336
	Norman Davidson
	1981

Extracting Douglas fir at Dalcattaig Invermoriston

Photograph courtesy of Jim Pratt and photographer Graham Whistler FBIPP FRPS.
In this scene the Alp Cable Crane belonging to James Jones, just on right edge of picture has extracted tree length unsned Douglas fir and unidentified operator of County Skidder is dragging the lengths away from the cable crane to a level stacking area where chainsaw operators will cut off any branches and spikes that remain on the stem and also cross cut the poles into market lengths.
Working on the steep slopes with the large trees was very difficult and dangerous. Hugh Greig and Alan MacDonald, the Cable Crane team, developed and enhanced strategies to increase extraction outputs from 3 tons per hour up to about 8. By extracting full length trees chainsaw operators were spared the dangerous problems of snedding and cross cutting poles on steep side slopes and tackled this work when the poles had been taken down to a flatter area. With the long extraction distances and very high volumes coming down the racks the cable cranes had to be kept clear and this could only be done by the skidders such as above or Highland Bears. Modern forwarders with their tight turning circles and large lifting capacity were unknown in UK at this time.
Please help to identify the operator>



Picture Added on 25 May 2008.

If you found this interesting, have a look at the following groups of pictures.
Forestry Areas
Forestry in Action
Fort Augustus
Large tree harvesting - Invermoriston and Altsaigh
Other Vehicles and Machines