18 BULLETIiq' 440, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



FROM STUMP TO YARD. 



After felling and bucking, the logs are collected and taken from 

 where they lie in the woods to a common point from which they 

 are transported to the mill. This common point, or yard, is, in the 

 case of steam logging, at the yarding engine, which may be on a 

 chute, or roading trail, or at a railroad landing. In horse logging 

 the yarding may be terminated at a chute, at a railroad landing, or 

 at a loading point for trucks. In addition to being the first step in 

 log transportation, this is the shortest from the standpoint of dis- 

 tance covered. In the California pine region three methods are in 

 vogue, namely, horse skidding, big-wheel yarding, and donkey 

 yarding. Overhead yarding is becoming established as a fourth. 



HORSE SKIDDING. 



The simplest method of yarding logs in Cahfornia is dragging or 

 snaking them along the ground with one or more horses. Especially 

 in the more open yellow and Jeffrey pine stands this method is com- 

 monly employed at small mills for delivering the logs to horse chutes 

 or trucks. Ordinarily, no roads or other improvements are neces- 

 sary, it being simpler to go around obstacles. The logs are always 

 bucked in the woods into short lengths, and usually hauled singly. 



Equipment. — The skidding teams range from 2 to 6 horses each, 

 depending upon the distance and the size of the loads. Only heavy 

 work horses costing about $250 each are satisfactory. Such horses 

 average about four or five seasons m the woods; and though some 

 can be sold for a trifle at the end of that period, the annual deprecia- 

 tion is from 20 to 25 per cent, depending upon the severity of condi- 

 tions. Allowing for 150 working days, the daily depreciation on a 

 horse is estimated at from 38 to 40 cents. To this amount must be 

 added from 75 to 85 cents per day for care and feeding, and about 8 

 cents for shoeing. A slight additional cost occurs in winter pasturage 

 and in deUvery to and from pasture. Thus the average daily cost of 

 horse labor is about $1.40 per horse. 



A set of logging harness for two horses costs from $50 to $60. The 

 remaining necessary equipment consists of a pair of spreaders for each 

 span and a heavy draft chain to extend from the log to the leaders. 

 This chain may be passed around one end of the log and fastened with 

 a grabhook, or it may be attached to a short chain fastened: to the 

 log with so-called grabs or dogs. In small timber tongs may be used 

 to hitch a single team to the logs. Logs are sometimes fastened 

 together into trails of tvv'^o by means of a short chain with grabs on 

 either end. 



Doubletrees or spreaders cost about $4 per pair, if of wood; and $8 

 per pair, if of steel. The net cost of horse skidding tongs is about 



