LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 189 



The equipment used with a power scraper consists of a logging 

 engine, lines, blocks, etc. The cost and maintenance of the equipment, 

 also the depreciation that should be written off annually, are dis- 

 cussed under " Ground yarding." In a general way this work is 

 harder on equipment than ordinary yarding, since the percentage 

 of time that the equipment is actually in use is larger. Several 

 scrapers are used, the size and cost in March, 1916, of one of the 

 best being as follows : 



Size. Cost. 



4 yards $400 



5 yards 450 



6 yards 500 



Comparatively few of the operators use a steam shovel. A l-|-yard 

 dipper steam shovel suitable for heavy work costs about $8,000 at 

 Portland or Seattle. A smaller one with a |^-yard shovel costs about 

 $5,600 at these points. 



It has not been deemed advisable or practicable to enter into a 

 lengthy discussion of the methods and cost of grading. Informa- 

 tion of this kind is difficult to secure. It is easy to find out the 

 amount of money expended by a logging operator for labor in 

 railroad construction, but it is usually impossible to get it classified 

 into the cost of clearing right of way, grading, etc., in connection 

 with the total length of line built, the total amount of earth moved, 

 a classification of material moved, etc. 



The cost of grading, obviously, varies greatly. In places, for short 

 stretches, it can be done for as little as $10 per station (100 feet). 

 In other places it costs $20, $30, $40, $60, or more per station. Taking 

 it straight through the country the cost of grading the spur rail- 

 roads probably ranges between $30 and $50 per station. For ex- 

 ample, the cost of grading 13,350 feet in one case, with pick and 

 shovel, amounted to $6,664, which is at the rate of about $2,630 per 

 mile. This does not include the cost of clearing the right of way, 

 which was cleared for $997 per mile. It was a scratch grade for the 

 most part, there being no heavy cuts or fills. The average cost of 

 clearing right of way and grading 25 miles of track in another case 

 during 1910, 1911, and 1912 was $2,300 per mile. The cost per 

 station ranged between $28 and $64, the average being $44. These 

 figures do not include the cost of trestle construction. During this 

 time, seven miles of rather heavy sidehill grade was constructed. 

 There was little rock, and no heavy cuts or fills. The work was done 

 by contract, the operator paying $40 per station when the cuts and 

 fills did not exceed 3 feet in depth. It was all done by the pick-and- 

 shovel method. Another operator working in moderately rough 

 ground has cleared and graded the right of way for spur tracks for 



