1 79<S 



Canadian Forestry Journal, Julij, 1918 



The Motor Truck in Logging 



The improvement of means of 

 Iransport in Canadian forest opera- 

 tions is closely allied to several out- 

 standing problems in forest conserva- 

 tion. For example, the utilization of 

 hardwoods in Ontario, Quebec and 

 New Brunswick logging operations is 

 yet unsolved. The resultant loss of 

 forest materials each year is enormous, 

 but the most serious feature is in the 

 transportation of our forest areas into 

 j)redominantly hardwood types. As 

 forest industries for the greater part 

 arc maintained on coniferous woods 

 il becomes a prime interest of forestry 

 that the scope of profitable logging 

 should be extended to include hard- 

 woods 'and thus maintain a proper 

 balance. Driving hardwoods by 

 water for long distances is practically 

 prohibitory owing to sinkage. Until 

 cheap transport can be worked out, 

 the double advantage of developing 

 iuirdwood-using industries on a large 

 scale and correcting degenerative 

 tendencies in the Eastern Canada 

 forests cannot be attained. 



The following article by Richard 

 Milliard of Seattle, on "The Motor 

 Truck in Modern Logging," will be 

 found interesting, although its appli- 

 cation is for Western rather than 

 Eastern conditions. 



Transportation has always been the 

 big problem in logging, second only to 

 labor in its importance. Any method 

 which will enable the logger to get his 

 limber quickly, and get the logs out 

 to market dependably, economically 

 and rapidly is a big stride in the right 

 direction. 



Today it is generally a question of 

 yarding «ut, using a railroad or em- 

 ploying motor trucks. Of course 

 there are certain types of show where 

 special methods must be employed. 

 You are famihar with many of them, 

 where tram roads, cogwheel tram- 

 ways and other ingenious methods 

 are quite satisfactorily employed to 

 overcome unfavorable natural con- 

 diiions. But getting down to the 



large majority of cases, where the 

 terrain is fairly representative of 

 shows in our Northwest country, from 

 the spar tree to the pond, boom or 

 railroad is the distance we must cover. 

 Now, the motor truck is not a com- 

 petitor of the railroad, nor of river 

 driving. It is an ally. There are 

 shows where it is obviously best to 

 yard into the water; others where a 

 railroad should be used; and yet 

 others, and a very large number of 

 them, where the motor truck and 

 trailer is the only good solution of 

 the problem. 



The truck offers these advantages — 

 the road can be put into the timber 

 quickly and economically; it costs 

 much less to build a logging truck 

 road than a railroad; the equipment 

 costs less and is more quickly as- 

 sembled; the outfit is very mobil'e 

 and can be changed from location to 

 location quickly, the trucks pulling 

 up and carrying the poles or planking 

 used for the road and carrying the 

 donkeys from location to location. 

 The motor truck outfit is very fiexible. 



Where railroads are already in and 

 it is desired to reach patches of tim- 

 ber a mile or more from the road, 

 trucks can be used to get this timber 

 out to the railroad cheaply and 

 quickly — and speed is essential in 

 these days of high prices for logs. 

 Where railroads are not in, it is a 

 question of going over the show and 

 figuring out the best method. 



The motor truck has long since 

 passed the experimental stage in 

 logging work; it is no more an ex- 

 periment today than the donkey or 

 the high lead or the locomotive. 

 There have been failures ^^^Lh trucks, 

 it is true, but in every case these have 

 been due to improper equipment, 

 poor roads or absolute ignorance of log 

 handling. There are motor trucks 

 working all through the Puget Sound 

 country, and in other parts of the 

 Northwest, giving excellent satisfac- 

 tion and handling the logs cheaper 

 than any other method. 



