Over the years, the life of the logger, this king of Canadian forests, has greatly changed.
In the beginning, one can see the first forest workers like the heirs of trappers and coureurs des bois. Indeed, his mobility, his taste for adventure and risk, his quest to surpass himself, but especially his spirit of independence characterize the Canadian logger, until the arrival of feller bunchers, timberjacks and other forestry equipment.
The historical course that we propose clarifies a quite particular evolution. The logging trade has not evolved, or not much, from primitive times up to 1945. Until this date, man still measured himself with nature. It was an equal weapon fight between them. As from after Second World War, mechanization modifies the rules of the game.
Thus, the task to log trees, which had constituted, during millennias, a way of life for men in close relationship with nature, changes sufficiently during the second half of our century to lose many of its traditional characteristics. Our journey thus presents the following stages:
- before mechanization (from Adam to 1945) - «jack monoloy était fringant…»
- the chain saw (1950)
- the feller buncher (1960)
- the forwarder (1990);
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The "Precision" Saw, Precision Parts,
Mtl., 1946 collection: Lauradin Veilleux |
In the morning leaving with the sun…
From 1950 to 1980, the logger’s gear consisted of:
- his lunch box
- his saw
- some files
- some oil
- some gas.
With new safety requirements which were added in the mid-Seventies, a safety hat and safety pants were added to the logger’s gear.
"La démesure"
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IEL, end of the Forties,
Lebel Chain Saw collection. |
According to several former loggers, current forest work is no longer measured on a human scale, but rather on a machine scale. In this substitution of human work by forest equipment, one can see a somewhat alienated explanation. Today, a logger, at the end of his day, sees more the work of his machine than his own work.
For those "which had always worked with horses (…) It was the beginning of the end of the only way of life they knew. Some even felt an intense feeling of hatred towards these "bundles of scrap" (…)" -translated from the novel "La mort du bûcheron", by Desgroseillers, 1994.
Mechanization (1965)
At the beginning, when the first skidders arrived, some guys used to call them, a little pejoratively, the "guédounes". Arthur Desgroseillers provides an explanation which, although humourous, remains interesting.
"…it folds in the center, it shakes its rear end and it goes everywhere (…) It is not stopable. Nothing can stop it!" - translated from the novel "La mort du Bûcheron", by Desgroseillers, 1994.
Unions (1945 and over)
The first unions entered the forest field around 1945. At this time, they especially and most exclusively touched workers of large companies.
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Homelite model 7-19, beginning of the Fifties,
collection: Claude Auclair |
Immigrant loggers (Finn, Ukrainians, Irishmen) had a lot of influence on the development of unions.
Unionization brought some positive results, such as:
- standardization of working conditions;
- greater job security;
- better safety practices on the work place;
- better wages and; consequently,
- better living conditions.
The camps (1945-1965)
There were two types of forest camps; company camps and "batch camps".
The first are more confortable with their kitchen, their dry room, their common room and their dormitories.
The batch camps were generally built on the work site by the workers themselves which left them there once their work was over.
The work day (1960-1970)
A good work day, for a logger cutting wood for paper companies, consisted in bringing out 20 to 25 cut trees, pruned and piled. In order to do so, he worked from dawn to dusk..
Mechanization, before and after
Before:
- isolation of the worker;
- independence / self sufficiency;
- pride of achieved work;
- great freedom and mobility;
- no safety;
- difficult, but stimulating, working conditions.
After:
- settling process;
- greater dependence on the employer;
- more constraints, norms and standards;
- better safety;
- healthier, but more routine, working conditions;
- more controled way of life.
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| Partner ‘Oregon’, the Seventies |
Portrait of a logger (1955-1975)
- individualist;
- proud of his achieved work;
- a certain myth of the logger status. Some sort of king. A myth which was reinforced and which was maintained by comparing the performances of each one. Some established themselves a reputation which exceeded the limits of a territory;
- independent, the logger could quit as there was plenty of work. He was thus in a privileged and enhanced position.
A job at the rythm of the seasons
Winter cut: went from October to the end of December.
Haul cut: which consisted in bringing the wood out, went from December to the spring. As long as the ground was frozen.
Debarking cut: which exclusively consisted of pulp wood for paper companies. It was necessary to remove bark from the trees as soon as possible to prevent rotting. This cut took place in spring.
The job
From 1945 to 1975, pulpwood logging was done by strips. Which means that the logger had a strip of forest of approximately 66 feet wide by 500 feet deep. All the stages (felling, cross-cutting, trimming and piling) were done manually. The logger could make his strip in one month to one month and a half. During this time, he was paid at piece rate.
"Fabtec Forwarder", 1998
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