86 



LOGGING 



PICKAROON 



Laborers engaged in bringing cross-ties, stave bolts and other 

 timber down steep slopes often use a pickaroon, which has a 

 handle 36 or 38 inches long on the end of which is attached a 

 head with a recurved pike. These heads are frequently made 

 from worn-out ax heads by removing a portion of the cutting 

 edge. 



UNDERCUTTERS 



The undercutter is a tool used by the "bucker" or log^maker 

 in the Northwest. It serves as a support for the saw when 

 making an undercut on a fallen tree. 



It consists of a round or flat rod of 

 iron about 2 feet long with a head on 

 one end and single or double claws on 

 the other. These claws are sharp and 

 are driven into the side of the bole. 

 SHding on this rod is a block carrying 

 a milled wheel which can be raised or 

 lowered to accommodate the depth of 

 cut, and on this the back of the saw 

 Fig. 22.-AType of Under- ^^^^^ Buckers frequently dispense with 



cutter used in the Pacific ^ 



Coast Forests, a is the saw undercutters because of the annoyance 



blade resting on the milled of carrying them. 



wheel. 



USE OF KEROSENE 



In felling coniferous woods resin collects on the saw and soon 

 causes it to bind. This is remedied by the use of kerosene. 

 Fallers and log-makers in the pine forests of the South carry a 

 pint bottle of kerosene, fitted with a stopper made from green 

 pine needles. The crew usually keeps a gallon can near at hand 

 from which to replenish its supply. At frequent intervals the 

 saw is sprinkled on both sides with the oil. A crew cutting from 

 12,000 to 15,000 feet log scale daily will use from one and one- 

 half to three pints of kerosene. Four gallons per week. is re- 

 garded as a liberal allowance. 



