LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 113 



Repair parts, materials, etc., other than labor, and iron and steel 

 bars, for three 10-| by 10^ inch, compound-geared engines for six 

 months cost $216, or $72 per engine. This is at the rate of $150 per 

 engine per year. The engines were about 3 years old, working in 

 better than average ground, and receiving good care. The repair 

 parts, materials, etc., for six yarding engines for one year amounted 

 to $1,200, which is at the rate of $200 per engine per year. The 

 engines were about 5 years old and worked hard. 



The total cost of taking out old flues and putting new ones in a 

 yarding engine amounts to about $420, as follows : 



Cost of 282 flues $282. 00 



Cost of freight 6.00 



Cost of 5 men for 7 days 134.00 



422.00 

 The cost of putting in a main-drum shaft amounts to about $244, 

 as follows : 



Cost of labor^ ^^ $106.00 



Cost; of new shaft 131.00 



Cost of freight 7.00 



244. 00 



Appraisers of National Forest timber estimate the annual cost of 

 the upkeep of yarding engines at from 8 to 10 per cent of their orig- 

 inal cost, the amount being equally divided between labor and ma- 

 terial. 



Depreciation on yarding engines. — No class of equipment is called 

 upon for such extremely severe service as ground yarding engines. 

 The demands made upon them are frequently far beyond their normal 

 capacity. In addition, it is difficult to give them the attention they 

 should have to keep them in good running order. This results in a 

 relatively short life. 



It is not possible to more than approximate the life of the ground 

 yarding engines which are now being manufactured. There are 

 several reasons why this is true : 



(1) Ground yarding engines have undergone many changes, and 

 those on the market are stronger than those built even a few years ago. 

 The only basis for estimating the life of the present-day engine is 

 the length of service secured from engines that have been or should 

 have been discarded, taking into consideration the period of efficient 

 service and the question of obsolesence. There are yarding engines 

 working in camps that are 12 or 14 years of age. It may be, however^ 

 that it would be profitable to replace them with new engines ; that the 

 increased cost of logging, because of obsolesence and high maintenance 

 costs, more than offsets the effect of a lower depreciation charge and 

 a lower fixed investment. 



61361°— Bull. 711—18 8 



