Lexicon - Kerby

Incredulous RobKerby is legend in the Southwest Angle. It is not far into any conversation about logging before Kerby's name and some of his exploits are mentioned. He now has a job welding at Heatmor, but observers note that is only to subsidize his logging operation.

Kerby made the front page of one of the local newspapers when his helper drove the skidder into the _______. The article and some all of the photos are below.

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Extracting a Timberjack from the _______!

 Lyle (Trapper) Roseen reports that he received a phone call from Kerby Eidsmoe on Saturday, November 29. Fortunately for Kerby, Trapper happened to be close to the phone.

kerby with timberjack“Kerby said that he’d gotten his Timberjack buried in some __________ the day before” Trapper says, “He asked me if he could haul my Skidder down and help pull him out.”

 The term Kerby used to name the substance his Timberjack was mired in is commonly described as the excrement from the Minnesota State Bird.

             Trapper assented, so Kerby brought over his truck and trailer to haul Trapper’s 440 John Deere cable skidder south. Trapper loaded it up and Kerby headed south with Trapper and son-in-law, Hasso, following.

             On the way to the logging site west of Winner Silo, Hasso noticed smoke coming from one of the trailer wheels so they flagged Kerby down.

             Sure enough, one of the wheel bearings had destroyed itself, so the 440 had to be unloaded and driven the rest of the way.stuck 2 Even empty, the trailer lost its wheel before they made it to to the site of the stuck Timberjack.

             When he saw the Timberjack, Trapper stated, “I thought we’d never get it out. The rear wheels were almost totally under water and the front tires were about half submerged. I figured it would be there until spring!”

             He continued, “I got in front of it and we hooked up. It was a tough pull. The rear tires on the Timberjack were almost bald. We broke three cables before we eventually pulled it to higher ground.”

             All’s well that ends well, maybe. Trapper took his trailer down to haul his 440 back the next day and found that Kerby’s brother Grant had the Timberjack torn apart.  

Trapper pulling            Though they had cleaned most of the __________ off, a clod of _________ had been missed in the joints of the articulated skidder and had subsequently destroyed the driveshaft.

             Welcome to winter logging 2008-2009.













another view


The old Detroit smokes just a little on startup...
















rear view






A view from the rear...

















trapper pulling

the holeThe little 440 is doing its stuff, at this point the front wheels are on more or less dry land...















The hole where once a Timberjack laid...


Kirby proudly tells of a logger walking into the DNR office a few days later to get a Tamarac cutting permit, however the DNR official refused him, saying that the ground wasn't frozen yet. At that point, the fellow said,  "That d__n Eidsmoe, he ruins it for everyone!" 

Another one for the annals of the Southwest Angle.