Washington Winch

Its rusting relics are close to Bentley Plain and the Moscow Villa hut which was built in 1942 by firetower man Thomas William Ah Chow.

[1] Both winches were sold to the Forests Commission Victoria for salvaging timber in the Central Highland on the Toorongo Plateau near Noojee after the 1939 Black Friday fires.

[1] The advent of more powerful bulldozers, crawler tractors, haulage trucks and petrol chainsaws dramatically changed logging practices after WW2.

It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register,[1] and is managed and protected by local staff at Swifts Creek employed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).

[1] A roof was put over the winch to protect it from the elements, the original spars had rotted and were replaced with messmate poles and new cables were restrung in about 1999.

[4] The Washington Winch was used to harvest Alpine Ash logs which was then sawn to produce high-value products such as furniture, flooring and architraves at Ezards mill at Swifts Creek.