bullock

Timber became one of the biggest industries, which was mostly pine timber and was drawn to the rafting reserve by bullock team. In the early days the wheels of the wagons were not made by a wheelwright but were blocks sawn from logs which were known as block wheels. All the pine logs were rolled in the river and rafted to their destination, this was at times rather an unpleasant job as owing to the two shallow places mentioned earlier the men had to turn out, in the winter, at night to catch the spring tide, which only occurred at night time at new moon. Much of the pine timber went to a small saw mill at a place known as Tygum on the Logan River opposite to the Waterford Railway Station which was owned by the late Lahey Bros. where they made their first start in the timber business and later built a saw mill at Canungra. It was in the year of 1886 when the first Canungra Saw Mill was opened by the Lahey Bros. Another Saw Mill owned by the late Jesse Daniels at Cedar Creek commenced working at the same time and the year of 1896 was removed to Canungra. History of the Logan & Albert Areas by Roger Hart 1959

A good bullock was a valuable resource. Two good leading bullocks were essential, as well as two bullocks at the rear known as the polers. Mustering and yoking 24 bullocks could take up to two hours. Each bullock had a name and recognized it when spoken to. Bullock teams hauled logs to a waterway, or in the steep country to chutes, where the logs could be launched. Source: www.miragenews.com/backward-glance-timber-getters-and-saw...

Timber getters and their bullock teams are long gone. However, they played a major role in the development of early North Coast settlements. Bullock teams hauled logs to a waterway, or in the steep country to chutes, where the logs could be launched. Bullock teams hauled the timber out of the forests to the sawmills, the railway stations and also to the wharves for the journey to Brisbane. There were often several bullock teams in and around railway yards at one time. A bullock team consists of 12 to 24 desexed bulls (they can be of any breed) that are paired to perform heavy work. Bullocks were named and answered to their name. The pairs were generally named with alliteration – Ringer and Ranger, Tom and Tiger, or Sam and Sonny. The key to operating the team was creating a bond between the working pair and training an excellent pair as leaders. The bullocks who made up the team behind the leaders were called the polers. A good team could pull a load of up to ten tons of weight. With strong necks, they were then yoked together, which transferred their power through a pole or chain to pull the heavy load – either timber or other agricultural loads. Source; www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/ringer-and-ranger-tom-and-tiger-n...

Caption: Leonard Bergey talking with farmers about their bullock in Langbensi, Ghana. 1978.