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yearbook, of Agriculture 1949 



for use with a power saw rather, 

 wooden or specially made wedges of 

 soft metals, aluminum or magnesium. 



Wedges made of shock-resistant, sea- 

 soned woods, such as ash, beech, birch, 

 dogwood, gum, hickory, ironwood, 

 maple, oak, or persimmon, are satis- 

 factory and often can be made lo- 

 cally even on the logging job. Satis- 

 factory dimensions of wedges are 4 

 inches wide and 7 inches long, with a 

 thickness and taper comparable to that 

 of metal wedges. 



Explosive wedges sometimes are very 

 helpful for splitting large logs, but only 

 an experienced person should use them. 



A hammer weighing 4 or 5 pounds 

 is recommended for driving wedges. A 

 large nail driven into the eye of the 

 hammerhead, and sharpened spikelike, 

 permits the hammer to be stuck into a 

 log, so that one can keep track of it. 



For pitchy woods, such as pine and 

 spruce, coal oil is essential for cleaning 

 the saw blade to prevent sticking. It is 

 best applied from a flat bottle, a size 

 convenient to carry in a trouser pocket. 



Another essential tool is an 8-foot, 

 straight, measuring stick made from 

 a board or a sapling, with 1-foot mark- 

 ings plainly indicated. It saves time in 

 measuring off the proper lengths of 

 felled trees. A hook on one end facili- 

 tates its use. The specified trimming 

 allowance ( 3 or 4 inches for most saw- 

 logs) may be added by eye, but one 

 should be careful not to cut off the end 

 of the measuring stick when making 

 a mark with the ax. An inch or two 

 short may place the log into the next 

 shorter length class, thus wasting wood 

 and lowering the selling price. 



A good file with a handle is easy to 

 carry in the woods and can be used to 

 sharpen tools during rest periods. Some 

 woodsmen prefer to use a whetstone 

 for sharpening their axes. 



THE OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT includes 

 the peavey, or cant hook, which is cum- 

 bersome to carry about the woods but 

 is helpful in rolling or prying logs, ties, 

 and bolts, and in bucking, skidding, 

 loading, and unloading. 



It takes no special skill to use the 

 peavey for prying, but there is a knack 

 in using it for loading, unloading, and 

 rolling logs. The beginner should first 

 learn to use the peavey from behind the 

 log or bolt. 



A log jack an adaptation of the 

 cant hook is a tool used in raising the 

 log being sawed a few inches off 

 the ground so as to avoid sawing into 

 the ground, or to keep the saw from 

 binding. 



A handy tool for getting hold of 

 short bolts or pulpwood is the pulp 

 hook, which resembles the common 

 hay hook. Injuries while using the 

 pulp hook usually come from missing 

 the wood and striking the leg instead. 



A half dozen hand tools and several 

 types of machines for removing the 

 bark of forest products are on the mar- 

 ket. The common hand tools are tim- 

 ber shaves, peeling spuds, a garden 

 spade, or merely an automobile spring 

 leaf. The type to be used depends 

 chiefly on the size of timber, the species, 

 and the season of the year. For peeling 

 timber the size of pulpwood and posts, 

 a support, or shaving "horse," can be 

 conveniently made. 



There are several mechanical peel- 

 ing machines. Some shave the bark off 

 with revolving cutter heads; others 

 knock the bark off with a fast-revolv- 

 ing, short-chain length or hammers. 



The broadax is of standard design. 

 It is used in hewing building logs and 

 ties. Skill in handling it comes through 

 practice. It is heavy and hazardous to 

 use. 



Farm-made machines for splitting 

 wood have proved successful in the 

 Lake States and North Central States. 

 There are two general types. One uses 

 a fly wheel, 3 or 4 feet in diameter, to 

 which a splitting wedge is attached. 

 The other has a wedge welded to a 

 moving piston head. The first seems to 

 be the more versatile; splitting a cord 

 of stove wood an hour with it is not 

 unusual. More than 300 machines of 

 this type are in use by farmers in 

 North Dakota. 



So much for the kinds of tools and 



