HARDWOOD RECORD 



The CableWay Skidders. 



The growing use of steam machinery iu 

 logging has called the attention of many 

 active minds to the inventive possibilities in 

 this line. The ever increasing efficiency in 

 the newer types of machines is proof of con- 

 tinued success. 



The cableway skidder, which was formerly 

 used mainly in swamp logging, has recently 

 been the subject of many improvements, giv- 

 ing it increased efficiency, and it is now re- 

 placing snaking and slackrope machines wher- 

 ever timber is small, or the ground is rough, 

 brushy, or swampy, or in fact, other than per- 

 fectly smooth and open. 



Two practical loggers of Michigan, Messrs. 

 Fox and Davidson, in order to render a 

 snaker more efficient in the small northern 

 hardwoods, conceived the idea of a load- 

 locking carriage which could be operated on 

 an overhead cable by the simple geared 

 snaking machine which they already possessed. 



This carriage which they built is in gen- 

 eral appearance similar to the original form 

 of cableway skidder carriage known as the 

 Butters-Miller type, but, the skidding or tong 

 line, instead of passing through a depending 

 block, passes over a sheave in the carriage 

 itself and lias a short chain extension which 

 is seized by a patent grip in the carriage 

 when the load has been elevated and is held 

 firmly until the load is conveyed to the point 

 of deposit. The grip is then released by a 

 trip lever actuated by contact with a stop 

 bumper. 



The major points in favor of this carriage 



snaking engine can operate a cableway ; that 

 after a load is raised to position but little 

 power is required to convey it, and it is es- 

 pecially suitable for log conveying, across 

 canyons, rivers, or where similar obstructions 

 exist. 



The first illustration here given shows this 

 carriage as used with a tree rig. The load is 

 approaching the point of deposit. The load 

 consists of six short logs bunched together 

 with short choke or grab chains. The same 

 result could be more efficiently secured by the 

 use of Shaw pins and sockets. 



The handling of chemical wood, a great 

 factor in present day hardwood operations, 

 when the smallest sapling has a commercial 

 value, is shown in the illustration on page 25. 

 For economical operation a number of full 

 length trees should be handled at one time, 

 even enough to make 

 four or five cords 

 when cut up. This 

 enables a large capac- 

 ity to be secured and 

 consequently decreases 

 the cost of production 

 per cord. A large in- 

 cidental saving in this 

 handling in full 

 lengths comes from 

 the fact that the trees 

 can be cut into man- 

 jfacturing lengths 

 cheaper at one central 



poinf, as at a mill, than they could bo in the 

 woods and with more discretion and less waste. 



The second illustration is a rather unusual 

 one in that it shows a view of the skidder 

 taken from the tail spar on a hill several 

 hundred feet high. It gives a good idea 

 of the rolling and somewhat broken nature 

 of the country usually found in the northern 

 hardwood sections. 



With the old horse methods of getting out 

 logs a great deal of swamping, road building 

 and general hand labor made the operations 

 very expensive. All overhead skidding sys- 

 tems operate \-irtually without regard to- 

 ground conditions, and all expense for swamp- 

 ing or other ground preparations is avoided. 



The patent rights of the Fox & Davidson- 

 device have been secured by the LidgerwootV 

 Manufacturing Company, 96 Liberty street. 

 Xew York, and it will be developed by them, 

 as have their other cableway logging .systems. 



TWO LINE SNAKER CONVERTED TO CABLEWAY. PECREASO 

 COST OF OPERATING PER THOUSAND FEET, FIFTY PER CENT 



