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HARDWOOD RECORD 



December 10. 1»20 



IX)G6ING 



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Cooperation Between Tractor Manufacturers and Owners 



By A Tractor Expert 



The respouEdbility for the success of a tractor iu logging operations 

 does not end with the manufacturer, or his represeutativeSj the deal- 

 ers, but in reality, this responsibility is prolonged throughout the 

 life of the tractor, and is delegated to the owner, as well as the manu- 

 facturer. The lumberman who buys a tractor must stand ready to 

 co-operate with the tractor salesman in order to make the tractor 

 a success. 



It is very unfair to exiject a tractor to "go any wheie. " This 

 phrase seems to be particularly popular in describing the "Cater- 

 pillar," and other track laying types of tractors, and doubtlessly, has 

 been an outgrowth of vividly colored pictures illustrating the perform- 

 ance of the "tanks" and tractors during the war. There is not a 

 tractor built which can ' ' go any where. ' ' In France, when the move- 

 ment of guns and supplies was far more important than the cost of 

 the operation — then, and only then, would tractors "go any where." 

 It was a matter of no consideration, if a five or a ten-ton tractor was 

 completely ruined, if it had "done its bit" and moved a field battery 

 to a new position. Its work was done and the cost justified. 



But we cannot operate saw mills this way. Tractors must not only 

 perform, but perform practically and economically. Rather than to 

 e-xpect a tractor to work successfully on a mountain trail, which is 

 really impassable in some places, how much better it would be to give 

 the tractor "a white man's chance" and to co-oijerate with the 

 tractor dealer, and blast away some of the natural barriers which are 

 keeping this particular operation from being a successful tractor job. 

 Powder and dynamite may be expensive, but, even so, they are a 

 great deal cheaper than a complete set of bronze and babbitt bearings, 

 especially if the delay in awaiting the arrival of h'uch parts is con- 

 sidered of any importance. The tractor shown in the illustration 

 beloTv, is badly handicapped by local conditions, which could easily 

 be remedied, if the traU were improved. 



The operations of the Broad River Lumber Company at Runion, N. 

 C, perhaps is the bset example of "the give and take spirit," which is 

 so necessary between the manufacturers and purchasers of tractors. 

 Mr. Griffiths has spent considerable money in improving his road. He 

 has changed it from "a mule and cattle trail" into a modern tractor 

 road. Tlin cost w.is not so large as might be expected, and already, 



many million feet of logs have been hauled over the road ivith but 

 little ' ' wear and tear. ' ' 



If every tractor user in the lumber industry would prepare and im- 

 prove the road over which he proposes to haul, it is the writer 's belief 

 that the major portion of tractor failures would be eliminated and 

 the cost of such far more than justified by an increase in tonnage 

 and smaller repair parts bill for the tractors. 



Motor Trucks with Steel Flanged Wheels 



In the September 25 issue of Hardwood Record was carried an 

 inquiry seeking information with reference to the operation of 

 logging trucks equipped with steel flanged wheels on steel or 

 wooden rails, to haul logs from the woods to the mill. 



H-\RDWO0D Record has received a photograph of such a truck 

 from the J. C. Wilson Company, Detroit, manufacturer o^ the Wil- 

 son motor trucks, illustrating this article, which shows such a truck 

 used in eastern Washington for switching cars and as a special for 

 ins]iectioii S'lr^-i-os. 



Showing Where Co-operation of Owner Would Increase Efficiency of Tractor 



Wilson Logging Truck in Action on Rails 



Inventor of the Holt "Caterpillar" is Dead 



Announcement comes from Stockton, Cal., that Benjamin Holt, 

 the noted inventor of the caterpillar tread applied to tractors, died 

 at a hospital there after a brief illness. The tread he originated 

 first attracted world -wide fame when it was introduced into the 

 world war as a major weapon by the British armies, contributing 

 largely to the defeat of the Germans. It proved to be one of the 

 most revolutionary weapons of the war and caused the Kaiser's 

 armies inestimable damage, proving a terrible handicap to them 

 until they were able to put similarly equipped tanks into the field. 

 Since the war it has added steadily to its fame as a peace-time 

 appliance, particularly in the logging of hardwood timber in the 

 swampy delta lands of the south. It has also come into wide use, 

 however, in northern, western and New England timber operations. 

 It established the everlasting fame for its inventor both in war 

 and peace. 



Mr. Holt was born in Merrimac county, New Hampshire, in 1849. 

 He is survived by four sons and a daughter. 



