164 LOGGING 



Dead-level pulls should be avoided because more power is 

 required to move loads on such places than on gently descend- 

 ing grades. Sharp curves are especially dangerous on steep 

 pitches because the load cannot be held in check by the ani- 

 mals and the sled is apt to leave the road under the momentum 

 attained. 



Turnouts are provided at the end of long, straight stretches 

 on low-grade roads, while on steep mountain roads a "go-back" 

 road is built on which the empty sleds return. 



Secondary roads are inferior in construction to the main ones 

 because they may be used for one season only, and a smaller 

 amount of timber is brought out over them. Fewer roads can 

 be used in a rough or rolling region than in a flat country because 

 the downgrade permits skidding for longer distances. 



Two-sled roads should be built during the summer or early 

 fall before the ground freezes and snow falls. The days are 

 then long and the unfrozen earth can be handled to best advan- 

 tage. On new operations, road work follows camp construction, 

 while on other operations the roadmen come in a short time in 

 advance of the regular camp crew, or simultaneous with it. 

 It is often necessary, however, to construct a tote road, from 

 the base of supplies to the camp site, previous to the con- 

 struction of the camp. Roadmen are chosen from the most 

 inefficient workers in camp, because in such work little skill is 

 required. 



The right-of-way having been blazed out by the camp fore- 

 man, the "road-monkeys," as the men are called, proceed to 

 fell a strip of timber from 20 to 30 feet wide along the proposed 

 route. The merchantable timber is cut into saw logs which 

 may be left at one side of the road, or skidded to the nearest 

 skidway site. Depressions are filled with rotten logs and sound 

 non-merchantable species. The latter are also used for corduroy, 

 bridge construction and skids. Large stumps are grubbed, sawed 

 level with the ground or blasted out; boulders are removed; and 

 cuts are made to reduce heavy grades. Two-sled roads often 

 present a rough appearance before snow falls, because of the 

 uneven nature of the roadbed, but the first heavy snow fills the 



