On the River - A history of the Ozarks float trip

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34 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

I've done a few in the Shawnee.  Grandsons before they owned canoes and kayaks.  That Shawnee is about as close to the old jons they used as it needs to be.

I saw your post on that.  Looked pretty cool.  

[Flysmallie]

Very interesting. I need to read that at some point. 
 

This Saturday I’m interviewing a couple of guys that may have floated the White before the dams. I won’t know for sure until I get a chance to talk to them. Going to put it all together for a video about outdoorsmen of the Ozarks. 

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43 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

Very interesting. I need to read that at some point. 
 

This Saturday I’m interviewing a couple of guys that may have floated the White before the dams. I won’t know for sure until I get a chance to talk to them. Going to put it all together for a video about outdoorsmen of the Ozarks. 

They would have to be at least 90?

[Flysmallie]

3 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

They would have to be at least 90?

Dam built 54 thru 58. I know one was born in 38. It’s a small possibility but I know that wherever the stories are from, they have to be good. But I’ve never met them either. LOL 

[fishinwrench]

My Grandpa and Great uncle floated a large portion of the White River, the year that Ouachita boat co. began......Not sure what year that was, but they went out of business in the early '80's. 

Not sure why, but the owner of the company needed fire-brick and he traded a new boat & trailer to them for hauling the "skids" of firebrick to him.    

Now......I heard the story all of my life and still don't know what a "SKID" of brick is ?   🤔 

[tjm]

49 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

don't know what a "SKID" of brick is ? 

A skid is like a "pallet" with only a top deck. Mostly intended for single use, because without the bottom deck they fall apart fairly easily. Skids were used before pallets, I think, and are still used when the expense of making them is less than the expense of return, refurbishing and reuse of  more substantial pallets. In materials handling and construction the words are somewhat interchangeable. Random illustrative images from the 'net

"a skid of bricks" (note no bottom deck and thin top deck= disposable)

vs a "a pallet of bricks"

Those large heavy "return or pay $ for"  pallets of the lower image are a pita on a large construction site where many must be collected stacked and stored until pickup and are often burned in the fire barrel on smaller sites where return is not really likely.  

[fishinwrench]

Ahh, that explains the Popeye arms & wicked hand grips on all those brick-plant boys....... because I doubt that they had a forklift to unload them with.  😊

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2 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

Dam built 54 thru 58. I know one was born in 38. It’s a small possibility but I know that wherever the stories are from, they have to be good. But I’ve never met them either. LOL 

Should be interesting for sure.  👍

[tjm]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

Ahh, that explains the Popeye arms & wicked hand grips on all those brick-plant boys....... because I doubt that they had a forklift to unload them with.  😊

I wondered about that so did  quick search. I knew that skids in one form or another dated back to ancient Egypt, more or less and were used with cranes  to load and unload ships and wagons etc. But, my search of the web shows "lift truck" (no forks) invention in 1917, with Yale inventing the "electric truck" with forks and mast in 1923, and Clark's 1924 design was very similar to modern forklifts. So depending on when and where maybe they did have them.   The modern skid was patented in 1925 as “lift truck platform” by Howard T. Hallowell followed in  1939 by  George G. Raymond's patent for a “two-face pallet” design. This made skids stackable.

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, tjm said:

I wondered about that so did  quick search. I knew that skids in one form or another dated back to ancient Egypt, more or less and were used with cranes  to load and unload ships and wagons etc. But, my search of the web shows "lift truck" (no forks) invention in 1917, with Yale inventing the "electric truck" with forks and mast in 1923, and Clark's 1924 design was very similar to modern forklifts. So depending on when and where maybe they did have them.   The modern skid was patented in 1925 as “lift truck platform” by Howard T. Hallowell followed in  1939 by  George G. Raymond's patent for a “two-face pallet” design. This made skids stackable.

Well Fire brick wasn't a big thing until NASA started building launching pads..... whenever that was.  Mid-late '50's maybe?  

When did the impoundment of the White River begin ?

 

Not sure why an aluminum boat builder needed fire brick. 🤔