Logging - Transporting Logs

Transporting Logs

Felled logs are then generally transported to a sawmill to be cut into timber, a paper mill for paper pulp, or for other purposes, like fence posts. Many methods have been used to move logs from where they were cut to a rail line or directly to a sawmill or paper mill. The cheapest and historically most common method is making use of a river's current to float floating tree trunks downstream, by either log driving or timber rafting. (Some logs sink because of high resin content; these are called deadheads.) To help herd the logs to the mill, in 1960 the Alaskan Lumber and Pulp Mill had a specially designed boat that was constructed of 1 1/2 inch steel. In the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s, the most common method was the high-wheel loader, which was a set of wheels over ten feet tall that the log or logs were strapped beneath. Oxen were at first used with the high-wheel loaders, but in the 1930s tractors replaced the oxen. In 1960 the largest high wheel loader was built for service in California. Called the Bunyan Buggie, the unit was self-propelled and had wheels 24 feet high and a front dozer blade that was 30 feet across and 6 feet high. Log transportation can be challenging and costly since trees are often far from roads or watercourses. Road building and maintenance may be restricted in National Forests or other wilderness areas since it can cause erosion in riparian zones. When felled logs sit adjacent to a road, heavy machinery may simply lift logs onto trucks. Most often, special heavy equipment is used to gather the logs from the site and move them close to the road to be lifted on trucks. Many methods exist to transport felled logs lying away from roads. Cable logging involves a yarder, which pulls one or several logs along the ground to a platform where a truck is waiting. When the terrain is too uneven to pull logs on the ground, a skyline can lift logs off the ground vertically, similar to a ski lift. Heli-logging, which uses heavy-lift helicopters to remove cut trees from forests by lifting them on cables attached to a helicopter, may be used when cable logging is not allowed for environmental reasons or when roads are lacking. It reduces the level of infrastructure required to log in a specific location, reducing the environmental impact of logging. Less mainstream or now for the most part superseded forms of log transport include horses, oxen, or balloon logging.