HAND LOGGING AND ANIMAL SNAKING 1 49 



zag across the road, the angle between skippers being about 

 60 degrees, or the poles are placed directly across the trail at in- 

 tervals of from 4 to 6 feet. Logs often drag over zigzag skippers 

 more smoothly than over those placed directly across the trail. 

 Rough chutes are sometimes built in the stream beds to cover 

 rocks and other obstructions, when it is necessary to divert the 

 trail from the slopes to the stream bed. Short-radius curves 

 are undesirable because they decrease the draft power of the 

 animals, and make it hard to keep a long turn of logs in the trail. 

 Logs are brought down in "turns" made up of several logs 

 fastened in single file. On level stretches a two-pole chute is 

 sometimes built to facilitate dragging (page 233). They are 

 occasionally used on gentle slopes if the bottom is rough. 



On the Pacific Coast long-distance snaking has been replaced 

 largely by road engines and railroads, because animal draft is 

 more expensive than either of the above systems for distances 

 of three-fourths of a mile or more. Animals are still used to 

 a limited extent however, for short hauls on small operations. 

 Skid roads built for animal snaking in the Northwest are care- 

 fully located, stumps are removed, cuts and fills made and the 

 roadbed leveled so that a desirable grade is secured. Skids 10 

 feet long and from 10 to 14 inches in diameter are laid across the 

 completed grade at lo-foot intervals, and are partly buried in 

 the ground so that the horses can step over them easily. Wet 

 places in the roadbed are covered with puncheons split from 

 western red cedar, to provide a footing for animals. A "saddle" 

 is adzed out of the center of each skid and in this the log rides. 

 On curves the skids are longer and are either elevated on the 

 inner side of the curve to prevent the tow of logs from crowding 

 into the bank or the skids are laid flat and the elevation is se- 

 cured by placing small sloping skids on the inside of the curve. 

 The latter is regarded as the better method since the small skids 

 can be more easily placed and, if necessary, the angle of inchna- 

 tion can be readily changed. On level stretches the saddles are 

 greased to reduce friction. Logs are fastened together by means 

 of "grabs" into long tows, each one averaging 1000 board feet 

 per horse. A team on a road of this character formerly consisted 



