172 LOGGING 
ponds that have become covered with a blanket of snow before 
the ice has reached a thickness to hold up heavy loads. It is 
the custom to plow the snow from the ice for a distance of 40 or 
50 feet on either side of the main road and to keep the ice uncovered 
until it has reached a satisfactory depth. If this is not done the 
road may remain in a dangerous condition throughout the winter. 
The maintenance of iced roads requires rut cutters and sprink- 
lers, in addition to snow plows. The rutter is a machine mounted 
on a heavy set of runners which has two chisel-like cutting blades, 
either flat or concave, which may be raised or lowered so that a 
Fig. 46. — The Badger Rut Cutter (side view). 
rut of any desired depth can he secured. Snowplows and rut 
cutters often are combined in one machine especially in those 
patterns offered by logging supply houses. 
Long hauls, ascending grades and long, level stretches are 
iced so that larger loads can be hauled. A road on which four 
or more trips can be made daily is seldom iced unless a large 
amount of timber is to be hauled over it. Descending grades and 
secondary roads are not iced. 
The sprinkler is a rectangular tank built of dressed and matched 
plank, and mounted on a heavy pair of sleds. It holds from 30 
to 80 barrels of water, which will sprinkle from j to f of a mile 
of road. In one type a short piece of 1-inch iron pipe is fitted 
into each of the rear lower corners of the tank directly over 
the sled ruts. An overhanging piece of sheet iron is attached so 
that it hangs over the opening in the pipes and, when the wooden 
plugs are pulled out of the latter, the water plays on this sheet 
and throws a spray over the rut, which on freezing makes a solid 
ice coating. Another type of sprinkler has the openings in the 
