428 LOGGING 
of from 30 to 35 feet and a breadth of from 50 to 60 feet. The 
taper extends 100 feet from each end. 
Ocean-going rafts are built in a cradle or frame which is moored 
to piling in deep water. One side of the cradle is detachable 
and when the raft is completed it is launched by dropping this 
side and allowing the raft to slide sidewise into the water. A 
700-foot cradle requires 200,000 board feet of timber in its construc- 
tion and with minor repairs it can be used for an indefinite period 
provided the water is sufficiently fresh to prevent toredo attacks. 
A derrick hoisting engine, mounted on a scow, is necessary for 
stowing logs in the cradle. A crew of five or six raftsmen is 
required. 
The logs are floated out to the cradle and, beginning at either 
end of the latter, the longest and most pliable sticks are used 
for the outer layers. These sticks should be at least 60 feet 
long and are placed with their butts toward the center of the 
raft. This gives a taper to the body of the raft and as the logs 
gradually work outward the binding chains are drawn tighter. 
The interior may be filled with any length logs, provided the 
joints are broken. 
After the raft has been built up to a height of 20 feet, a 2j- 
inch tow chain is laid from stem to stern with 50 feet projecting 
on either end to which the towing cable is attached. "Herring 
bone" chains, made from If-inch iron, are then attached to 
the main tow chain on the tapering ends of the raft, then run 
diagonally across the raft toward either end, and fastened to the 
binder chains. This prevents the latter from slipping on the 
conical portion of the raft, distributes the pull of the tow chain 
over a large portion of the stern, and also gives a limited amount 
of slack in the center which is essential to permit the raft to bend 
slightly with the action of the waves. 
When the raft is completed, binder chains made from If-inch 
iron are placed entirely around it at 12-foot intervals and are 
tightened by the hoisting engine. A 700-foot raft containing 
from 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 board feet requires about 115 tons of 
chain. 1 A 30-foot raft draws from 20 to 22 feet of water. 
1 A brief description of a similar ocean-going raft constructed at Bonne 
Bay, Newfoundland, in 1917 may be found in American Lumberman, January 
25, 1919, p. 35. This raft was built on a plank foundation on a sloping beach 
and at high tide was pushed out into deeper water as the work progressed. 
