170 LOGGING 



winter's haul are filled, and any general improvements made that 

 the previous season's work have shown to be advisable, such as 

 the elimination of undesirable curves and grades. This work 

 costs from $25 to $100 per mile of road. 



Operation. — The practice followed in preparing a main two- 

 sled road for hauling varies somewhat on different operations. 

 Preparation often begins two or three weeks previous to hauling, 

 when a crew goes over the road lining in soft places and cut- 

 ting out windfalls which may have dropped across the road. A 

 forward pair of two-sled runners is then loaded with two small 

 logs whose rear ends are allowed to drag on the road where the 

 horses travel. Several loads of this character are hauled to the 

 landing, followed by heavier loads again dragged on the same 

 sled. When the road is thoroughly packed, a few light two-sled 

 loads are hauled over the road after each snowfall. Just previous 

 to the commencement of the main haul a rutter is run over the 

 road followed by the sprinkler which makes an iced rut in which 

 the sled runners travel. This preparatory work costs $10 or 

 $12 per mile. 



When hauling is about to begin, the roads past the skidways 

 are broken out by a snowplow and if necessary by shoveling. 

 Then an empty or lightly loaded sled is drawn over the road to 

 break a track. The snow on the skidways is shoveled off and 

 the empty sleds drawn by two or four horses are ranged along- 

 side for loading. Logs are sometimes frozen so solidly that they 

 cannot be loosened by hand and a small charge of dynamite 

 must be exploded in the pile. On steep mountain roads it is 

 customary to place partial loads on the sleds at the upper skid- 

 ways and "top-out" the loads from skidways on the lower 

 levels. Sleds are loaded by hand, by the crosshaul and by 

 power loaders. 



Hand loading is used where the logs are not large. It is a 

 common method in the spruce forests of the Northeast. Two 

 skids are placed so that they span the interval between the crib- 

 work of the skidway and the sled bunks and the logs are rolled 

 over the skids by the loaders. As the load is built up, the skids 

 are raised and placed on top of each succeeding tier of logs. 



