Forestry Memories

Muskeg transport machine

Muskeg transport machine

Date Added: 09 March 2016 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1975 Picture No: 3252

The photograph is courtesy of Inverness, Ross and Skye Forest District and staff at their Fort Augustus office.

Low ground pressure transport machine manufactured in Canada which ran on light U channel shaped track bars bolted on to three heavy rubber textile track belts on each side. The new bolts can clearly be seen.

Location is not noted but could be Skye but perhaps someone will recognise the location?

This machine was one of the soft and steep ground work horses used by the Forestry Commission in distributing fencing material as here, but often used for diesel fuel in barrels to ploughing tractors working well away from roads, delivering trees and fertiliser out to hundreds of planting sites and special jobs such as taking material up to high hill tops to build radio relay stations.

No certain of the Rolba connection but at one time was manufactured by Bombardier.

Can anyone recognise the driver? Please check the PDF attachment for another view of machine and location.

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Download PDF (614kB)

Groups: Forestry in Action, Other Vehicles and Machines

2 Comments

Don Ally from Ardross? This looks like the same machine that was tobogganed from the top fence in Glen na Ciche (SW of Athnamulloch in Glen Affric) having delivered fertiliser, Unground Rock Phosphate (URP) in 25Kg bags ready for application after the planting. Both he and I were ready to "abandon ship", but the tracks took a grip and the pair of us reached the dump at the road end, to take on another load. That would have been in April/May 1974. Comment left on 27 March 2016 at 02:34 by Bill Rayner
Hi my old man Jockey Thomson was one of the drivers of these machines. Comment left on 08 November 2019 at 18:01 by Willie
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