WHEELED VEHICLES 
185 
the horses until the log drops on the bunk. The load is then 
ready to start for the skidway. 
Unloading may be accomplished by a reversal of the process, 
or by disengaging the tong points by a blow from a cant hook or 
maul and dragging the bummer from under the log. 
When several small logs are handled at one time, tongs are 
replaced with chains and loading is done from a rough skidway 
consisting of a single skid stick 
with one end raised high enough 
from the ground to enable the 
logs to be rolled on the bunks 
with cant hooks. 
Bummers may be used to ad- 
vantage only in a region fairly 
free from brush, where the bot- 
tom is smooth and hard enough 
to prevent the low wheels from 
miring, and where gentle grades 
to the skidway can be secured. 
They are seldom used for dis- 
tances exceeding 40 rods. Bum- 
mers are less serviceable than 
high wheels on ascending grades, 
since they pull harder. 
In ten hours a bummer will 
handle from 8500 to 14,000 board 
feet of yellow pine for a distance 
of 200 yards, and from 4000 to 
6000 board feet for a distance of 
450 yards. 
Log Carts. — In all types of carts the logs are swung beneath 
the wheels with the rear ends dragging on the ground. The 
height of wheels ranges from 5 to 12 feet with a corresponding 
variation in gauge. 
High-wheeled log carts are not adapted to hauling on descend- 
ing grades in excess of 25 per cent because of the difficulty of hold- 
ing back the load. They are most efficient on a level or gently 
rolling bottom. 
A cart used in the Coastal Plain region has an arched axle and 
wheels 4^ or 5^ feet high. The hounds of the cart are fastened 
Fig. 
52. — The Method of loading 
Logs on a Bummer. 
