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February 18, 2011

Big wheels keep on rollin'

A pair of mast wheels, replicas of those used to haul enormous tree trunks for use as masts in the 18th century, were delivered to a Portland boatyard Thursday.

click image to enlarge

Tom Thomsen moves blocks for a mast wheel to rest on before it is moved into a boat shop Thursday on Fox Street in Portland. The two wheels will be resealed so they can be displayed outside, then go to Portland’s Tate House Museum, the former home of Capt. George Tate. Tate oversaw the harvesting of trees for use as masts by Great Britain’s Royal Navy in the mid-18th century.

Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

click image to enlarge

Boat builder Clint Chase holds a brace as a mast wheel is moved into his shop on Fox Street in Portland.

Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Twelve feet in diameter and weighing 1,000 pounds each, the wheels were built three decades ago for Story Land amusement park in New Hampshire, but they had to be moved to make way for a new exhibit.

The wheels have found a new home at the Tate House Museum in Stroudwater Village. Officials there said they hope to put the wheels on display near the museum.

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