202 LOGGING 



the next run. When the timber available to one run is skidded, the 

 main cable is dropped to the ground and disconnected from 

 the main cable extension ; the trolley is placed on the new cable, 

 which is then connected up to the cable extension, and the whole 

 drawn taut for operation. It requires from 15 to 30 minutes to 

 make this change. The rigging crew then proceeds to transfer 

 the extra main cable to the next run. A block is placed on the 

 new tail tree and a |-inch cable is dragged from the engine out 

 over the new run, either by hand or by a horse. It is then 

 passed through the block on the new tail tree, and finally through 

 a block on the tail tree just abandoned. The end of the small 

 cable is attached to the main cable and by winding the former on 

 a drum of the engine, the main cable is dragged around into the 

 new run, having reversed ends. It is then made ready for use by 

 attaching it to the tail tree. 



Many cableway skidders are provided with extra drums placed 

 on the forward part of the skidder car, which are used for loading 

 the logs on cars and for spotting empty cars under the loading 

 boom. These drums are operated by an independent engine. 

 The loading cable is f - or f -inch in diameter, and passes from the 

 drum up through a block on the head spar tree, then through a 

 block, directly over the log car, that is suspended from a cable 

 fastened to the head spar and to a stump on the opposite side 

 of the railroad track. The loading operation is independent of 

 skidding. 



The cableway system is especially adapted for logging in 

 swampy regions where the bottom is too soft for animals; in very 

 brushy sections; on steep and rocky slopes; in taking timber 

 across canyons and gorges, or in bringing it up out of canyons to 

 plateaus above or lowering it into valleys; in handling dense 

 stands of small timber or heavy stands of large timber, especially 

 where the physical conditions render ground systems difficult and 

 expensive. It is operated to best advantage when the topog- 

 raphy is such that logging railroads can be laid out at regular 

 intervals, but it is also employed in very rough regions where the 

 railroad must be placed in the valley or at the head of the slope. 



This is the only system of power logging that is not very 



