and didn't believe it. Now, I see
it, but I still don't believe it. It can't be done."

Actually, the new land-clearing method, which,
uses teams of powerful Diesel tractors towing up
to 2,000 feet of heavy wire rope with a gigantic
8-foot diameter steel ball fastened into the line
midway between the two tractors, has been so
fantastically successful that the system may well
revolutionize the clearing industry.

Product of the imagination and engineering
know-how of the two major clearing contractors
working in the big Bureau of Reclamation res-
ervoir, the new land-clearing method has been
aptly named "operation highball," not only be-
cause of the 41/2 ton steel balls used, but also be-
cause the mechanized scheme clears timbered land
at a rate rivaling the legendary feats of Paul
Bunyan.

Although the revolutionary idea was tried forj
the first time just last May, the almost unbeliev-
able speed -and efficiency achieved with the new
snagging method have already attracted wide-
spread interest among logging and clearing con-
tractors. The unique and spectacular nature of
the "highball" snagging operation has also at-
tracted great public attention, and as a result
it has been filmed by a national newsreel com-
pany, and has been written up in a great many
of the national construction magazines and trade
publications. Popular Mechanics magazine, for
one, carried a comprehensive article in the August
1950 issue, and also used a painting of the tractor,
cable, and ball set-up on the front cover.

The men who developed the revolutionary clear-
ing method and are using it to snag down the
timber on the steep mountain slopes and valley
floor of the Flathead River's south fork in north-
western Montana are S. L. "Red"' Wixson of Wix-
scn and Crowe, Inc., and John Trisdale of J. H.
Trisdale, Inc., both of Redding, Calif.

Basically, the "highball" clearing idea is a
refinement on a very effective mechanized clearing
method developed and used last year by the two
contractors, in which pairs of Diesel tractors were
used to drag up to 400 feet of 2-inch wire cable
through the timbered areas, snagging down all
of the trees, snags, and brush caught in the loop
of the cable.

Working largely in burned over areas last year,
the contractors found the cable snagging method



THK RECLAMATION ERA




SIAMESE CAT, above, clears about 1 acre of debris per hour.
Plhe pull of heavy timber is so great on tractor (at right), op-
erator must drop dozer blade on stump to prevent skidding.
Photos by A. E. AlcC/oud, Region I.



so efficient that they were able to complete about
95 percent of their joint contract for clearing 7,210
acres of land before winter stopped operations.
However, land being cleared under new contracts
awarded last December 6,840 acres to Wixsoii
and Crowe on a bid of $2,446,850 and 7,855 acres
to Trisdale on a bid of $2,484,360 is mostly in
areas from which merchantable timber has been
removed by logging contractors. Recognizing
that the cable would hang up on the stumps left
by the loggers, Wixson and Trisdale put their
imaginations to work and came up with the idea
of using the 8-foot diameter steel balls to keep the
the cable high enough above the ground to prevent
snagging on stumps.

Effectiveness of the big steel balls in increasing
the efficiency and speed of clearing operations has
surpassed the most optimistic estimates of the con-
tractors. Xot only are the balls accomplishing
their primary purpose elimination of cable hang-
ups on stumps but the additional leverage ap-
plied by catching the trees several feet above the
ground instead of at the ground level has speeded
snagging operations to an amazing extent. Work-
ing on fairly level ground under ideal conditions,
one pair of tractors pulling one ball actually
snagged down in 4 hours all of the trees on a
heavily timbered area of nearly 200 acres. Aver-
age daily production for one pair of tractors and
one ball working under varying conditions, in-
cluding steep hillsides, marshy ground, etc., has
been close to 100 acres per 10-hour shift.

As a result of the speed of the "highball" snag-
ging method, the two contractors were able to com-
plete approximately 60 percent of their new con-



tracts in just over 7 months of work, and it is an-
ticipated that the entire clearing job will be
finished by December 1951 more than a year
ahead of the scheduled completion date.

Although the "highball'' clearing method was
an entirely new and untried idea, Wixson and
Trisdale had enough faith in their brain child to
gamble a small fortune on its success. Their com-
bined bids were nearly $2,000,000 under the first
bids submitted for the clearing work. The orig-
inal bids were rejected because they were too much
above the engineer's estimate. As soon as the
contracts were awarded to them, the two con-
tractors moved swiftly to translate their revolu-
tionary idea into the new type of clearing equip-
ment. Five steel balls were fabricated in halves
out of %-inch boilerplate steel by the Consolidated
Western Co. of San Francisco. Installation of 6-
inch steel shafts in Timken roller bearings and
final welding of the 8-foot diameter, 4i/ 2 -ton steel
spheres were done in the Redding, Calif., shops of
the two clearing contractors, and the balls were
then trucked to the reservoir area.

First experiments in use of the new equipment
indicated that the fastest and most efficient set-up
consisted of one ball pulled by a pair of tractors.
In making a snagging "pull" the two tractor
operators bulldoze their way through the forest on
approximately parallel paths 100 feet or more
apart the distance between the tractors varying
with the type of terrain and the size of the trees
to be snagged down. In light going, the tractors
move through the timber snagging down the trees
caught in the loop of cable as they progress. How-

(Please turn to page 17)

That was a good read.[cl[cl[cl[cl
 
That reminds me of R.G. Letourneau's Jungle Crusher or the Land Train. These Industrialists were out there making it happen!

b17.jpg


b19.jpg
 

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