28 



HARDWOOr RECORD 



March 25, 1921 



■frt^tf^ij^ 



LOGGING i4M> 

 HANDMNGe 



Modem Logging Methods 



By F. W. Fenn, Secretary 



National Motor Truck Committee, National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. 



Until receut years, patches of standing timher were to be found 

 in suffieieut quantity in most sections to warrant the movement of 

 saw mill establishments to the heart of these wooded districts, 

 thereby Ki'CJ't'y simplifying the problem of getting the logs to 

 the mill. 



lu such logging camps the natural difhculties, preventing the 

 use of improved methods of transportation, operated to make the 

 crudest methods the most economical. Thns the sled was used to 

 its best advantage. Often the logs were dragged to the mill by 

 horses or oxen, and in broken country the logs were skidded down 

 the mountain sides 

 to the mill below. 

 If the mill was situ- 

 ated near a naviga- 

 ble stream, the logs, 

 in raft formation, 

 were transported 

 from great dis- 

 tances up stream by 

 the current. Thus 

 the cheapest known 

 means of transpor- 

 tation were utilized 

 to their fullest ex- 

 tent. Later, as the 

 jirice of lumber ad- 

 vanced, the larger 

 mills found It profit- 

 able to construct 

 steam railw;iys for 

 transporting their 

 logs. 



Witli the passing of these great stands of tini- 

 ber and the consequent increase in the price of 

 lumber abandoned mills are now finding it profit- 

 able to gather isolated logs, scattered over a 

 radius of from twenty to thirty miles, by trans- 

 porting them over the many roads now estali- 

 lished, and it is here that the motor truck finds 

 its place. 



Whether a lumberman, after disposing of his 

 mules aud horses, can operate a motor truck or 

 fleet of trucks successfiillj', depends, of course, 

 on the location of the standing timber he is cut- 

 ting, the condition of the roads in the vicinity 

 and the average length of the hauls. The rela- 

 tive distance of a tr.act of timber from estab- 

 lished transportation almost always determines the type of equip- 

 ment which could be used niosl profitably in bringing the logs to 

 the shipping point. 



Mule teams, tractors, horses and yarding engines have been 

 found very effective in the logging of tracts situated near a rail- 

 road or running stream. I would not advise the installation of a 

 motor truck where these methods' are better suited; but when tim- 

 ber must be hauled many miles through forest paths or over rough 

 country roads to a r.ailroad or navigable river, it is certain that a 



uiotor truck will l)e found the most satisfactory unit of trans- 

 ]iortation. 



Various jiarts of logging can be standardized. Kvery operation, 

 however, has its individual cliaracteristics and unusual conditions. 

 The successful co-ordination thereof requires careful analysis, 

 great skill and experience. It would be unwise to attempt the 

 logging of a large tract of timber a long distance from transporta- 

 tion with a yarding engine and horse team. Equally erratic would 

 lie the construction of an expensive railroad many miles for one 

 claim of timber. Possibly the old-fashioned bull team still has its 

 jdace. Most certainly the railroads and modern 

 (■(|uipmont are indispensable in the successful 

 maintenance and I'conomical hamlling of large 

 operations, and it is equally true and cerf.-iin 

 that the fundamentals are well established in 

 motor truck and trailer logging. 



It is human for men to be influenced by the 

 success or failure of others. Unfortunately the 

 controlling conditions which determine success 



or failure are not 

 always carefully 

 analyzed, and men 

 boldly enter, or tim- 

 idly retire, without 

 giving their indi- 

 v i d u al operations 

 the necessary ana- 

 lytical thought; and 

 if they are un- 

 skilled and inexpe- 

 rienced, they neg- 

 lect to secure ex- 

 pert advice from 

 those possessing 

 practical k n o w 1- 

 e d g e. Numerous 

 novices in the log- 

 ging and trucking 

 business have been 

 innocently misled 

 and induced into 

 hauling logs with 

 motor trucks by 

 well motived but 

 over-zealous truck 

 salesmen who have 

 observed and com- 

 piled statistics upon good successful operations, leading the novice 

 t(i the general assumption that all cases are similar and possess 

 eiiual merit. Some have failed because of lack of experience, 

 improper roads, insufficient capital, because of having made con- 

 tracts for hauling at far too small a figure; some because logs were 

 not furnished regularly for loading and hauling, it developing that 

 the operation was not properly balanced. Many others are meet- 

 ing with pronounced success with this kind of equipment. Four 

 years ago this system was virtually unknown. At present it is 



The photograph at the top indicates the importance of installing 

 efficient loading facilities both for speed and care in placing the load 



so as not to injure the equipment. 



The fact that motor equipment is found toiling amid such scenes as 



illustrated in the lower photograph, attests the progressive spirit of 



the lumbermen of the country. 



