LUMBERING IN PINE REGION OF CALIFORNIA. 23 
areas, because of the large amount of swamping required to give 
room in which to turn them. 
Maintenance. — The maintenance of big wheels varies with the 
size of the camp and the length of the haul. For large camps on 
one-eighth mile hauls, 5 or 6 cents will cover the tool charge and 10 
or 15 cents per 1,000 will meet the repairs. On very long hauls 
probably 25 cents per 1,000 should be allowed for maintenance. 
STEAM-DONKEY YARDING. 
The most common method of yarding logs throughout the region 
is by hauling on the ground with donkey engines and wire ropes or 
cables. From 75 to 80 per cent of all the timber cut is yarded in 
this way. This method is variously known as donkey yarding, 
slack-rope yarding, or steam yarding. It is used by all the larger 
companies, because it is adapted to a wide range of conditions. 
Horse logging by large firms is confined to favorable areas, donkey 
engines being used on all the more difficult ground. Small outfits 
use horses because of the short life of the operations and the need for 
limiting the amount invested. 
The yarding donkeys are of all types from the light Dolbeer or spool 
donkey to very heavy and powerful double-drum machines. The 
principle involved is the same in all: The logs are hauled in from the 
woods to the machine by means of a wire rope wound on a drum or 
spool, and the cable is returned to the woods by means of a horse or 
of a smaller return cable. 
The yarders may be set on railroad spurs, at chutes, or on roading 
trails. In the case of settings on railroad spurs, the yard and land- 
ing are identical and that part of the operation termed "from yard 
to landing" is eliminated. The most efficient loggers are adopting 
this practice, having found that under practically all conditions it is 
economy in the end to construct a heavy mileage of logging railroad, 
thus decreasing yarding distances and eliminating chuting or roading. 
Improvements. — Blasting stamps out of yarding trails is usually 
unnecessary. Only rarely are stumps blasted out and then it is done 
incidentally by some member of the yarding crew. As the use of 
large high-speed machines increases, the blasting of stamps may 
become more common. 
Landings of some sort are necessary at practically all donkey set- 
tings on loading spurs, except when the donkeys are equipped with 
A frames. Good landings pay for their construction by eliminating 
delay in both yarding and loading. On sloping ground they include 
excavations or frameworks for setting the donkey. The cheapest 
kind is made by placing two logs parallel at right angles to the track. 
The type used for loading with a gin pole and cable with end hooks 
or skids consists of two or three logs at right angles to the track and 
