Contents - drop down & click! HOMERussel Vessel ListingFamous Russel BoatsRussel Company HistoryR-H News and BrochuresLogging Boat OperationBoat Photo CollectionsBoat Designs & BlueprintsRussel Video InterviewInside Russel Bros.Hull Number Index

Artifact no. 1990.0018.001 Model G-14 Manufacturer RUSSEL BROS. LTD. Manufacturer Location Owen sound, Ontario, Canada Manufactured Date 1946 Context Function A STEEL HULLED BOAT WITH A POWERFUL MOTOR & WINCH; THE BOAT WOULD BE ANCHORED AND THE WINCH USED TO PULL A RAFT OF LOGS. ALSO USED TO PULL LOGS FROM A LOG JAM. Context Canada A CANADIAN INVENTED & MFD. BOAT, USED IN A MAJOR CANADIAN PRIMARY INDUSTRY. Description STEEL & STEEL PLATE/ GLASSWINDOWS/ WOOD FRAMES & FLOORING. Number of Parts 1 Serial Number 176552 Artifact Finish ORIGINALLY PAINTED GREY/ NOW PAINTED GREY WITH BLACK TRIM. Artifact Markings PLATE INSIDE READING 'STEELCRAFT'/ BUILT BY/ RUSSEL BROTHERS LIMITED/OWEN SOUND ONT./ BOAT NO. 580/ LENGTH 26' BEAM 7'6" YEAR 1946'/ CAST LETTERING ON ENGINE 'MANUFACTURED BY/ RUSSEL BROS. LTD./ OWEN SOUND ONT./ CAST LETTERING ON WINCH READING 'RUSSEL BROS./ LIMITED/ OWEN SOUND/ ONT.'/ BRAISED 'G-14' ON BOTH SIDES OF BOW/ 'R.T. 2.48' IS PIN PUNCHED ON PROPER RIGHT CABIN LID. Artifact Missing ANCHOR (ANCHOR ON BOAT WHEN CATALOGUED IS ON LOAN FROM CP FOREST) Group 1 Marine Transportation Category 1 Vessels Group 2 Forestry Category 2 Transportation Subcategory 2 Water Material metal->steel;glass;wood Length 750.0 cm Width 250.0 cm
https://ingeniumcanada.org/ingenium/collection-research/collection-item.php?id=1990.0018.001

Artifact no. 1988.0264.001 Model HD Manufacturer RUSSEL-HIPWELL ENGINES LTD. Manufacturer Location Owen sound, Ontario, Canada Manufactured Date 1949 Context Function USED TO POWER LOG BOOM BOATS. Context Technical THE 'L' HEAD ENGINE WITH LARGE INSPECTION PANELS WAS EASY TO SERVICE. A SIMPLE FORWARD-REVERSE TRANSMISSION MADE THE BOAT MANOEUVRABLE & EASY TO HANDLE. Context Canada THE RUSSEL COMPANY IS AN OLD CANADIAN COMPANY THAT MANUFACTURED MANY STEEL WORK BOATS, INCLUDING THE FIRST 'MAID OF THE MIST'& THE LOG BOOM BOAT SHOWN ON THE CANADIAN $1.00 BILL (SEE RUSSEL BOAT 900018). Description CAST IRON/ STEEL/ SYNTHETIC PARTS Number of Parts 1 Artifact Finish ENGINE CASING PAINTED YELLOW ENAMEL/ RED,BLACK & GREY PAINTED PARTS/ METALLIC PARTS Artifact Markings PLATE READING 'STEELCRAFT/ MODEL HD SER. NO. 54598/ RUSSEL-HIPWELL ENGINES/ LIMITED/ OWEN SOUND, ONT. CANADA'/ CAST LETTERING IN SEVERAL PLACES ON CASING READING 'RUSSEL/ OWEN SOUND'/ SAME PLATE ON TWO PARTS READING 'ANDERSON, IND./ Delco-Remy/ MODEL 110740L SERIAL 1M/ MADE IN U.S.A./ AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT' OR 'MODEL 1111535 SERIAL 2D14'/ PART PLATE READING 'FAIRBANKS-MORSE/ PAT. PAT. PEND./ TYPE PM' & STAMPED '4259627'/ PLATE FROM BOAT READING 'STEELCRAFT/ BUILT BY/ RUSSEL BROTHERS LIMITED/ OWEN SOUND ONT., CANADA/ BOAT NO. 837 LENGTH 26'0 BEAM 7'6 YEAR 1949' Artifact Decoration CAST 'Russel' WITH ELONGATED ARM OF 'R' RUNNING UNDER OTHER LETTERS. Artifact Missing SOME PARTS ARE NOT ORIGINAL, E.G. CARBURATOR. Group 1 Marine Transportation Category 1 Motive power Group 2 Forestry Category 2 Transportation Subcategory 2 Water Material metal->cast-iron;metal->steel;synthetic->nylon Length 132.0 cm Width 74.0 cm
https://ingeniumcanada.org/ingenium/collection-research/collection-item.php?id=1988.0264.001

Owen Sound SunTimes July 19, 1990

 

Invitation to the dedication ceremony, June 7, 1990 courtesy Tom Russel.

 

PLAY VIDEO Dedication Video and Document 16 min. WMV file. Tom Russel provided this 16 minute video made by the National Museum of Science and Technology which shows clips of winch boats in action, refurbishment of the Esnagi and parts of the dedication ceremonies June 7, 1990. Some parts are missing sound.

A Very Memorable boat Along with the video, Tom Russel provided another un-credited and un-dated document which, though riddled with inaccuracies and obvious mistakes, does include several interesting points, as elaborated upon below. I provide a 783 pixel wide scan of it here for reference. It agrees with the Sun Times piece above that the boat was donated by the Canadian Pacific Forests Products (ex C.I.P.). and states that the boat had been "recently put out of service after 40 years on Lake Baskatong." n.b. - The Sun Times feature above gives the boat length as 7.8 metres (25 feet). It says that Fred Russel (older brother of Tom and son of co-founder Colin Russel) attended the ceremony along with three generations of Warkentins. "At the ceremony, Fred Russel, 67 years, son of the founder and former employee of Russel Brothers, the company which built the boat at their boatworks in Owen Sound, on Georgian Bay, some 40 years ago; Harry Warkentin, 84, its conceiver; Richard Warkentin, son of the former who was also an employee of RUSSEL'S who acquired it in 1960, and John Warkentin, 26 years, sone (sic) of Richard, a former summer employee of the boat works and now the third generation of engineers in the family." Despite getting his name wrong, this document mentions that when the last CEO of Russel Brothers, Dick Warkentin sold the company to the US firm Paccar in 1981, he "reserved the right to conserve the plans of over 1000 boats his father (Harry) designed." It says the hull number of the G-14 was 596, which appears plausible given the 1946 build date. It also gives original sale prices for the first and last winch boats produced: "The first winch boat...which was built in 1929 was sold to the Abitibi Pulp Company for $2650. The G-14, 596th boat built...by Russel Brothers was sold in 1946 to the C.I.P. for $5400. And the last one, once again built for Abitibi Pulp was sold for $30,000 in 1970." n.b. - The Sun Times feature also says the first winch boat was made in 1929 and the last in 1970.

Russel Winching Tug Innovations 1900 to 1949
Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation Posted March 08, 2016

The Russel tug was immortalized on the Canadian one dollar bill in circulation from 1974 to 1989. Source: Bank of Canada The Russel winching tug was a workhorse, moving timber along Canadian waterways to mills and markets before trucks took up the greater share of log transport. The all-steel boat, designed in 1936, replaced the wooden “Alligator,” cumbersome steam-powered amphibious machines that could also travel overland.

Part of the increasing mechanization of Canada’s logging industry, the Russel tug used its two-cylinder engine and powerful winch to move massive log booms. The operator positioned the tug well ahead of the boom and dropped a specially-designed anchor. He would then reverse the tug back to the boom, unspooling its wire anchor-cable as he went. The tug operator then hitched the boat to the log boom and wound the cable in, moving the tug and boom slowly toward the anchor point. The operator repeated this process until the boom reached its destination. While slow, winching proved an efficient and economical way of transporting logs to distant mills. Russel Brothers Limited manufactured 300 winching tugs between 1929 and 1970, first in Fort Frances, Ontario (1907 to 1937), and then in Owen Sound (1937 to 1993).

Winching Tug No. 580 was used on the Gatineau River, Quebec, between 1946 and 1978. A similar tug is represented on the back of the Canadian one-dollar bill that circulated between 1974 and 1989. https://ingeniumcanada.org/innovation/story/russel-winching-tug

 

Contents: drop down & click!HOMERussel Vessel ListingFamous Russel BoatsRussel Company HistoryR-H News and BrochuresLogging Boat OperationBoat Photo CollectionsBoat Designs & BlueprintsRussel Video InterviewInside Russel Bros.Hull Number Index

For more Russel exhibits visit Owen Sound Marine & Rail Museum 1165 1st Ave West, Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K8
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