While there are a plethora of heritage buildings on the site, dating from 1867 to 1941, a more recent addition is a wire fence enclosed pavilion housing a portable sawmill, a B-61 Mack Truck and this McCormick Deering WD-9 tractor. These three pieces are directly related. They were the building blocks of Ainsworth Lumber, which had its beginnings with the arrival in 100 Mile House on a September evening in 1952 of this
Jackson Lumber Harvester® Portable Sawmill.
The first of its kind in British Columbia, it was pulled behind the McCormick Deering WD-9 tractor which accompanies it and also provided the power to operate the sawmill via its power take off (PTO). The tandem Mack B-61 in the display was also owned by Ainsworth Lumber.
While the vast majority of WD-9s toiled their lives away dragging various farm implements across the prairies, this one spent its life in the forest, supplying the motive power to operate the portable sawmill and occasionally pulling it to a new logging site.
Produced from 1940 to 1954, the WD-9 was equipped with a 5.5L (334.5 ci) 4 cylinder diesel engine producing 46.43 hp at the belt and 33 hp at the drawbar. Weighing 6,650 pounds, the tractor's power was supplied through a transmission having 5 forward and 1 reverse gear. The working gears enabled speeds of 2.3 to 5.1 miles per hour, "road gear", 15.5 MPH. Reverse produced a maximum of 2.8 MPH. The WD-9 was shod with rubber tires from the beginning of its production run. A gasoline engine was also available, but was much less popular than the diesel. A fairly straightforward, rugged and dependable tractor, it was quite popular, with over 64,000 being produced. From early on (decades before the WD-9 was produced) McCormick Deering was taken over by International Harvester.
Ainsworth Lumber, in its quest to be as efficient as possible with the lumber harvested, began to manufacture oriented strand board (OSB) in the early '90s, as well as developing finger-joined lumber and specialty overlaid plywood. It grew to become one of the largest producers of OSB in the world and has built the largest OSB mill in the world.
Following is text from the placard at the sawmill display, while further below is a short history of Ainsworth Lumber.
THE AINSWORTHS' PORTABLE SAWMILL
It was a quiet September evening in 1952 when David Ainsworth rolled through the village of 100 Mile House, en route to a spot in the woods just north of town. He was driving a McCormick-Deering tractor and pulling this Jackson Lumber Harvester portable sawmill,
the first of its kind in B.C. Within a short time he and his wife Susan founded Ainsworth Lumber.
For several years the couple, along with their two boys, lived in cabins that could be moved from one logging site to another, along with the portable sawmill. Dave would saw rough lumber by day and deliver it to a planer operation in 100 Mile House in the evenings. Susan Ainsworth looked after her family and cooked for the crew members boarding on site.
By the late `50s the Ainsworths had moved into 100 Mile House where they established a small sawmill and planer operation. The Jackson Lumber Harvester was retired around this time, but Ainsworth Lumber grew steadily. Dave Ainsworth pioneered the use of lodgepole pine for making kiln-dried studs, as well as the use of weigh scales at a lumber mill.
Ainsworth Lumber shifted to the production of oriented strand board in the early `90s, and is now one of the leading OSB panel producers in the world. And it all started here in the Cariboo, with this portable sawmill.
From the placard at the sawmill
Our History
The Ainsworth family’s enterprise began in Alberta, Canada as a portable sawmill in the rapidly growing, coastal lumber industry of the 1940’s. In 1952, the two founding brothers packed up and moved to B.C., deciding to utilize lodgepole pine, a small-diameter yet much faster growing tree. They saw opportunity and believed that the future of forestry would be in renewable fast-growing wood. It took years before the rest of the market would recognize the commercial and environmental advantages of this vision.
The Ainsworths built a reputation on the quality of their products. Quality, waste reduction and cost control were cornerstone in all aspects of manufacturing, but their real talent was innovation. This led the company’s improvement of plant processes and niche forestry products – continuing the quest to leave behind no waste. Within two decades, the enterprise had grown into the world’s fourth largest oriented strand board (OSB) company.
The Ainsworth name has always been synonymous with innovation. The family initiated the use of “waste wood” species, developed finger-joined lumber and specialty overlaid plywood, built the largest OSB mill in the world, and built the first 9-foot wide, 12-foot wide, and 12-foot wide continuous OSB presses.
The innovations continue today in their new enterprise, Ainsworth Energy. Sustainability and quality remain key factors in the development of their biomass-based energy projects.
From Ainsworth Energy