POWER SKIDDING 241 
The yarding engine location is carefully chosen in advance of 
logging, sometimes before the railroad is located because a good 
setting for a yarder may be more important than the best railroad 
location. When the yarding engine has been moved to the log- 
ging site, the crew runs out the yarding lines. The strip first 
logged is often parallel to the railroad. The first step is to drag 
the straw line by hand from the machine out over the first run 
to be logged, at the end of which it is passed through a tail block. 
It is then carried along the back side of the setting for a distance 
of about 300 feet where it is again passed through another block 
and then pulled back to the machine, thus enclosing a fan-shaped 
area. The trip line is then fastened to the end of the straw 
line, and the latter pulled in to the machine carrying the trip 
line around the outer edges of the area to be logged. When 
the end of the trip line reaches the machine, it is disconnected 
from the straw line and attached to the main cable and the machine 
is then ready for operation. 
When the first run has been logged, the main cable is detached 
from the trip line, and the latter pulled through the blocks until 
it is at the end of the next run which is to be logged. The straw 
line having been carried out over the second run is passed through 
a new tail block and connected to the end of the trip line which 
is then drawn in to the machine and the trip line detached from 
the straw line and attached to the main cable. 
Additional trip line blocks may be needed between the tail 
trees or between one of the tail trees and the machine in order 
to reduce wear on the cable. A diagrammatic scheme of the runs 
on a logging chance is shown in Fig. 76. 
The main skidding cable usually runs direct from the machine 
to the block on the tail tree, although there may be angles in the 
line, the cable passing through blocks, or working against rollers 
where the bends occur.^ 
The first work of the yarding crew is to clear the area around 
the landing of debris which would interfere with yarding or load- 
ing, following which the yarding of merchantable timber begins. 
The main cable to the end of which a butt chain- is attached 
' The practice of pulling in a straight line is now followed more extensively 
than formerly because of the delays incident to placing and tending the blocks 
at the bends in the line. 
2 A short, heavy chain fastened to the main cable, with a hook on the free 
end in which the choker sockets or eyes are caught when logs are being yarded. 
