28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 25, 1921 





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Truck taking on 800 feet of logs 

 at Wellman Operation, 12 

 miles from South Boardman. 



"Let's go, boys!** Fanny says. 

 The return to the mill at the 

 end of a perfect day's work. 



Fanny and Duke, logging ex- 

 perts, entering their Pullman- 

 ette to ride out to the works. 



When they lift the tail gate Mr. 

 Wellman will give the "AU 

 Aboard" signal to the navi- 

 gator. 



Horse and Motor Truck Logging System Saves $5,000 in Three Months 



A short time ago Hardwood Reooed carried an illustrated article 

 describing how the Prank Purcell Walnut Lumber Comirany is 

 employing a happy combination of mule and motor equipment in 

 its logging operations. The illustration in this article showed a 

 happy pair of mules riding in a trailer behind a motor truck which 

 carried them (also the walnut logs they skidded) to and from the 

 scene of the logging operations. 



Now word comes out of South Boardman, Mich., that this same 

 method is being used with highly satisfactory results by Mr. Well- 

 man of that place, a manufacturer of cant hooks, peevy and rail- 

 road jack handles. Mr. Wellman varies the Purcell plan by the 

 use of horses instead of mules. 



He is enthusiastic about the arrangement, because he has found 

 that it saves him about $5,000 over the old plan every three months. 

 That is the kind of service that speaks a language he likes to listen 

 to. After 2.5 years' experience in logging, during which time he 

 estimates he has logged something over 40,000,000 feet of logs, 

 he is ready to say that the motor truck hauling combination he has 

 installed at South Boardman is the most practical and economical 

 hauling unit he has yet run across in his lumliering and logging 

 experience.' 



The type of semi-trailer from Mr. Wellman 's operation, which the 

 illustrations display, is of his own construction. This trailer is 

 pivoted in front of the rear axle of the truck and, as it swings 

 freely, it tracks perfectly over the truck wheels. The load is bal- 

 anced properly over the truck axle, thereby giving an even dis- 

 tribution of weight that secures ease of traction for the entire 

 unit. Old logging men around South Boardman have been very 

 favorably impressed with the unusual mobility of this outfit, 

 heavily loaded, negotiating the several grades and ordinary road 

 conditions which it encounters between the logging operation and 

 1he Wellman plant. 



Mr. Wellman 's stumpage is twelve miles from South Boardman 

 and the condition of the woods makes it necessary to skid the logs 

 from the stump and load the truck with a team. Desiring to over- 

 come the necessity of keeping a "boarding house" for the team in 

 the woods, he devised a second trailer to carry the tonm out oncli 

 morning and back each evening. 



During the day the truck, an Acme, made by the Acme Motor 

 Truck Company, Cadillac, Mich., makes four round trips, covering 

 ninety-six miles. On the last trip of the day the trailer de luxe, 

 in which "Fanny" and "Duke," the team, ride home to supper, is 

 attached to the trailer load of logs and no difficulty is experienced 

 in hauli^ the entire outfit at the one load. ' 



Where logging and road conditions are fairly good, Mr. Wellman 



maintains that the truck and trailer arrangement is the best and 

 cheapest method of logging. He backs his judgment in this matter 

 by an account of costs, which he kept over a period of three months. 

 On the four round trips from the woods to the sawmill an average 

 of 800 feet of beech and maple is carried. One day's work, 3200 

 feet, weighs 41,600 pounds. Mr. Wellman has satisfied himself 

 that it would require eight teams to do this work at a cost of not 

 less than $64 a day. As compared with this figure, he has found 

 that he can operate his truck pulling the two trailers every day at 

 a cost of $14.40 a day. This is a saving of $49.60 a day over the 

 old time team method. In 250 working days the truck outfit aver- 

 aged a higher saving than this, saving $12,400 a year. 



After the truck was equipped with pneumatic tires to replace 

 the original solid ones, the truck was able to leave the road and 

 go right into the woods to be loaded. This necessitates, of course, 

 the clearing of the route through the brush so as not to snag the 

 tires. "Where- we haul out of the woods," says Mr. Wellman, 

 "there is a long sandy stretch upgrade for something like 50 feet 

 in 80 rods, but the truck with load goes through on time almost to 

 rhe minute. The machines requires some attention, the same as 

 any piece of machinery, but perhaps verj' little more than to look 

 after one team." 



Mr. Wellman thinks that his system is a clear example of how 

 the right kind of equipment, intelligently operated with a due 

 regard to the limitations of motor truck operation, can effect a 

 substantial saving to the logger. 



There are thousands of small lumber operators throughout the 

 country whose conditions of logging are very similar to those under 

 which Mr. Wellman operates at South Boardman. Many of them 

 are cutting logs ten to fifty miles from the mill and are hauling 

 either by team or rail. In practically every one of these eases, 

 where road conditions are at all fair, there is little doubt that a 

 motor truck and semi-trailer outfit could be installed, which would 

 save money and time and give better satisfaction all around. To 

 simplify loading, small caterpillar tractors could be used instead 

 of teams. 



With the possibility of the substantial saving demonstrated by 

 Mr. Wellman, it appears that this is a proposition worth consider- 

 ing. Besides, think of the fun a pair of horses or mules would have, 

 getting a ten to fifteen mile joy ride every working day! 



Truck Company Plans Move 



The Mutual Truck Company of Sullivan, Ind., has announced it 

 will move its plant to Washington, Ind., within a short time, pro- 

 viding the people of Washington will subscribe for $300,000 worth 

 of the stock of the company. 



