244 



in the woods. Also, power saws are 

 more effective under such situations. 



FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING, the 



third step, the essential tools and 

 equipment include the peavey, cross- 

 haul line, pole skids, draft power, rig- 

 ging, and the conveyance. The draft 

 power, animal or machine, has been 

 mentioned; so has the peavey. 



A cross-haul line is a %-inch chain, 

 or chain and cable combination, 30 to 

 40 feet long, usually crotched and with 

 grab hooks in the free ends. Pole skids 

 are made on the job from pole-size 

 material. Loading requires little more 

 in the way of tools and equipment than 

 is necessary for skidding. 



Loaders or jammers are of various 

 designs, some of which can be made in 

 the home workshop. Plans for a simple 

 one, easily moved, call for a substan- 

 tial skid base and an A-frame boom 

 structure of timbers, the necessary 

 cable, blocks, guy lines, and hooks. 



Three methods are economically 

 suited for loading out skidways of logs, 

 poles, piling, and comparable round 

 material on small jobs. They are roll- 

 ing by hand, cross hauling, and moving 

 with loader or jammer. The latter two 

 require draft power. A loading crew 

 usually consists of two or three men. 



The simplest loading possible is from 

 a skidway so located as to permit 

 gravity loading onto the conveyance. 

 Two skid poles, readily fashioned on 

 the job, are set to permit rolling the 

 round pieces onto the truck, wagon, or 

 sled. Round pieces, if they are not too 

 large, can also be rolled up by hand 

 on skids from the ground level, but the 

 job is easier with draft power and 

 cross-haul line. 



The A-frame jammer is worth mak- 

 ing if there is much loading out to be 

 done from the ground level. With this 

 method there is less chance that rolling 

 logs will injure workmen. 



Conveyor-type loaders, not unlike 

 those built to raise bales of hay from 

 the ground to a wagon, can be used to 

 good advantage for small forest prod- 

 ucts. Load capacity is reduced if pieces 



Yearbook of Agriculture 1949 



are not piled on the vehicle. Special 

 types of loaders have been made to 

 handle products in bundles or pack- 

 ages. Such package loading of pulp- 

 wood has cut down loading costs on 

 larger operations. The loaders are op- 

 erated by a hydraulic lift arrangement, 

 or the package is raised by a crane. 

 Unloading is usually done likewise. 



Special loading devices have been 

 made according to the products, such 

 as end loading of a truck for long poles 

 and piling. Other types of loaders and 

 unloaders, using booms and cranes, 

 both swing and fixed, are designed for 

 handling large volumes. 



Wagons, trucks, and sleds, depend- 

 ing on available equipment and season 

 of year, are the usual types of convey- 

 ances for moving timber. Trucks are 

 generally used for long distances. The 

 average wagon is not built to trans- 

 port heavy logs, nor for distances 

 greater than a quarter-mile. A tractor- 

 trailer combination, such as might be 

 available on some farms, is satisfactory. 

 The load must be properly blocked, 

 balanced, and securely wrapped with 

 chains to keep it intact during transit. 



It is not unusual for an owner of a 

 small woodland tract to sell his forest 

 products at the skidway or roadside 

 and thus eliminate the loading and 

 hauling. It hardly pays to buy special 

 equipment and conveyances for the 

 purpose, and the ordinary vehicles 

 found on the farm are usually too light 

 for sawlogs, poles, and piling. As men- 

 tioned, many products, such as pulp- 

 wood, fuel wood, distillation wood, 

 fence posts, and stave bolts are loaded 

 by hand at the stump or landing. This 

 limits the size of the sticks. A pulp hook 

 is an aid to loading such small pieces. 



Most unloading of short pieces is 

 still done by hand. A dump truck 

 sometimes is used. Sawlogs, poles, and 

 piling are often removed from convey- 

 ances by quick release devices so that 

 the load readily rolls off. 



ARTHUR M. SOWDER is an extension 

 forester in the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. 



