298 
LOGGING 
loam, per hour. A pick-pointed plow drawn by four or six 
horses and with two men riding the plow beam, is required for 
breaking up tough clay or hardpan, the usual rate being from 15 
to 20 cubic yards per hour. Thirty-five cubic yards of "average 
earth" per hour is considered satisfactory work.^ 
Pick Work. — The pick is used only for light work and in 
confined places. In one hour a man will loosen from 1.6 to 2.3 
cubic yards of earth, from 0.7 to 1.1 cubic yards of gravel, or 
0.9 cubic yards of hardpan.^ 
Picking and Shoveling. — Pick-loosened earth is nearly always 
handled with a shovel. This method of moving earth is of 
importance in forest work because most light railroad grades are 
constructed in this manner, and it is also used in trail building. 
The following table' shows the average amount of cubic yardage 
picked and shoveled by one man per hour. 
Material 
Hardpan (clay and gravel) 
Common earth 
Hardpan 
Clay (stiff) 
Clay 
Sand 
Sandy soil 
Clayey earth 
Clay, fairly tough 
Sandy soil, frozen 
Gravel or clay 
Earth 
Capacity per 
man per hour 
Cubic yards. 
0.4 
0.8-1.2 
0.33 
0.85 
1.00 
1.2.5 
0.8-1.2 
1.3 
0.9 
0.75 
0.7-O.S 
1.1-1.2 
Cost per cubic 
yard' 
Cents. 
371 
19-12^ 
15 
12 
19-12i 
12 
17 
20 
20 
13-14 
Authority 
M. Ancelin 
it 
Cole 
a 
ii 
it 
Gillette 
Billings 
Hodgson 
1 Wages 15 cents per hour. 
The hourly output per man shoveling average soil is 1.4 cubic 
yards, but this may be increased to 2 cubic yards under efficient 
supervision. 
With Dynamite. — A logging operator in Mississippi describes' 
a method of making cuts in gumbo 5 feet or less in depth when 
the earth is to be "wasted." The reported cost was 50 per cent 
less than with the usual methods of moving earth. 
Holes of the required depth and 20 inches apart were made 
1 The data on output are taken from "Earthwork and Its Cost," by H. P. 
Gillette. McGraw Hill Book Company, Now York, 1912. 
2 See American Lumberman, July 15, 1911, p. 50. ' 
