Bogged Tractor on the Causeymire , Caithness
Photograph courtesy of Billy Mackay, Portlethen, whose father and grandfather worked for the Forestry Commission.
This image taken around 1968 shows a small rear portion only of the tracks of a completely submerged tracked ploughing tractor. Apparently the outfit was working on the Causeymire area of Caithness in a very wet and deep bog specifically selected by the Forestry Commission Research team for these qualities to test the effect of tree planting in such conditions. It seems that early on in the project the tractor bogged and practically disappeared below the surface and was judged too expensive or difficult to retrieve. At some later point, newspapers caught up on the story and started to question the abandonment of machines purchased with public money to such an extent that the Commission felt obliged to return to the site and try to recover the tractor.
As can be seen the tractor is completely submerged and valiant efforts in digging by hand and constant draining by bucket have uncovered what is almost certainly the rear tracks of the machine which is lying somewhat sideways with the boots of the second man about on top of a corner of the cab. It was essential to get a strong anchor point for attaching the recovery ropes and the aim would be to get down to the draw bar or failing that around the drum of the mechanical winch. It appears that the buckets were carried away and emptied buy a line of workers as a third pair of boots can just be seen. All a sobering thought as the hole would fill again with water in a matter of a few hours.
Billy says his father recalls ‘A newspaper ran a story that the FC was abandoning bogged tractors all over Scotland at great expense to the tax payer! Hence with HQ getting interested, there was a lot of pressure to get the tractor out. My father, Billy Mackay, was involved in the recovery, along with Ken Bissett who was the Longman Workshop Manager at the time.
Other personnel involved (nicknames in brackets) were as follows:
Rumster Forest Squad men; Bert Sutherland and Jack Paterson
Tractor Drivers: Jocky Banks, Alistair Matheson (Star) and Jimmy Henderson (Pedlar)
Seemingly the bogged tractor (a County variant) did not have a rope on its rear drum, a fact that still annoys my father to this day! Bert Sutherland, being held upside down by his ankles, managed to get a sling round the empty drum, follows by at least another three slings.’
The subsequent photograph No 1855 show success in recovery.
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Groups: Caithness and Sutherland, Forest Research, Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Tractors Ploughs and Drainage Machines