2o6 LOGGING 



pair of tongs or a choker and then drawn in. The animal is 

 ridden back to the machine and after the cable is detached 

 from the log, returns the line for another log. Runs or trails 

 are not cut. 



The railroads are laid out in parallel lines from 1200 to 1400 

 feet apart and the timber is logged halfway back from each side 

 of the track. The road is often placed on the higher ground 

 because a better drained track can be secured and the timber can 

 be pulled up hill as readily as down. 



A common practice is to fell the timber in three strips begin- 

 ning on the back edge of the area and cutting a section from 200 

 to 300 feet wide. This is skidded before the timber on the next 

 strip is cut. The ground is thus kept free from debris and the 

 timber can be drawn in easier than where there is slash to inter- 

 fere. Trees are seldom felled with reference to the location of 

 the railroad track although skidding of long logs is simplified 

 if they are thrown away from the direction in which they are to 

 be pulled, because the top then offers the least interference. 

 The necessary swamping is generally done by the sawyers at the 

 time the timber is felled. 



When sawyers are paid by the thousand feet the timber is 

 usually scaled at the stump. 



A crew of seventeen men and nine animals, either horses or 

 mules, is usually employed. 



I foreman 2 levermen 



I fireman 2-4 tong unhookers 



4 tong hookers 4 riders 



I wood chopper i wood hauler 



I night watchman 



The foreman of the crew has general supervision of the opera- 

 tion and often acts as the leverman on the loading engine, when 

 the skidder is equipped with one. Each leverman operates 

 two drums on the skidder. The fireman performs the usual 

 duties. The tong unhookers are stationed at the machine and 

 detach the tongs or chokers from the logs as they are dragged in, 

 attach the cable to the single-tree for hauling back to the next 

 log; they also act as signalmen, transmitting orders from the 



