One of my fondest memories of farm work was driving a rice harvester 20 or more miles and crossing the Sacramento River on the Princeton Ferry. It was the Fall of 1965, and after completing rice harvest in Glenn County we moved over to Colusa County to harvest some more fields of rice. This full track machine weighed 20 tons, had two diesel engines, one to propel the machine and the other to operate the grain separator. The unloading auger and the 20-foot header used to cut and move the rice into the separator were removed in order to drive on the county roads and not cause traffic problems. The tracks were made of steel blocks for better traction in the muddy fields and did not harm the paved roads when driven from one field to the next. A man had to sit upon the grain tank with a wooden pole to lift any low-hanging power lines as the height of the machine was about 20 feet or more. There was no way for me to see the traffic behind us, so passing vehicles took a risk with oncoming traffic. When we reached the steep road down to the ferry I feared the machine would slide on the pavement into the river. The ferry was operated by the county and had a 22-ton load limit. The ferry operator signaled for me to come on down, so I trusted he had moved these machines before and knew what he was doing. As I drove onto the ferry he told me to move it all the way to the front in order to allow the back end to lift off the road. As I moved forward water started flowing across the ferry deck. This ferry was propelled by a winch pulling on a cable crossing the river. As the ferry started across the river it was pulled by the current downstream until it lined up again with the road on the other side. God only knows where we would have landed if that cable had broke. Once to the other side, the ferry operator had me back the machine to the rear in order to get the ferry up into the road. Again, the water flowed across the deck. We made it across and continued on our merry way.
No way! I was getting panicked just reading this.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the story. I know of at least two cable ferries that still operate in Oregon. I've been across both long ago. The Buena Vista Ferry connects Marion and Polk Counties across the Willamette River. It' a few miles south of Independence, near the community of Buena Vista. The river is about 720 feet wide there. The ferry has a capacity of six vehicles. The Wheatland Ferry connects Marion and Yamhill Counties across the Willamette. It travels about 580 feet, depending on the height of the river, and is powered by two electric motors connected to an on-board diesel generator. The ferry is supported by two steel cables, one under water on the downriver side, and one overhead on the upriver side. The ferry also uses the overhead cable for steering.
Joe
Liked the story! I was about to mention the ferries Joe talks about- they are north of us here in Albany.
ReplyDelete