Other Sterloff property posts are here
http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2012/07/sterloff-trucksmid-1940s-peterbilt-and.html
http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2012/01/more-photos-from-sterloff-property.html
On the subject of logging skidder oddities...the Diesel/Electric LeTourneau skidder
http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2012/12/letourneau-dieselelectric-log-skidder.html
Lost treasure trove of abandoned logging machines
http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2012/07/lost-treasure-trove-of-abandoned.html
Jackson Bros Logging
http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2012/05/jackson-brothers-logging.html
And, back to old Euclid stories...
The log skidder in the photos had always been guessed as some sort of cobbled together contraption. I suspected that the great looking Euclid radiator was there because that's what the builder had in his spare parts pile.
Blog reader Pierre, from Quebec, wrote to say that in fact the machine was one of the very first Euclid machines, dating from around 1934 or 35.
Here's an excerpt from one of his emails after we started talking.
" The Euc skidder is one of
the very first Euclids made, in 1934-35. It was already out of
production by 1936. As with most Euclids, two versions existed, the
hauler (longer chassis) and the tractor, made to pull bottom-dump
trailers (and later, to power 6-wheel scrapers). The hauler was the
2ZW, the tractor the 1ZW.
My references mention a Waukesha
6RSK gas engine, 112 h.p., but as you have discovered on your end, it
wasn't long before a diesel was made available. The bottom-dump held 8
yards, 10-ton payload rating, the rear dump 7 yrds. and 10-ton cap.
There's not much apparent difference between the production units and
the prototypes, other than the rear dump having it's front axle set
farther back to reduce the turning radius. Notice one thing about your
specimen: on the left side, outside (!) of the cab (so to speak), a
duplicate set of brake and clutch pedals are visible: these were
included on both versions, but only on the rear dump was there also a
sort of small platform with a railing just to the left of the
seat/cab…to use while backing into the dump spot? It looks like a
little balcony. The tractor just had the pedals alone. I'll see if I
can scan some pics.
The other Euc bottom-dump
you have on the video is not the same model; that one (Which I've seen
"in the metal" at an HCEA show) is a later FDT series tractor. It could
be a 4-, a 9- or a 25-FDT, they made quite a few variants. It could be
as old as 1939, but I believe it's actually from the late forties or
very early fifties. The companion rear dump to this tractor was the
classic, very common "three-pane windshield", 15-ton Euc FD, what many
envision when "Euclid" is mentioned.
Before the
takeover by GM in 1953, both GM and Cummins engines were available,
Cummins being most popular. The FD dumpers and tractors were pretty
much mechanically identical, and engines were in the 150-160 hp range.
The GM engine became more popular in later years not only because of GM
ownership, but also because they were well-mated with Allison torque
converters and powershift transmissions, which made operating these
things much easier, particulary scrapers. You could say that the whole
Euclid era was really launched in 1936, when the first FD hauler and
tractor came out, with planetary axle and diesel power. That got an
entire industry going…
So the skidder pre-dates
the FD by a couple of years and is THE ancestor, the prototype for the
Euclids that followed. A real find, very rare."
End of Pierre's email
Here are some photos and a couple videos that have older Euclid machines in them. As Pierre pointed out, not all of the Euclids in the photos and videos are as old as the Sterloff machine...some are different models.
I'm adding them, to give a feel for what Euclid was up to back in those days.
And at approx the 2:56 mark in the next one, is another take on it
And at around 2:08 for the next one
The Euclid Skidder from the Sterloff property
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