18 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



October 25, 1920 



Know the Tractor Before You Buy 



A review of the tractor operations in the various logging camps 

 in the south have brought to light many surprising and heretofore 

 unpublished facts. It is estimated that during the last year there 

 have been over $3,000,000 worth of tractors sold in the southern 

 logging territory, based upon an arbitrary average of $5,000 each, 

 which means, approximately, 600 tractors. 



The Hakdwood Becord calls attention to the necessity of care- 

 fully scrutinizing, without malice, or prejudice, the results of this 

 vast expenditure, and determining the advisability of continuing 

 the present policy of purchasing this equipment or else the neces- 

 sity of outlining a new course. 



As a result of a carefully outlined research campaign, it has been 

 determined that the average power of the tractors now in use in 

 the southern woods will be approximately 32 mechanical horse- 

 power, or about the replacement power of fourteen mules. In 

 other words, one tractor is capable of doing the work which is 

 usually accorded fourteen mules. The following figures, although 

 hypothetical, will be found interesting and fairly accurate: 



600 X 14 = 8,000, or the number of mules replaced by tractors. 



The various market prices of good mules, although varying some- 

 what, will strike a fairly close average at $375. 



8,400 X $375 = $3,150,000, cost of 8,400 mules. 



This amount shows a savings of $150,000 as far as the initial cost 

 is concerned. Operating cost, however, is the paramount considera- 

 tion and should be the determining factor in a comparative cost 

 sheet. 



An Average Tractor Operating Cost 



30 gallons gasoline per ten-hour day at 30c $ 9.00 



One operator at $6 6.00 



Oil at $1 1-00 



Interest on investment (based on $5,000 at G per cent) 82 



Depreciation (based on 20 per cent) 2.73 



Total operating cost of tractor per day $19.55 



Operating Cost of Fourteen Miiles 



To feed 14 mules at $l.r)0 $21.00 



Two hands at $4 8.00 



One overseer at $6 6.00 



Harness and shoe repairs ■ 2.00 



Interest on investment at 6 per cent 97 



Depreciation (based on 20 per cent) 3.61 



Total operating cost of fourteen mules per day $41.58 



From these figures we see that each tractor which replaces fourteen 

 mules represents a saving in operating costs of about $22.03 per day. 

 If there are 600 tractors at work in the southern woods and the 

 average replacement in live stock is fourteen mules each then we 

 have a total of $13,218 per day, or, based upon 200 working days per 

 year, we find a grand total of $2,643,600 per j^ear. In other words. 



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assuming that these figures are correct, the entire cost of these 

 tractors has been realized in the savings over similar operatings 

 with live stock at the end of the first year. 



On the face of these figures, it would lead us to believe that trac- 

 tors offer the most alluring cost cutting equipment possible for any 

 sawmill owner, but this is exactly the mistake which has been made 

 in a great many instances. Such figures, although accurate, can not 

 be applied without further deduction or consideration to any one 

 individual operation. Suave-talking tractor salesmen have unfor- 

 tunately found the value of using these figures to oversell their 

 equipment. The number of idle, useless and broken down tractors 

 (Continued on page 19) 



Wrong Picture Is Used in Illustrating Big 

 Tractor Haul 



Glittering generalities about hardwoods fail to "glit'" when 

 they meet the eye of an expert hardwood man. These fellows are 

 all "from Missouri" when it comes to matters pertaining to their 

 specialty. In its issue of September 25, Hardwood Becokd pub- 

 lished a brief article, describing a load of 12,300 feet of logs, which 

 was hauled in a Standard Lumber Company operation at Hawkins- 

 ville, Ga., a distance of four miles, by a 10-ton Holt caterpillar 

 tractor. This article was illustrated with a picture of three trailers, 

 purporting to bear the 12,300 feet of logs, drawn by a Holt tractor. 

 A member of the firm of the Bissell Lumber Company at Marshfield, 

 Wis., happened to read the article and when his eagle eye lit on the 

 illustration, he smiled indulgently. Then he tore out the page con- 

 taining said article and put on it the following notation: "It would 

 require an awful stretch of the imagination for any person with 

 practical knowledge of saw logs and timber to see 12,300 feet of 

 logs on these three trailers. Looks to us like about 30 to 36 logs, all 

 told, with a possible scale of six to seven thousand feet. Please get 

 the width of the bunks, the number of logs and the average length 

 and figure it out yourself." 



Hardwood Record immediately got in touch with the Standard 

 Lumber Company to know how it happened, and received the reply 

 that in some manner someone in the Holt Manufacturing Company 

 organization, which loaned the photograph, had sent the wrong one 

 out. Instead of the picture of the big load which was taken by a 

 Hawkinsville photographer for the Standard Lumber Company, they 

 sent a picture taken by a representative of the Troy Wagon Works. 

 The Standard Lumber Company enclosed the right photograph, 

 which is sliown at the right of the wrong picture under this article. 

 The company writes of the correct picture: "The load you see 

 pictured here was actually hauled over 4 miles just as you see it 

 coupled up. We do not attempt to say this is a regular load for 

 this machine, as we do not recommend hauling over 5,000 feet to 

 6,000 feet to the trip. It will handle this amount of logs with plenty 

 of reserve power for emergencies." 





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This Load Is About Half As Large As the One to the Right 



What a 12,300 Foot Load of Timber Looks Like 



