This goes back to the good old days around 50 years ago. Some of you will remember logging in this way. I had a D-2 Crawler made by Caterpillar. It had a 2-cylinder gas pony engine to start the big diesel engine. It also had a heavy-duty outside mounted blade. On the back was mounted a cable winch and boom pulp and log jammer with tongs.

The winch was lever operated by hand from either side of the D-2. The operator would place the tongs on the pulp wood stick or sawmill log. Then using one of the levers would raise then lower the item onto a skidding dray to be pulled out to what was known as the landing area by the D-2.

Winter had already started. I had to make a long skidding trail through the mucky, water-filled swamp. Starting at one end, I happened to find an old, narrow, one-horse skidding trail from years before. Using the chain saw and D-2 to reopen this old trail was going very well until I got near the other end.

There it was in the middle of the trail, the big swamp rock. The D-2, weighing a little over 5 tons, was already having trouble moving in the sticky muck. I wanted to push the rock about 4 feet so I could get past it. The rock moved about 2 feet when up shot a fountain of water from underneath it. The D-2 was now disappearing fast. I was looking for a 10-foot pole to put in the straight-up exhaust pipe so I could find it later. The D-2 was just able to back away and get out as the entire area filled with more water.

You never know what you will find in the woods.