24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Log Sorting and Handling CableWay 



lu the milling of hardwood in the north- 

 ern states one of the difficulties encoun- 

 tered has been the handling of the logs at 

 the mill. In the old pine days the mill 

 pond was an absolute necessity for the 

 proper sawins; and general handling of logs. 

 It prevented the logs from deteriorating 



any size was required the derrick was 

 found to be very cumbersome and hardly 

 suitable for the purpose. 



The most recent and efficient method 

 used today is the cableway — the log han- 

 dling cableway. This is a modification of 

 the device used to such a great extent in 



CABLEW.W EQUirrED WITH CLAM-SHELL BUCKET CLEANING OUT HOT POND. 



Willie awaiting sawing, and offered the 

 cheapest, simplest and most efficient way of 

 eonvej-ing them to the mill slip. 



In the hardwood mill of the present da\', 

 however, sawing proceeds throughout the 

 year or at least well into the winter; and 

 it is difficult to keep a pond open through 

 the winter season. A number of companies 

 do this by instituting a hot pond, simjily a 

 Email part shut off by planking or other- 

 wise, and kept open by waste steam from 

 the mill or by other special suppl.v. It is 

 difficult, however, to maintain a large 

 enough pond of this sort to hold a full win- 

 ter supply of logs, and some provision has 

 to be made for storage. The valuable func- 

 tions of the hot pond are to wash the grit 

 and gravel out of the logs and to thaw 

 them out, making sawing a much easier 

 operation. Another difficulty is that from 

 their great weight very few hardwood logs 

 float for any length of time after being 

 placed in the water. The tendency among 

 mill operators, therefore, is to restrict the 

 size of the pond to that necessary for the 

 proper washing and thawing of the logs 

 and to provide storage room on the bank, 

 decking them to considerable height. 



To deck these logs the smaller and earlier 

 mills used a team of horses and a number 

 of men. This was of course a slow and ex- 

 pensive method. Subsequently various 

 forms of derricks W'Ore used for this jiur- 

 posc, but usually where a supply of logs of 



the construction of dams and general exca- 

 vation work, such as canal building, qnar- 

 lying, etc. With this system for handling 

 logs at the mill two towers are usually 

 erected, one straddling the log chain just 

 in back of the place where the logs are to 

 be delivered to the chain, and the other at 

 the furthermost end of the proposed log 



yard, the pond, if one is used, being at 

 some point between and extending to the 

 log chain. Shown herewith are a number 

 of halftones which show such a system 

 and which is in fact probably the most 

 efficient log handling cableway for its spe- 

 cific jiurpose in existence. This cableway 

 is in operation at the Girard Lumber Com- 

 pany's plant, one of the largest concerns 

 brought to its present efficiency by the 

 well-known northern operator, J. W. Wells 

 of Menominee, Mich. This cableway has 

 •its further or tail tower so situated that 

 the span of the cableway extends across the 

 hot pond for its entire length, running 

 jjarellel to the railroad track over which 

 the logs are delivered to the mill and which 

 in turn separates the hot pond from a 

 larger pond on the further side. The cable- 

 way is useful in accomplishing the following 

 purposes : 



First: Logs may be delivered in the 

 large pond at the further side of the log 

 track. When desired, the fall line of the 

 cableway will reach over and convey those 

 logs into the mill pond proper. 



Second: The logs which are brought in 

 for immediate use upon the cars are un- 

 loaded by the cableway from the cars, de- 

 posited -in the pond or decked upon skids, 

 as shown, for future use. 



Third: As the logs are required at the 

 mill this cableway will take them either 

 directly from the cars or from the two 

 ponds mentioned or from where they are 

 decked upon the skids. It deposits the logs 

 directly on the log chain with practically 

 no hand labor. The device is remarkable 

 for the immense quantity it can handle per 

 day, and the small amount of labor neces- 

 sarv. 



DECKING LOGS FOR WINTER USE. ENDS OF DECKING PILES. 



