Tire-Free Rivers
Tireside Chats
Monster Tires in the Saint John River
This tire sits on the shore behind Craig's Tire. There is another tire of equal size directly behind it, with the roots of a meadow maple pinning it to the rocks. |
This tire lies out 30 meters or so from shore. It is only visible during low water. |
This tractor tire lies on the shore upriver from the Princess Margaret Bridge, on the north side. |
This tire lies near it at the waterline. It's too heavy for me, and is also guarded by a fallen log. |
This tire is impinged by the meadow maples on the island at the mouth of the Nashwaak. It's just a few meters upstream of the confluence, below the bridge and on the western shore of the island. It's there forever, as far as I'm concerned. |
This monster sits on the shore in the cove by the vacant lot where the oil tanks used to be. It must weigh 75-100 kilos easily. |
This biggie sits in the sand and gravel directly under the northside entrance to the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge. In this picture, it's almost bare, but I just saw it this week, and it's now covered by a lot of driftwood left by the spring flood. With the rim, I can only guess it weighs hundreds of kilos. |
This tire was abandoned long ago. The trees will have to die if it is to be removed. It is in a grove of birch beside a welding shop near my house. I tried cutting it with a saw, but it has metal mesh inside.
There's another tire beside it, just visible in the image to the left. |
I knew it had to come. All the easy tires were gone. I had picked up the small ones on the shore first, and then used my hook and canoe to yank more small tires off the bottom of the Saint John river.
I had help, too. Ian, Jaime and Donna, mostly, and others as well.
But the easy ones are pretty much picked up now.
The tires that remain, both on shore and underwater, are too heavy for me. Several of them weigh hundreds of pounds.
Others are wedged in tight, or too deep and too far from shore, for me to remove by myself. Even with the help of other willing folks, they won't come out unless they are winched out. Several will never be removed.
I know where there is still fertile hunting ground, over by the mouth of Corbett Creek. But the water is still high for the end of August, and it's a fair paddle over there.
I suppose I could just drive over there with my truck. But much of the pleasure is just being out on the water with my boat.
Thanks for sticking with me this far. Here's a pictorial of the monster tires I can't get out by myself.
The next time I get out in my boat on the Saint John, I'm taking my GPS with me to get the coordinates of each one. I'll post them here. I'll also post some more pictures of any other monsters I find.
What do you think I should do to get them removed? Suggestions, please.
Reach out and Remove a Tire!
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