194 LOGGING 
large number of logs must pass over a single route, a good dirt 
road is essential. It should be built on high ground, the streams 
bridged, wet places corduroyed and sufficient repair work done 
to maintain it in good condition. 
The best season for hauling is during the summer months 
when the ground is dry and hard, for maximum loads can then 
be handled on logging trucks with the least amount of trouble. 
In swampy sections and on bottom-land logging often has to be 
suspended during the rainy period. 
Hauling. — A common practice among companies who own 
their equipment and do their own logging is to work several 
wagons to a crew. The logs, after being swamped, are skidded with 
a bunch team to some place convenient to the wagons. The 
wagon teamsters then are concerned only with loading and 
hauling the logs. On small operations and where small con- 
tractors may be operating, each wagon teamster does his own 
swamping, bunching and loading. The former method is con- 
sidered the more efficient.^ 
On a haul of \ mile, one bunch team can skid logs for two or 
three wagons, and for greater distances it can serve more teams 
because of the fewer number of trips made. Each wagon carries 
a pair of skidding tongs and, if the bunch team gets behind, 
the wagon teamster unhooks his leaders or the pole team and 
brings in a few logs. The number of swampers required depends 
on the character of the timber and the under-brush. 
Wagons are loaded by the teamsters, who use a crosshaul rig. 
On short hauls, large logs are not bound to the wagon, but on 
long hauls or when the load is made up of small logs, it is customary 
to pass a binding chain around the load and under the reach. 
This chain is tightened by a hickory binding pole. The loading 
chains are wrapped loosely around the logs, the loading skids 
are placed on the reach, and the wagon is ready to start for the 
skidway. Logs are unloaded by removing the binding chains, 
placing skids in position and rolling the logs off the wagon by 
means of cant hooks or peavies. 
Hauling should be in charge of a team boss, who selects and 
1 The secret of successful logging with cattle is to keep them going con- 
tinuously at their slow gait. Therefore, much depends on the swamper's 
skill in keeping ahead of the hauling team so that the latter will not^ have to 
wait for loads. 
