LOGGING METHODS AND PROCEDURE 145 



are the principal method of moving logs in the Pacific Northwest, 

 California, the Southwest, the northern Rocky Mountains, and in the 

 southern pine and southern Appalachian regions. Railroads are ex- 

 pensive; not only the initial construction, but also the equipment and 

 its maintenance as well as the upkeep of the railroad itself require 

 large expenditures. Their use is justified only on very large opera- 

 tions where logs must be transported for considerable distances. 



Within recent years the motor truck has advanced widely in popu- 

 larity because of the vastly improved systems of hard-surfaced high- 

 ways and the better design and construction of motor trucks. Both 

 these factors have resulted in much lower costs of log transportation. 

 Except in logging large-size virgin timber on the Pacific Coast, and 

 the virgin timber of the South and Appalachian Mountains, motor 

 trucks are the principal means of moving logs from the woods to the 

 mills. It is particularly adapted to small mill logging. The small 

 sawmill produces about 70 to 80% of all the lumber produced east of 

 the Rocky Mountains, and motor trucks are widely used in con- 

 nection with them. Trucks are often used to haul logs for distances 

 up to 50 to 100 miles. On account of their flexibility they can tap 

 a large number of sources. Thus, farmers are selling many logs from 

 their woodlots to supply the larger as well as the smaller sawmills. 

 Practically all the mills east of the prairies purchase logs in the open 

 market, and most of them are hauled by the motor truck. 



Tractors are also used to transport logs for short distances, par- 

 ticularly in hauling logs loaded on four- six-, and eight-wheel wagons 

 in the hardwood swamps and occasionally elsewhere. The two-long 

 chute is common for transporting logs in the northern Rocky Moun- 

 tains, particularly in northern Idaho. Various types of wagons hauled 

 by animals or tractors are occasionally used but are rapidly disppear- 

 ing from the woods. 



Sled logging has decreased in importance where it was formerly 

 a principal means of winter log haul. It is still widely used in eastern 

 Canada and in Ontario. It is occasionally found in the Northeast 

 and the Lake States and to a limited extent in the northern Rock}^ 

 Mountains. Sleds, known as drays, log boats, and lizards, are exten- 

 sively employed in skidding. 



Among the chief forms of water transportation are rafts, which are 

 common in the Pacific Northwest, in the estuaries and tidal streams 

 of the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, and occasionally along our 

 major streams. Barging logs has partially superseded rafting, par- 

 ticularly on an upstream haul and where wind or tidal influences 

 may interfere with the movement of rafts. Stream driving has prac- 



