Logging truck

File:Ladd photo of solid-tired Moreland logging trucks of Biles Coleman Lumber Co. on the Moses Mountain logging unit.... - NARA - 298699.jpg trucks with solid tires on Moses Mountain in the 1920s]]

The most convenient trees to cut down were those near waterways for easy transportation.{{cite web |url=http://www.timberplus.co.uk/logging-trucks-early-timber-transportation/ |title=A History of Timber: Logging Trucks and Early Timber Transportation |publisher=TimberPlus}} As the supply dwindled and loggers had to go farther from water, they used teams of oxen or horses for hauling. These were superseded by steam-powered donkeys and locomotives. The final development was the logging truck.

A truck was used for logging in Covington, Washington, in 1913.{{cite web |url=http://www.ruraltech.org/pubs/reports/2008/log_trucks/section_1/index.asp |title=The Washington Log Trucking Industry: Costs and Safety Analysis |publisher=University of Washington Department of Natural Resource Sciences |access-date=December 18, 2011}} The coming of World War I and the resulting demand for the Pacific Northwest's Sitka spruce for airplanes "established log trucking in Washington". The United States Army assigned thousands of men to the Spruce Production Division to build roads into western Washington to harvest the dispersed stands of the best trees. After the war ended, a plenitude of surplus military trucks made their adoption attractive to logging companies, particularly smaller outfits that could not afford expensive locomotives.{{cite web |url=http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=66A7614B-CC6E-D382-70281FEC5B308A99 |title=Log Truck Stirs Dust through Clearcut |publisher=Oregon Historical Society |access-date=December 18, 2011}}

The primitive trucks were improved in the 1920s and 1930s, with more powerful engines and better braking systems. The old "narrow, solid rubber—sometimes steel—treadless tires" were replaced by wider pneumatic ones with treads. Plank roads gave way to graded dirt ones. By the mid-1930s, trucks were hauling as much timber out of the Pacific Northwest as the railroads.

World War II saw improved truck designs, and once again these were passed along to logging companies through the sale of surplus military vehicles after the war was over.

File:B double logging truck in Australia.jpg logging truck in Australia]]

There are two main types of modern logging trucks—those used on rough ground and trails in the forest where they are felled and those used for transport on normal highways and roads.{{citation |title=Trucks |author=Jeff C. Young |publisher=Capstone Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4296-3432-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/trucksinsoutsofm0000youn/page/14 14] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/trucksinsoutsofm0000youn/page/14 }} Because the roads in forests are rough and often temporary, the suspension and tires of an offroad truck are especially significant. Solid, low pressure and high pressure tires have been used. As many as nine axles may be used to provide low ground pressure and good traction.{{citation |title=Performance of a logging truck with a central tire inflation system |author1=John A. Sturos |author2=Douglas B. Brumm |author3=Andrew Lehto |year=1995 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Agriculture}}

Timber is commonly grown in hilly country unsuitable for farming and so the ability of a log truck to climb a gradient is significant. The steepness depends on the quality of the surface - mud and snow are harder to climb than gravel and soil. For a manageable gradient, the speed will then depend upon the power of the truck.{{citation |pages=550–553 |title=Forestry handbook |author=Karl F. Wenger |publisher=Wiley-IEEE |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-471-06227-1}} The legal weight limits will vary by jurisdiction but, for example, in the southern states of the US, they range from {{convert|80000|to|88000|lb|kg|sigfig=3}}—about {{convert|40|ST|LT t|sigfig=3}}.{{citation |title=An Analysis of Log Truck Turn Times at Harvest Sites and Mill Facilities |author=TN Dowling |year=2010 |hdl=10919/32156 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32156}}

To load the logs, the truck may be fitted with one or more winches or cranes. The logs are commonly unloaded by letting them roll off sideways.{{citation |title=Logging and log transport in tropical high forest |author1=M. Bendz |author2=J. McNally |author3=C. Silversides |year=1974 |isbn=978-92-5-100487-6}}

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File:Logging truck - Shaw Island ferry dock 01.jpg| Logging truck on Shaw Island ferry dock

File:LOGGING TRUCKS MOVE THROUGH PARK FROM CUTTING NEAR PARK BOUNDARY - NARA - 542858.jpg| Logging trucks move through park from cutting near park boundary

File:Logging truck and bush taxi accident.jpg|Logging truck and bush taxi accident

File:Logging truck - geograph.org.uk - 902724.jpg| Three axle KrAZ-255B logging truck

File:Wood exploitation in Finland 2.jpg|Sisu with a hydraulic crane

File:Volvo lumber truck Finland.jpg|A 60 ton Volvo FH16 with bullbar

File:Logging Port Chalmers.jpg|Mitsubishi 8x4 unloaded in Port Chalmers, New Zealand

File:Truck load of ponderosa pine, Edward Hines Lumber Co, operations in Malheur National Forest, Grant County, Oregon, July 1942.jpg|Truckload of ponderosa pine, Malheur National Forest, 1942

File:Lolo_Hot_Springs,_Lolo,_MT,_2011_3.jpg|Straight truck with log loader and pup trailer, Montana, 2011

File:Arrivée d'un grumier dans le clos de l'entreprise des Frères Allot.jpg|French logging truck

{{Portal|Transport}}

• Flatbed truck
• Hayes Truck
• Forwarder
• Logging road
• Pacific Trucks
• Side stake

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.logtruck.co.nz/ Log Truck] — the site of New Zealand's Log Transport Safety Council
• [http://www.ruraltech.org/pubs/reports/2008/log_trucks/section_1/index.asp The Washington Log Trucking Industry: Costs and Safety Analysis]
• [http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/pubs/alerts/i11.php Transport Canada regulations]
• [http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/pubs/alerts/i11.php Transport Alberta regulations]

{{Forestry tools}}

Category:Logging

Category:Trucks

Category:Forestry equipment