LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION, 109 



Until quite recently wood has been the common fuel for logging 

 engines. It was close at hand, was seemingly cheap, easy on the 

 flues, and gave sufficient steam. With the modern, high-speed, pow- 

 erful logging engine, even with an enlarged fire box, it did not prove 

 so satisfactory, and, with the advent of equipment that made the use 

 of oil a practical matter, it began to give way to fuel oil. 



The amount of wood consumed in a logging engine in a day de- 

 pends on the amount of work done and the character of the wood, 

 and varies considerably. This is also true of the cost, although it 

 does not vary to such an extent, since certain costs are comparatively 

 fixed. Regardless of the amount of wood consumed, a fireman* and 

 wood buck are needed at each yarding engine. One operator logging 

 in large Douglas fir and using sound fir — most of it large — for fuel, 

 kept a record and found that 1,650 feet of timber was consumed by 

 each yarding engine per day. He was working the engines hard. 

 This same operator estimated that it cost $18.13 per day to supply 

 steam for a yarding engine working under ordinary conditions when 

 using wood, on the basis of the following assumptions : 



Average daily wood consumption, 1,650 feet. 



Average stumpage value, $3 per 1,000 feet. 



Average logging cost, $4 per 1,000 feet. 



Additional logging cost for wood logs, $0.50 per 1,000 feet. 



One fireman, $3 per day. 



One wood buck, $2.75 per day. 



Another operator estimated the fuel cost per yarding engine, per 

 day, when using wood, at from $14 to $18. 



In some camps, cull logs are utilized as fuel. Where this is the 

 case, it would not be proper to include an item for stumpage in esti- 

 mating the cost of fuel. Most camps, however, find it necessary to 

 use sound logs because there is not a sufficient number of cull logs, 

 or because the desired head of steam can not be held when certain 

 classes of cull logs are used. 



Several advantages are claimed for oil as fuel in logging engines. 

 One is that it practically eliminates the fire hazard. Burning oil 

 gives off few sparks, so that the danger always present in the dry 

 season with wood or coal burning engines belching forth a cloud of 

 fire- distributing sparks, is practically done away with. Under most 

 conditions oil is cheaper. It is further claimed that the output per 

 engine is from 15 to 25 per cent higher. This would be particularly 

 true where large logs are moved uphill rather .long distances. Until 

 quite recently, however, loggers, as a class, have felt that oil was 

 harder on the flues than wood, and there evidently were grounds for 

 this belief. Through improvements in the burners, certain changes 

 in the engines, devices for cleaning the flues, etc., this objectionable 

 feature has seemingly been entirely or practically overcome, since 



