Corunna Bay, Napier, from 1949 to 1960 was the site of Tuck Bros timber yards. Credit: Michael Tuck
Michael Fowler is a Hawke’s Bay writer and historian mfhistory@gmail.com
OPINION
Driving over the unsealed old Napier-Taupō Road in a family car was bad enough in the early 1950s, let alone in a truck hauling 23 to 24 tons (tonnes) of timber.
Paul Hodgson, driver for Tuck Bros (Napier) Limited, did exactly that in the company’s American-built International LF 190 in 1953, being the first to take a load of sawn radiata timber in a truck and a four-wheeled flat deck trailer from their Taupō sawmill.
The Napier-Taupō Road was then nothing like the modern equivalent, and when Paul arrived at Tuck Bros’ timber yards established in 1949 in Corunna Bay, Napier, the journey had taken him around six hours. That included a 5.6km climb up the Taurangakuma hill to the summit taking just 35 minutes, whereas other less powerful trucks took 1-1.25 hours.
Other trucks would make the same time, but the difference was the International LF 190 had three times their weight in freight.
Tuck Bros had their beginnings in 1935 when John Thomas Tuck (JT) and his son Stanley (Stan) Palmer Tuck leased the Oruanui sawmill site north of Taupō from Mrs Mabel Palmer (the widow of a previous sawmiller, Sydney Palmer).
Timber milled from this site was mainly tōtara – and as Stan’s son Michael states, this timber was excellent for joinery – “it didn’t warp easily”, and “it could lay in the ground for 80 years and not rot, if used for building piles”.
JT and Stan were joined by his brother John Manson Tuck (Jack) at Oruanui in 1940.
When both men went to World War II ‒ Stan as a commanding officer for sawmilling units in the Pacific, and Jack in the army, the sawmill temporarily closed.
When his boys returned in November 1945, JT stayed on for a year before retiring. Most of the tōtara was sent north of Taupō to Hamilton, Morrinsville, and Auckland.
Stan Tuck was one of New Zealand’s true pioneers in the sawmilling and export industry. His brother Jack – an ex-All Black (1929) - managed the Tuck Bros’ timber yard in Morrinsville (Morrinsville Timber and Joinery company).
Tuck Bros also manufactured pre-cut homes from their Napier and Taupo timber yards using treated radiata pine.
Up to the early 1950s native timbers such as rimu, mataī, and tōtara were the prominent building materials. Tuck Bros Ltd made available to builders treated radiata pine, framing timber planer gauged (machined timber with bevelled edges).
The government state housing corporation was slow to change from rough sawn native timber, which was susceptible to borer.
Stan Tuck in 1951 had secured the cutting rights to Rotokawa exotic forest, now known as Tauhara forest, near Taupō. (Exotic being non-native trees.)
The 25,000 acre (10,117ha) Rotokawa block had been planted in radiata pine by Australian-based company, Afforestation Proprietary Limited of Melbourne, which acquired the land in 1926. V T Fail was appointed to manage the forest as its consultant.
Fail supervised the nursery work, roading and preparation for planting – which took place in 1935, using up to 100 men from Taupō and Hawke’s Bay.
The initial reason for the plantings at Rotokawa was to produce turpentine – a by-product of radiata pine, but it never occurred.
The Taupō fires in 1946 destroyed thousands of exotic trees.
In 1951, Afforestation Proprietary Limited entered into a cutting agreement with Tuck Bros to mill the radiata pine that survived the Taupō fires.
Tuck Bros built a radiata pine sawmill in Taupō to handle the smaller diameter radiata pine logs which was New Zealand’s first private exotic radiata pine sawmill.
In that era, overseas machinery was difficult to import. By gleaning information from the American Lumber magazine, Stan designed his sawmill machinery which was built at Tuck Bros Taupō engineering workshop and at J J Niven foundry in Napier.
Taupō did not have electricity, so until this was supplied in December 1952, the plant was powered by Gardner and Lister diesel engines. (The Oruanui sawmill would cease in 1953 due to the tōtara forest exhaustion of trees.)
Taupo Sawmills Limited was purchased and it drew native logs from runanga bush alongside the Napier-Taupō Road and supplied Tuck Bros Taupō and Morrinsville timber yards.
During late 1957 Tuck Bros (Exotics) Ltd were approached to supply a sample of radiata pine logs for Japanese interests by the company’s agent, Owen Rainger. The logs came from the Rotokawa pine forest.
Stan Tuck agreed to supply at a few days’ notice up to 200 tons, but due to the limited time available only 158 tons of unprocessed radiata pine were supplied to the Japanese importers, Toyo Menka.
Robertson Transport and Howard Bros were two of the transport firms which carted the logs from Taupō, 283km to the port at the Mount Maunganui wharf. This work was in addition to their normal operations – many drivers returning to Taupō at about 1am, and then starting work again at 6am.
Japanese ship Tenwa Maru had been diverted to Mount Maunganui to pick up the logs, and the vessel arrived on November 23 and sailed in four days on the November 27. This trial shipment of radiata pine was New Zealand’s first, and the beginning of its export trade, as the Japanese found them satisfactory.
The demand for shipments of radiata pine was so strong that up to 14 ships could be waiting at the Mount Maunganui port to load the logs.
This congestion now brought about the loading from Napier port also.
The first delivery of radiata pine from Rotokawa forest to Napier Port occurred on June 20, 1959. The cartage contractor was Pettigrew Transport Limited.
Fletcher Timber Company took over Tuck Bros Exotics Ltd in 1960, and then bought the Rotokawa forest from the Australian Proprietory Ltd at around 1966 and renamed it Tauhara forest. The last tree was cut in 1987, and the area now is converted to dairy farming.
The Corunna Bay timber yard was sold to Fletcher Timber Co. in June 1960, and closed in September that year.
Stan Tuck passed away aged 60 in 1965.
The legacy of Stan Tuck is not only the radiata pine trade, but also the vast improvements to the Napier-Taupo Road to enable the transportation of radiata pine – and also the Westshore Bridge to enable trade through the Port of Napier.
Harold Holt of Robert Holt and Sons, stated in 1969 in a public speech that because of the influence Stan had on the Napier-Taupo Road’s development – it should stand as a “monument to Stan Tuck”.