22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



December 25, 1920 





5.;^^^ 



"Advantages and Disadvantages of Tractors in Logging" 



A recent article in the Habdwood Eecokd asked for more co- 

 operation between tractor users and tractor manufacturers. Since 

 that time, we have been extremely glad to find that this spirit is 

 shown in many instances. 



Some time ago at a meeting of the Appalachian Logging Congress 

 Luther Griffith of the Broad River Lumber Company, delivered an 

 .address entitled "Advantages and Disadvantages of Tractors." 

 Mr. Griffith is a man who knows whereof he speaks, being one 

 ■of the earliest pioneers to introduce tractors in logging operations, 

 and his interesting paper, in part, is printed below: 



The tendency of this day and time in all industries is the elimination 

 of that unknown and unsolvable quality known as labor. Since that 

 law ot nature is violated, which specifies that something cannot be 

 obtained for nothing. The manufacturer has had to resort to some 

 methods other than man labor, to get his goods produced. This, he is 

 beginning to do by the invention of machinery. Necessity, they say, is 

 the author of invention. 



One of the most recent inventions which has affected the lumberman, 

 Is that of the "Caterpillar" tractor. Though primarily, a war Invention 

 for purely war purposes, it has proven itself as valuable to the logger, 

 today, as it did to the aliens of yesterday. 



The kind of ground on which tractors have proved most successful, so 

 far, Is, that which is too steep for railroading and too flat for teams. 

 In other words, from about a 15 to a 30 per cent grade. This, as you 

 know, would be a very flat haul for team work and would be too steep 

 for railroading. Practically all loggers in this part of the country have 

 at least one, or, two long hauls, either through flat fields, or, down 

 branch hollows, where the distance of skidding Is rather long and 

 rather flat. The first question, or comparison is, that of the road 

 necessary. 



It costs very little more to build a road for the tractors than it does 

 to build a good road for teams. Tlie poles, which go in the road, should 

 be placed a little closer together and should be a little longer than those 

 used for teams. In trestle work, the poles should be ten feet long, this, 

 allowing plenty of room for fenders on the side. After the poles are 

 put in, the road should be filled in level with the top of the poles where 

 the trucks of the machine are to run. The logs will in a very short 

 ■while, wear down the surface of the poles, so that a groove is left in 

 the center of the road, which if kept slightly watered on flat hauls, en- 

 ables a five ton tractor to pull a load of about 1200 feet on an absolutely 

 flat haul. Though the cost of the road may be a little higher at the 

 start. Its upkeep Is practically nothing. The writer has one road three- 

 quarters of a mile long, over which, five million feet ot timber has already 

 been skidded without a single day's work having been put on the road 

 for repairs. All bridges must be corduroyed solid and covered with about 

 six inches of dirt. It might be thought that occasional steep grades 

 would be a disadvantage to a tractor, in logging, but, such is not the 

 case. The writer has seen tractors climb a 40 to 50 per cent grade, 

 without the slightest hesitation, and has even seen them go rear-end fore- 

 most for some distance on a 50 per cent grade. 



On account of the road proposition, the writer has found It Impractical 

 to try to take logs from a grab hole with these tractors. Teams are 

 used on the steepest grounds, face hillside, fall rocks, etc., and for the 

 purpose of skidding logs down to the tractor yard. Considerable yard 

 room must be provided in order to insure sufficient logs for the tractor 

 to make up for rainy weather, because, the tractor runs as well when 

 It rains, as it does in dry weather. In comparing the amount pulled by 

 a small 5-ton tractor to that pulled by one team, I have found that it 

 •will usually haul twice as much as one team can pull. 



In coming in with a trip and returning for Its next load, the tractor 

 ■will make more than two trips to the team, one. In other words, one 

 can consider a 5-ton tractor equal to five teams. 



The fuel consumption of the tractor of this size is about as follows, for 

 one day, or. ten hours : 



20 gals, gasoline 



31/2 qts. motor oil 



2 qts. transmission oil 



1 qt. track oil 



Vi lb. cup grease. 



For this amount of fuel, one should get 25,000 feet of logs on a 

 three-quarter mile haul. Saving in man power can be figured by any 



individual conversant with logging methods. For the tractor, one man 

 is required at the landing, up to 50,000 feet per day, together with two 

 men at the tractor. The driver will cost $3.00 per day. Any man will 

 do for a helper, because, his only job is in making up trails, keeping 

 them together en route to the landing and discharging same at the 

 landing. 



This, is really, only one man more than would be required with the 

 team, and that man should be figured at the rate of common labor. 

 You can see for yourself with each tractor you can eliminate four team- 

 sters, as the extra man on the tractor would be used at the landing 

 anyway. If all loggers had the same difliculty in getting good teamsters 

 as the writer has experienced, he would appreciate the significance of this 

 saving. The greatest difficulty, so far, encountered by the writer, is, 

 his selection of type of machine. He is at present, operating two 5-ton 

 tractors, which, it seems almost impossible to keep running, due to the 

 frequency of its parts breaking, and to his difficulty in getting repairs 

 promptly from the factory. He has had to charge off $12.00 per day, 

 right along, for depreciation and repairs. In addition to this, at the very 

 start, the wrong sort of draw bar was advised by the representative of 

 the factory, which, resulted in the breaking of two upper and lower 

 transmission cases, causing about $1,000 useless expense. Experience 

 has taught that a large supply of such small parts be kept on hand at all 

 times to take care of breakages for which there seems no excuse, except 

 insufficient strength in these parts initially. If forged parts are used 

 instead of the cast parts, a lot of these breakages can be prevented. 

 Another disadvantage chargeable to the particular kind of tractors oper- 

 ated by the writer is, the fact that no winch can be put on the machine 

 for blocking logs out of bad places. 



It one machine only contains such a winch, bad hollows can be oper- 

 ated much more economically. For instance ; in a hollow so steep on 

 both sides that logs must be ballhooted Into the hollow before they can 

 be hooked to hy a team or tractor, a road must either be built around 

 both sides of the hollow, or, the logs blocked up out of the hollow to one 

 road. By using a machine with a winch attached, a road can be built 

 rather high up on good ground on one side of the hollow, and by means 

 of a short line, all logs can be brought up from the middle of the hollow 

 to this road. The writer thinks every logger of North Carolina and all 

 Appalachian District loggers, will recognize many Instances of this kind. 

 Due to the fact that one company no longer has the monopoly on track 

 laying type tractors, the mistakes made by the writer should be easily 

 avoided. Tractors are now made by many different concerns, and some 

 of them, the writer considers very excellent. The greatest advantage of 

 the tractor over the team is yet to be mentioned. Every man present, has 

 probably thought of it long before now : The Gasoline Caterpillar 

 Tractor works in all sorts ot weather, never gets distempered, never gets 

 killed, and never has to be buried ; does not eat when it is not working, 

 and does not require four temperamental teamsters to look after it. 



The full value of Mr. Griffith's arguments cannot be quickly ana- 

 lyzed, and it is the Editor's hope that every logger and saw-mill 

 operator will now turn back, and re-read this article from the first. 

 There is more common "horse sense" displayed therein than would 

 be found in any lengthy discourse by so-called "tractor experts." 

 The reason for this is that, Mr. Griffith is primarily a practical 

 logger and second, an experienced tractor user. 



Without discrediting or discounting the value of Mr. Griffith's 

 article, it is our belief that he has been misinformed of the origin 

 of the "Caterpillar" tractor. In the second paragraph of his 

 article he states that "it is primarily, a war invention for purely 

 war purposes." This, is not correct, as the "Caterpillar" tractor 

 is an invention of Ben Holt and had its origin in the fertile, boggy 

 section of California. To find a means of cultivating this valuable 

 land for agricultural purposes, and without any idea of martial 

 employment the "Caterpillar" was conceived and born. From an 

 agricultural unit, it was found to have many valuable and diversi- 

 fied uses, until today, it is looked upon as not only an agricultural 

 machine, but, a valuable military unit and practical logging rig, a 

 land clearing outfit and a cross-country locomotive for industrial 

 hauling. 



