28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 10, 1021 



""^xT^ 



ItoDLINS 



Future of Logging Tractors 



Tlie iiidustri.-il liistury of this country is marked by monuments 

 of pessimism and doubt as well as of achievement. Every notable 

 mechanical development has been brought to successful perform- 

 ance in spite of unsympathetic recejition. The history of the Great 

 War would have read vastly differently had manufacturers of air- 

 planes listened seriously to the skeptical opinions of their ability 

 to make good. So is the history of every development that has 

 marked a turning point in our industrial life. 



In the development of tractor logging the first utilization of these 

 machines camo under extremely trying conditions. Not only was 

 the physical operation of the machines demonstrated under the 

 most severe circumstances, but the adaptation of this new method 

 of hauling logs was under the stress of woods conditions apparently 

 impossible of overcoming. In the popular mind the war tank as a 

 piece of mechanism was supposed to have demonstrated absolute 

 invulnerability. Loggers believed that their record of tremendous 

 accomplishments during the war justified their putting them to 

 any use under any circumstances, and in many cases without regard 

 for their care or upkeep. The natural result was the delivery of 

 the logs, when all other means failed, but in many cases very heavy 

 repair bills to go with it. 



There is no question but that tlic tractor lias fully demonstrateil 

 its place in the logging operation. So logically and conclusively 

 has it shown its worth that the burden of future development 

 should rest equally upon tlie operator and the manufacturer. So 

 fully has tlie tractor earned its position as a means of decreasing 

 logging cost that the logger cannot afford to ignore it. But in 

 order that this new method may be expanded with the least waste 

 of time and with the most favorable results future application 

 and comparison should be made on the basis of normal logging. 

 In other words, the chief value of the tractor lies in its ability to 

 economically perform under normal conditions, and not in its ability 

 to accomplish the seemingly impossible under the stress of emer- 

 gency. 



The record made with the tractor operated as a normal logging 

 unit leaves no room for doubt as to its ability to perform and to 

 definitely and conclusively reduce logging cost. Such records have 

 been made under intelligent handling of tractors and with careful 

 attention to their requirements, both of operation and up-keep. 

 Those responsible tractor manufacturers who have successfully 

 adapted their machines to the trying conditions under which log- 

 ging is normally done are steadily and effectively building a founda- 

 tion for a tremendous future expansion in tractor logging. 



sorting the logs at the mill they could be sorted at a low cost, as 

 I would not deem it necessary to sort the low-grade hardwood from 

 the pine; for a saw on the mill that will cut pine good will make 

 some miscuts in hardwood. The sawyer of the mill should lose no 

 time ito prevent miscuts in low-grade hardwood. By sorting tlie 

 logs at the mill by means of a derrick, special saws can be put 

 on to cut the high-grade hardwood, and all precautions should be 

 taken by the sawyer to prevent miscuts, as quality is the factor in 

 high-grade hardwoods. By means of a derrick tlie best grade of 

 logs can be piled back until a large number is accumulated, and 

 then go through the mill to the lumber yard in large quantities 

 to be stacked, which will prevent sun-check in the lumber, which is 

 ofttimes caused by a few boards at a time being piled on top of 

 the stack, and comes about by letting the high-grade logs go through 

 the mill with the low-gi'ade logs, as there is generally a small per 

 cent of high-grade logs. 



Ways and Means for Handling Mixed Timber 



By H. S. Snyder, Bowman Lumber Company, St. Albans, W. Va. 



I think it, profitable for every lumber company to sort its logs 

 whenever mixed forest of hardwood and pine, but I think logs 

 should be sorted at the mill by means of a derrick, as some com- 

 panies try to have their logs sorted by the loading crew, which I 

 have found to be very unsatisfactory. The first reason is that 

 very few tong hookers and send-up men are good judges of good 

 and bad logs. The second reason is that he does not have time 

 to judge the logs if he were a good judge of logs, and he would 

 reduce the efficiency of the loading crew 25 per cent by taking 

 time to look the logs over, as ofttimes loading crews are dela^-Gil 

 by a wreck of the train, which would cause the loading crew to 

 get in "high gear," as I term it, to load out their trains. By 



The "Power Ox," an Industrial Tractor 



An industrial tractor tliat is now attracting uuich favorable atten- 

 tion in the hardwood lumber and wood using industries is the 



The Chassis of the "Power Ox** 



"I'owcr Ox," marketed by the Barrett-Cravens Company, Itii) 

 North Ann street, Chicago. This tractor is making itself useful 

 in the handling of lumber about the yards of a number of manu- 

 facturers of the products as well as in the yards of larger con- 

 sumers. The Power Ox is designed and built for heavy duty in 

 factor3- or inter-plant — for dock, freight terminal, lumber yard and 

 warehouse, and for light to medium construction work where a 

 very small unit is needed. As a carrier it will transport 3,000 

 pounds, and as a tractor it will pull 40,000 jiniinds. Tlie Power Ox 

 is compact, about 4x8 feet over all. It will travel in any ordinary 

 aisle and can be run through streets and in and out of buildings. 

 Although small in dimensions, it has full size truck units and is 

 built up to 1%-ton truck specifications. Some of the features of 

 this tractor, the chassis of which is shown in the aciompanying 

 jihotograph, are the straight line drixe through rear springs to 

 ilifferential of the worm drive type. It lias two universal joints 

 :iiid heavy spring hangers. The wheels are soliil, with i-onvex face 

 and no hubs. 



