POWER SKIDDING 233 
Pidlboats. — In the cypress forests, the slack-rope skidder is 
mounted on a scow, and the machine complete, consisting of an 
upright, high-pressure boiler of from 60 to 80 horse-power with 
two engines operating two main drums and usually a third small 
drum, is called a pullboat. The large drums are placed tandem, 
one having a capacity of from 3000 to 4000 feet of from |- to 
l|-inch main cable, and the other at least twice as much |-inch 
messenger calile. An equal amount of f-inch line is wound on 
the small drum and is used to pull out the messenger cable when 
runs are changed. Four rings are spliced at 50-foot intervals 
to the main cable near the outer end and to these the chain and 
cables holding the logs are coupled. 
Pullboats are anchored in canals, bayous or lakes and the 
roads radiate or "fantail" in a half circle for a distance of from 
3000 to 3500 feet, although some of the larger machines can be 
operated for 4500 feet. Distances in excess of 3500 feet are 
not desirable because breaks in the cable are more or less fre- 
quent and on very long hauls the loss of time in locating and 
repairing them is excessive. 
The canals, dug by large dredges, are from 40 to 50 feet wide, 
and about 6 feet deep and often are several miles in length. 
Although at first intended solely for logging purposes, some canals 
in recent years have been built with the idea of ultimately using 
them for drainage purposes. The early operators had difficulty 
because they started to use the canals from the mill end, and so 
much debris and mud was drawn into the water, that frequent 
dredging was necessary to keep the channel open. The practice 
now is to dig the canal and then to begin logging at the far end, 
working toward the mill. Log barriers also are used, which pre- 
vent most of the refuse from falling into the canals. 
Pullboats operated from the shores of lakes or from wide bayous 
are moored to nests of piling driven ofT-shore, and the timber 
usually is pulled in straight lines. 
In laying out a pullboat job it is necessary to locate and cut 
out main and secondary roads down which the logs are dragged 
to the canal or baj'ou. The foreman may locate the main and 
secondary roads on a map in the office before going to the field, 
and determine the points on the boundary at which roads will 
terminate, and the angle at which they should run toward the 
pullboat. The far end of the cable passes through a sheave 
