Bartlett Snowroller Project

August 2016

Mr & Mrs Phil & Sue Franklin generously donated this plaque. It describes the snow-roller and its history.

You can read the inscription by clicking on the photo at left.

Phil is also the Secretary of the Bartlett Historical Society. He has contributed countless hours of his time to the endeavors of our organization. We all thank him for his efforts..

The historical society owes a huge debt of gratitude to Francis Savard for his donation and help in the move, Greg Tsoules for the transportation and unloading and David Shedd for his milling efforts and his invaluable knowledge of the mechanics of snow rollers. Mike Chandler is due a huge pat on the back for not only his work today in removing old metal and wood slats but also for his and Hannah's search efforts to find an original driver's seat.

snow roller frame While this will be a big, laborious and somewhat expensive project, we are all excited about it and are certain that the finished product will be something the historical society, the town and future generations will be proud of and will enjoy. 2015 is Bartlett's 225th anniversary (1790--2015) and we can't think of a better gift to give the citizens to remind them of days gone by.

June 2014:

Thanks to Mike Chandler of Bartlett, the snowroller you see at the upper left has been stripped of the wood to expose the metal framework. Volunteers will be working to restore this tool to its original appearance.

From there David and I had a number of conversations with Francis Savard, the donor, and I went to the roller and partially dug it out so it would be easier to move to a spot that would be easy to load onto Greg Tsoules's flatbed for the move to my property. David made all the final time arrangements for when the move would take place. Francis has a machine that was able to move the roller near where Greg could get his machine in and then Francis, with his machine, lifted the roller onto the flat bed. We secured it and it then traveled up to my house and Greg unloaded it. While I was digging it out and again when it was moved by Francis, we discovered a number of iron pieces that were part of the original mechanism.

In a subsequent casual conversation with Doug Garland (and I think both other selectmen) and David Shedd, they expressed their enthusiasm in our project and offered to help us bring the idea to a reality. David Shedd offered to approach Greg Tsoules of East Branch Logging to help us move the snow roller from its Intervale location to a more readily accessible location that would be easier for us to work on and that would have power nearby. At this point, I offered the use of a location on my property near my barn that would be readily accessible, easy to get to to work on, had power available and also would give us the added benefit of Rte. 302 exposure so interested parties could watch our restoration progress and hopefully get excited about our undertaking. David Shedd, a local timber framer who also has his own saw mill offered to cut the oak slats which would replace all the old rotted ones.

THE SNOW ROLLER STORY:
by Norman Head - June 2014

Last year I heard that a lady in Intervale had an old snow roller and maybe we would be interested in it if it was available for sale or donation. I approached her and she said it actually was her neighbor, Francis Savard. I approached Francis and said he'd be happy to donate it to the historical society if we could move it and hopefully restore it. He took me in his side yard to look at the roller where it had been sitting (and rotting) for many many years. It was partially buried in the ground, the inside was covered with leaves, pine needles, dirt, etc. but the iron structure was in quite good shape and I thought it was not only salvageable, but would be a real gem when restored. I approached my fellow board members and they were excited in pursuing it.

Mike Chandler

Bert George

Phil Franklin
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Norman Head & David Shedd are not pictured, but they also did alot of work on this project. Thanks also to Gregg Tsoules.

MAY 2015, IT'S DONE:

With some hard work by a few volunteers, the snow-roller is back to the way it looked a hundred years ago. Only missing a team of horses. Click pic for large size in new window. Read the whole story below.

Mike Chandler - Bartlett History Snowroller Project JULY 22, 2014: Snow Roller Progress---Mike Chandler has been diligently at work welding, repairing and straightening out the numerous iron spokes on the snow roller wheels. Many thanks to Mike for all his hard work and to Bob “Elvis” Holmes for loaning us his oxyacetelyne torches. The next step will be to oil all the iron spokes, wheels, etc. to try to prevent any further rusting, then cut and install the center timber. After that we’ll be ready to seal the oak slats, cut them to size and then bolt them to the wheels. Keep tuned for future progress and developments. This undertaking is one that we hope all society members and town folk will be proud of. Any financial contribution, no matter how small, you can make to help us make this project become a reality will be immensely appreciated. Contributions can be mailed to Bartlett Historical Society P.O. Box 514 Bartlett, NH 03812