Hillsburgh man reflects on father’s unique hobby

HILLSBURGH  – Tucked neatly throughout their Hillsburgh home, Rick and Wanda Bates have a sentimental collection of hand crafted equine history made by Rick’s father Jim Bates. 

For nearly 20 years, Jim dedicated his space and his free time to recreating the harnesses and horse drawn machinery used while he worked in the logging industry up north.

“When he retired, he worked at a hotel in Burk’s Falls as manager, and he had to have something to do, so they [Jim and his wife Betty] went to the little basement and they just turned these things out,” said Wanda.

Jim began his craftsmanship journey at a very young age as he became quite familiar with his grandfather’s sawmill operation in the Township of Armour, nearParry Sound.  

It was during the Second World War that Jim received his draft notice. However, due to a bone condition he faced as a child, he was deemed unfit to serve and instead went to work at the Standard Chemical Company’s charcoal plant in South River, just outside of Algonquin Park, where over 200 German prisoners of war were located. Jim was tasked with guarding the prisoners and supervising them as they worked the lumber camps outside of the charcoal plant. 

Rick told the Advertiser his father was blown away by the Germans as they all seemed to be craftsmen, even going as far as to create log cabins which exceeded the Canadian guards’ accommodations. 

“The Canadians are living in basically paper shacks, log buildings and so forth. The Germans built their own log cabins and beautiful furniture,” said Rick. “There was no running water, but there was a spring up on the hill. [Jim] said [the Germans] made wooden pipes to bring the water down to their cabins. And had a shower house with hot and cold running water.”

“The guards who were good with them got to go and have a hot shower when they wanted,” he continued, stating his father was indeed one of the good guards.

Creativity and ingenuity seems to have followed Jim throughout his life, so it came as no surprise when he began his intricate hobby.

“The harnesses and wagons are all handmade,” said Wanda. “He even made the small hay bales for the wagons.”

“He had one little section on the lawn that was really fine grass and he very carefully cut that,” added Rick with a laugh. 

Each horse harness took nearly eight to 10 hours to complete and they are made of leather, felt, electrical wire, brass tacks and other foraged materials.

“He loved it,” said Rick. “And the only thing he ever used a pattern for was the Conestoga wagon.”

“He went and visited the Budweiser real horses somewhere, and took pictures of their wagon and all that so he was able to kind of reproduce that in his head,” added Wanda. 

Jim drew his inspiration from his time in the logging industry, creating a plethora of horse drawn machinery, buildings and tools.

Some of these creations include hay wagons, snowplows, cadge wagons, wood sleighs, road rollers, water tankers, road icers and many more.

All of Jim’s creations are built to 1/10 scale and each creation features all of the moving parts that the real inspiration would have. Some wagons feature working hand brakes, seats and storage, and one of the buildings features a working water wheel- powered saw. 

The wooden components were largely made of oak, which was cut, sanded and varnished by hand. 

While Rick was often used as an assistant in the process of his father’s creations, he himself is not as invested in the hobby, instead focusing on woodworking, creating cutting boards and other things. 

“It is enjoyable, but ... cutting boards and things like that are more my style,” said Rick.

Despite not being overly into the craft himself, Rick still has all of his fathers supplies and extra horses tucked away in a storage room in his house. 

“We can’t keep this forever,” said Wanda.

“We know that. So if we could find somebody who would just love the hobby like he did, take everything and get started, you know, we’d like that.”

Jim died in 2008 at the age of 81.

“He got cancer,” said Wanda. “He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer ... so we moved him in here. He was here for six months until he passed away, and then his Betty stayed on for another six months before she went to a retirement home.”

Before his passing, Jim created over 75 items, allowing each member of the family, as well as extended family, to display one of his horse teams in their own homes. 

Jim is remembered fondly by his family and his creative spirit has spanned generations with his son and granddaughter both taking an interest in woodworking.