36 BULLETIN 440, U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICLTLTIJEE. 



The cost of keeping up horse chutes and equipment is not high; 

 probably from 5 to 8 cents per 1,000 will sufhce. A very considerable 

 cost in many operations is the grease required to make the logs slide 

 in the chute. The heavier the logs and the lighter the grades the 

 more chute grease is necessary. The grease costs about 4 cents per 

 pound dehvered, in barrels of about 400 pounds. The heaviest cost 

 of chute grease noted is for the first horse chute described above, 

 which is in fairly large timber. The daily requirement is two barrels, 

 costing S32, or 80 cents per 1,000. Usually for chutes about a mile 

 in length not more than from one-half to one barrel daily is necessary, 

 which would ma,ke the cost from 16 to 30 cents per 1,000. On short 

 chutes with favorable grades in light timber the cost of chute grease 

 may not exceed 5 cents per 1,000. 



CHUTE HAULING BY DONKEY ENGINES. 



Chute-hauling by donkey engines has been a very popular method 

 of moving logs from yard to landing, the tendency having been to re- 

 duce the mileage of railroad spurs by a liberal construction of chutes. 

 Firms using donkey chutes extensively laid out their logging opera- 

 tions with railroads along the principal streams and chutes built up 

 on either side to tap the various tributary watersheds. Some loggers 

 still adhere to this system but the majority are ehminating or greatly 

 shortening chutes by better location and greater mileage of logging 

 railroads. So-called hoists or inclines in connection with logging 

 railroads are just beginning to be used advantageously as a substitute 

 for chutes. However, chutes are of value where timber is out of 

 reach of yarding lines either in pockets below the raihoad track or on 

 benches or heads of streams above the track, where the cost of con- 

 structing a logging spur or incline would be prohibitive. 



Imjjrovements. — Most donkey chutes are constructed of two par- 

 allel series of poles laid end to end. The ends are jointed together, 

 and the tops of the poles are always placed in the direction the logs 

 are to be hauled. The poles are laid about 6 or 8 inches apart and 

 the inner sides are hewed off in such a way as to form a trough 10 

 inches wide at the bottom and 30 inches wide at the top. Cross skids 

 at 10-foot intervals are used to support the chute poles across depres- 

 sions, and braces are used to prevent spreading. However, where the 

 topography permits the two poles are embedded in the ground, which 

 serves the same purpose. Chute poles are preferably 60 or 70 foot 

 lengths from straight young white fir trees. The usual top diameter 

 is 10 or 12 inches, and the average pole scales about 500 feet. Thus, 

 where few cross skids are required, the scale per mile of chute is 

 about 90,000 feet. With a normal amount of cross skids the scale is 

 about 100,000 per mile. Stream beds and small gulches are crossed 

 by means of cribwork trestles, which add varying amounts to the 

 material required. 



