Peeling timber circa 1950s

Date Added: 30 January 2011 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1950 Picture No: 813

Photographs courtesy of Abbie Gordon, Banchory.

Hand peeling Scots pine poles with one end of the pole sitting on a three legged trestle made for the job. The extra height saved bending the back too much and the slope may have helped with the forward strokes. When the sap was rising in the spring the bark peeled off very easily but at other times of the year more difficult and when the timber had dried in the sun almost impossible!

The peeling spade had a straight shaft and T handle with a small 5 inch sharpish blade on the end.

Fencing material and other timber products which were to be treated with preservative (creosote) required to have bark removed. This material looks too long for fencing but Abbie seems to remember that material going for ‘wood wool’ had to be peeled. Wood wool was timber shredded in long thin very thin strips like flat spaghetti which naturally curled and bent and was extensively used as packing material at one time.

The location and name of man peeling is unknown.

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Groups: Forestry in Action, Tools, equipment and clothing

4 Comments

When I worked for Riddochs I helped Peel a trial load of Pine that was sent to Nottingham for Wood Wool.
I think it was in the Forgue area and probably in the Summer of 1963.

I did not have the luxury of a Trestle but I can see that it would have been a big help, it would have stopped the Tree from moving forward and also the Peeler would not have had to bend so far. Comment left on 09 August 2011 at 17:57 by Jimmy Thain

This was usually a bad weather inside job for me on Lour estate in the 1960s, more than often it was eight foot larch strainer posts for fencing. Peeling was made much easier if the strainer posts were fresh cut with the bark nice and soft. Comment left on 31 March 2016 at 21:45 by Leslie Phillip

As my father used to say what a way to go to your death, the name Cundy comes to mind. Comment left on 06 September 2017 at 00:49 by Leslie Phillip

I found it was a mistake when peeling posts to sharpen the spade to much as it dug into the tougher part of the wood and made it hard going. Comment left on 06 September 2017 at 11:19 by Leslie Phillip

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