How an Amish family in Ohio helped bring Redding's steam donkey back to life
Damon ArthurHundreds of North State school children did battle last week with a 12,000-pound hissing, clacking, fire eating piece of ancient machinery — and of course they lost.
But since it was only a tug-of-war with a steam donkey, they all lived to ride the school bus another day.
The kids got to see the steam donkey make its first public appearance in nine years —and play tug-of-war with it — during the Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference in Anderson as the machine's operators showed off a contraption that is quite uncommon these days.
Lydia Leddy and Emalee Affonso, both fourth-graders at Jackson Heights Elementary School in Red Bluff, thought the steam donkey "was pretty cool," but it was definitely out of place among the latest logging equipment on display at the conference.
"It seems like an old-fashioned way to make things work," Emalee said.
Steam donkeys are steam engines that turn a large winch, or capstan. During the late 1800s and early 1900s they were used in timber harvesting to pull logs out of the forest. But steam technology became obsolete long ago.
The steam donkey on display last week in Anderson was built around 1892 for the Kings River Lumber Company in the Sierra Nevada mountains southeast of Fresno.
In the 1930s, when the U.S. Forest Service bought land in the area they found the steam donkey abandoned in the woods, said John Nicoles of Oakland, who is also one of the few people who know how to operate the machine.
The donkey was restored in the 1970s by the Sequoia National Forest, which has loaned it out to Turtle Bay Exploration Park since the 1990s.
It remained on display there and was occasionally fired up. But in 2011, during the donkey's annual inspection the steam engine's boiler was deemed unsound and the engine was shut down for repairs.
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Months in mothballs turned into years as steam donkey fans searched for ways to raise the money to repair the machine. Nicoles said he talked to several boilermakers, but most were too expensive, with one cost estimate reaching a million dollars.
They eventually settled on the J.S. Company in the Amish country of Middlefield, Ohio, which is about 40 miles east of Cleveland and right near the town of Burton, home of The Great Geauga County Fair.
Jonas Stutzman agreed to repair the machine for $58,000, Nicoles said. With shipping and other costs, Nicoles estimated it cost about $65,000 to bring the steam donkey back to life.
The Sequoia National Forest, Turtle Bay Exploration Park and the Society of American Foresters all chipped in to replace the boiler, Nicoles said.
The old boiler was removed and shipped to the J.S. Company in March 2018 and returned to Redding in September 2019, Nicoles said.
Working with Stutzman was as interesting as operating the steam donkey, Nicoles said.
When Nicoles visited Ohio during repairs, Stutzman and his four sons were at the machine shop and all five of them were dressed alike, in blue shirts and pants and sporting long beards, he said. The Stutzmans also generate their own electricity to run their shop, he said.
While steam-operated machinery may be an outdated technology, Stutzman said there is still quite a demand for boiler repair and fabrication, with a three- to four-year backlog of work.
"I never dreamed there would be such a market like this," Jonas Stutzman said. He tried hiring employees to expand the business, but he didn't like it.
"I used to have others working for us, but now it's just myself and my four sons, and that's the way we're going to keep it — as a family business," he said.
Just as the use of steam power died off, the knowledge of how to repair the machines also faded away.
It took Stutzman hours of research and several years to learn the craft, but Stutzman now sees himself and his sons as practitioners of a lost art.
"Back in 2000, the first few years, it was the school of hard knocks. A lot of people can't comprehend it," he said. "We really enjoy it now that we have learned how to do it because it was a lost art."
And now that the steam donkey is running again, Nicoles said he enjoys operating the machine as much as he likes talking about it.
He estimates he and his friend Jerry Harmon of Mount Shasta put on about a dozen presentations to schoolchildren during the logging conference last week.
"To me, when I'm doing that and greeting the people — I'm in seventh heaven. I like it," he said. "It's a kick in the pants."
"It's fun to compare this to the modern machinery on display at the logging conference," he said.
It's also something he has been doing for decades. Nicoles was quoted in the Record Searchlight as he gave a presentation to schoolkids at Turtle Bay back in 1997.
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Nicoles said he remembers falling in love after seeing his first steam donkey at the California State Fair long ago.
"I just looked at it and my teeth nearly fell out," he said.
But Julia Cronin, curator of collections and exhibits at Turtle Bay, said they could use more people like Nicoles and Harmon.
The steam donkey is back at Turtle Bay and on display at the Paul Bunyan Forest Camp. Turtle Bay hopes to fire the engine up for display at least once a quarter, but they need more people who are interested in learning to operate the machine, she said.
The donkey is also available for use at fairs and other exhibitions, she said. Cronin said she has been booking the donkey for use at other events since 1997. Exhibitors only need to insure the machine while using it and provide transportation.
But she is happiest it is back at Turtle Bay and running again.
"We're just ridiculously excited to have it back up and operating," Cronin said.
Damon Arthur is the Record Searchlight’s resources and environment reporter. He is among the first on the scene at breaking news incidents, reporting real time on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Damon is part of a dedicated team of journalists who investigate wrongdoing and find the unheard voices to tell the stories of the North State. He welcomes story tips at 530-225-8226 and damon.arthur@redding.com. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!