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Inside Hull-Oakes: The Last Giant Steam-Powered Sawmill Still Cutting Logs | Full Documentary

RaWMachines

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Inside Hull-Oakes: The Last Giant Steam-Powered Sawmill Still Cutting Logs | Full Documentary
Step inside America’s last steam-powered sawmill — the legendary Hull-Oakes Lumber Company in Oregon.

Watch giant Douglas fir trees become massive timber using century-old machinery, skilled sawyers, roaring steam engines, and traditional logging techniques that refuse to disappear.

From dangerous mountain logging roads to the iconic 1906 steam engine, this is a rare look inside one of America’s last surviving industrial legends.

⚠️ This video is created for educational and informational purposes, showcasing real-world engineering processes and construction methods.
➡️ If you are the copyright owner of any material used in this video and would like it removed, please contact us directly. We will review your request and take appropriate action as soon as possible.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:50 FOREST, LOGGING
03:00 LOG TRANSPORT
05:05 HULL-OAKES, LOG POND
07:58 POND MONKEYS
11:35 DEBARKING
13:53 HEAD RIG, SAWYER
17:06 PROCESSING CHAIN
20:00 STEAM ENGINE
24:02 FILING ROOM
28:22 OVERSIZED BEAMS, LEGACY
Credits:
Music: Capture by #soundridemusic
Link to Video: No Copyright Suspense Tense Music / Captur...
#sawmill #steamengine #woodworking #rawmachines #steampower

20 Comments

@RaWMachines-g9r Creator 4 months ago Pinned

Inside Europe’s Last Giant Steam Powered Factory in 1981 | Before Electricity
https://youtu.be/Fd1i-ZAo7gg

@stacy6633 3 months ago

I worked in the last steam powered saw mill in Washington state. It was Everett lumber, owned by Scott paper. I was the off bearer on the head rig. We were cutting old growth logs that were up to 10 foot in diameter. There was a lot of good lumber in some of the logs, but Scott paper was after the chips for its paper mill. What an experience.

@Orygungearjammer 3 months ago

I haul logs to Hull-Oaks frequently. The biggest log I've ever hauled went there. It was 54' long, 48" wide, and weighed 24,000 pounds. It took two large shovels to load it. The young man who runs the mill told me they would try to cut one massive beam from it. The mill really is a time capsule, like you just just went through a wormhole into the past. The only thing missing is smoke coming out of the wigwam-waste burner. They also have an impressive collection of restored log trucks. The place is so impressive the first time I went there I had to take a bunch of pictures.

@ronlecornu 3 months ago

Quite a few years back I visited a farm in Southern Oregon that had a steam engine that ran a sawmill. Old trucks from the Panama Canal and model a Ford flatbeds for haying. A pond with cabins around built from the lumber sawed there. Heaven on earth. One man built all this

@jamesmares4206 3 months ago

I have bought timber from Hull Oaks. Top Quality Product and Wonderful People Workn There.

@markdoldon8852 1 day ago (edited)

That 'little boat' is called a boom boat up here in BC. back at Expo 86 in Vancouver, a grouo of them performed coordinated dances to music (though i doubt THEY could hear the sound). The Boom Boat Ballet It was a popular thing for visitors.

@briantremblay9157 3 months ago

I know this life very well, this is how I grew up, my fist job was working in the boardway of my family's steam/hydro mill outside of Wawa Ontario. Some of my fondest memories was working beside my grand dad and cousins. I remember I use to have to get a new leather apron once a month because of the sap build up... One of the coolest things, was seeing how the ants build their elaborate homes in the trees, in the winter, they were frozen, but the saw blade would warm them up enough they would come out of hibernation... Thanks for this video, brought me back to a great time in my life....

@leatherneck1949 4 days ago

Fascinating

@cslimfu336 3 months ago

I've hauled in there off and on for over 20 years. It's a step back in time going there. I just wish the footage was all from here and not log trucks in brazil and ponds shown from around the country and not just hull oaks.

@garybroughman1230 1 month ago

Those band saw blades are incrediable!

@handimanjay6642 1 month ago

Imagine the effort it took to manufacture, transport, and assemble the machinery.

@garyvee6023 3 months ago

What an AWESOME story. I wish my father was still alive so I could show him this. He came to Australia as a 16 year old in 1936 from Yugoslavia and being a wog (term of endearment now here in Australia) he had to do hard physical labour. He went into the bush and cut down our massive Karri and Jarrah trees..., then they hauled them out with tractors to the trucks, who then carted them off to the mills. Massive trees, everything needed wood. There was no aluminium or steel framed houses, no electricity for heating or cooking. All the railway sleepers were jarrah, a dence wood the whiteants couldn't eat. My dad cut them, then trimmed them with an ASP. Different country..., same physical work. 🥰

@sparkyplug788 3 months ago

I’m a fourth generation Oregonian. My family has worked in the forest industry since 1920’s. Douglas fir trees live 100-150 years before they start to rot from the inside. Redwood and giant Sequoia live to be 1500 years.

@pabloreyes6148 3 months ago

Que bello. Me acuerdo del taller de mi abuelo. Desde Chile gracias

@toddmcelfresh5725 2 months ago

Gotta love all them safety gaurds.

@DanielBell-t5z 3 months ago

I bought the free of heart timbers from Hull Oaks and built a cabin in The Coburg Hills overlooking Monroe years ago.
40 years ago I worked for Weyerhaeuser as a Sawyer .
I mainly ran the 26 foot headrig which was powered by a 6 inch shotgun, steam cylinder -double cut high strain bandsaw super
fast rig, and gave breaks on the big rig, a 42 footer double lung steam engine pulled by cables
If you were a Sawyer, you know it’s like to tap the bumper. The whole mill shook
I had the best foreman Sam Dickey, who went on to travel the world overseeing other Weyerhaeuser operations.
Those were the days

@HumairaNadeem-s8p 1 month ago

VERY INTERESTING VIDEO 🎉🎉🎉

@lutherpettis4763 4 months ago

I love how loud, dangerous, and beautiful this whole place feels.

@warriordragonify 2 months ago

There are a few picnic tables in Benton County parks that are about 4"x36"x1,030"... 85+ feet...

@marccampbell312 3 months ago (edited)

as pointed out by another watcher, the footage from 17.00 mins to 20.00 mins is footage from a completely different steam operated mill - it's from Phillips Brothers Mill and Box Factory, often videoed for YouTube by "MrShoptaw" and is definitely worth watching in full, but thanks for all the info and great footage in your vid RaWMachines, very well done