Category Archives: Forests

Black powder splitting guns were commonly used to split large logs into more manageable pieces before the advent of excavators and front-end loaders in bush logging operations. A typical splitting gun used in Victorian forests was a piece of high-grade steel about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and about 16 inches long, and slightlyContinue reading “Splitting guns.”

It’s often said that mountain ash, Eucalyptus regnans, is the world’s tallest flowering plant, and possibly the tallest plant of all time, although no living specimens can make that claim. Tree height is influenced by species, genetics, age, stand density, soil type and depth, rainfall, aspect, altitude, protection from wind and snow damage, fire historyContinue reading “Tall trees and taller tales.”

Metal branding hammers were the most common way to control the sale and movement of hardwood timber produce like logs, railway sleepers, fence posts, and poles from Victorian State forests. Royalty was also paid on this basis. The hammer had a crown stamp on one end with a unique number in the middle which identifiedContinue reading “Branding Hammers.”

These photographs, taken in the early 1900s, are of 100 foot long Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) piles produced by the Gray Brothers mills on Bruny Island in southern Tasmania. The timber was destined as hewn piles for Admiralty Harbour Works at Dover in England and for similar works at Simon’s Town in South Africa. TheContinue reading “Blue Gum piles.”

Early foresters, as well as some sawmillers and timber merchants, recognised the unique qualities of Victorian hardwood timbers and the Government was keen to promote them to the world market. But by far, the greatest proportion of dressed timber for internal work, joinery and furniture was expensive imports from North America and Scandinavia. There wasContinue reading “Timber seasoning – Newport.”

The beautiful curves of wooden boats have surfaces which come together at odd angles and often use special timber shapes called “boat knees” to join them together and add strength. Most woodworkers know that timber is strongest along the grain but will split when force is applied across the grain. Timber can be bent, joinedContinue reading “Boat Knees.”

The losses from converting round logs onto square sawn timber depends on the species of tree, the diameter and length of the log, straightness and the overall taper of the log, internal defects and waste. Sawn timber recovery can vary from 40 to 50% of the gross volume (cubic metres) for a large mountain ashContinue reading “Sawdust.”

Australian foresters are lucky to no longer endure some of the older “head scratching” imperial measurements. Hoppus Log Volume (HLV) was used around the British Empire and is still used in some countries. Introduced in 1736 by English surveyor Edward Hoppus, it estimated the volume of a round log that would produce usable or merchantableContinue reading “Hoppus Log Volume.”

Decimal currency was spectacularly introduced in an overnight overthrow on 14 February 1966, but it took another 8 years before metrication finally arrived in the forest and timber industry. Eventually, the measurement of logs and sawn timber changed from imperial, and excruciating, measures such as super feet of sawn timber, billets and cunits (100 cubicContinue reading “Forest Metriverter.”

Prior to the formation of the Alpine Resorts Commission (ARC) in 1983, Victoria’s snowfields were managed by a conglomerate of competing government agencies including the Victorian Railways, National Parks Service, Lands Department, State Electricity Commission and the Forests Commission Victoria. The Forests Commission first developed a substantial interest in the development of Mt Buller asContinue reading “On the Piste.”

Most of the large and significant trees in Victoria were found in the mountain ash forests of the Otways, Strzelecki Ranges and the Central Highlands. This enormous tree stump was converted into a Grandstand at the Beech Forest turf club in the Otways for their first race meeting in Easter 1893. The Melbourne Cup hadContinue reading “Beech Forest Grandstand.”

Foresters usually measure the diameter of trees at Breast Height – traditionally 4 foot, 6 inches – now 1.3 m – which is termed Diameter Breast Height Over Bark (DBHOB). Basal Area is the cross section of the tree trunk at breast height, and the sum for the stand of trees is expressed in squareContinue reading “Basal Area Prism.”

The first reference to the use of crawler tractors in Victorian logging operations was in 1934. Forester, and later FCV Chairman, Finton Gerraty, reported in the Victorian Foresters Journal. “A diesel oil caterpillar tractor which may be used either as a stationary winch, or as a mobile haulage unit, is the latest addition to logContinue reading “Caterpillar 35 HP Tractor.”

Logging in rough and steep country had always presented serious challenges to contractors and sawmillers. In addition to the obvious safety considerations, delays caused by terrain or weather had impacts on operating costs and ensuring smooth wood flows to the sawmill. In 1936, Erica District Forester, Arch Shillinglaw, gave an account in the Victorian ForestersContinue reading “Skyline & High Lead Logging.”

Stretching more than 60 km from the junction of the Woods Point Road near Cambarville, east of Marysville, to the Eildon-Jamieson Road in the north, the Big River Road was a major element in the expanded road network built by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) throughout Victoria’s mountains in the post war period to accessContinue reading “Big River Road – Marysville.”

The arrival of the Victorian Railways narrow gauge train (now the iconic Puffing Billy) into Gembrook in about 1900 signalled the rapid expansion of sawmilling in the district. Sawmills had operated at Gembrook from the 1880s, but their produce was transported by primitive tramways to places like Nar Nar Goon in the south. A newContinue reading “Gembrook forests.”

Building the Fyansford Paper Mill, on the Barwon River near Geelong, commenced in the 1870s and was completed in 1878. When the site opened, it was claimed to be one of the most advanced paper mills in the southern hemisphere. At the time, there were seven paper mills in Australia and Fyansford is one ofContinue reading “Fyansford Paper Mill.”