Horse logging

Horse logging is the use of horses or mules in forestry. In the modern industrialized world, it is often part of sustainable forest management.

A logger with a Clydesdale horse in Scotland
Logging sleds were instrumental in logging areas in northern climates that required transport through snow and ice.

Horses may be used for skidding and other tasks.[1]

Net net and gross production rates using horse logging in a Romanian study were of 2.63 m3/h and 1.44 m3/h.[2]

In the United Kingdom, there were three people employed as horse loggers in the 1980s but the number increased to 15 by 2009 with up to 1,000 part-time employed by that work.[3]

Horses can efficiently extract a single damaged tree from a forest without roadbuilding required for powered vehicles.[4] The technique can be more efficient than using power equipment, considering the cost of transportation and fuel, especially on smaller privately held forest parcels.[5][6]

Logging arch on display at Kauri Museum in New Zealand

Equipment
  • logging arch
Early 20th-century American horse logging with Michigan logging wheels
  • Michigan logging wheels
  • go-devil
a simple, loosely articulated sled without thills (shafts) or a tongue generally used for skidding long logs behind a horse[1]
  • scoot
a heavy sled on which logs or bolts are carried completely off the ground in several different sizes, depending on the pulling power to be used, ranging from a horse to a heavy tractor[1]
Elements of a skidding harness
  • skidding harness
a specialized harness to allow the animal to drag logs[1]
often used when horse skidding to keep the trace chains away from the horses' heels[1]

See also

References
  1. Simmons 1962.
  2. Borz & Ciobanu 2013.
  3. Southam 2009.
  4. Brown 2015.
  5. Jenner 2013.
  6. Kendell 2005.

Sources
  • Borz, Stelian Alexandru; Ciobanu, Valentina (June 2013), "Efficiency of motor-manual felling and horse logging in small-scale firewood production", African Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 8, no. 24, pp. 3126–3135
  • Simmons, Fred C. (1962), "Skidding with horses" (PDF), Logging farm wood crops, United States Department of Agriculture, pp. 43–44, Farmers' bulletin Volume no.2090 also "Antifriction devices for skidding: pp 23-25
  • Southam, Hazel (April 22, 2009). "A walk on the wild side: Horses are increasingly being used rather than machines to log land as traditional forestry skills make a comeback". The Guardian.
  • Brown, Liz (April 29, 2015), "Horsepower: Using horses for farm work and logging", Horse Canada, Aurora, Ontario: Horse Media Group
  • Jenner, Andrew (May 1, 2013), "Retro Farming: Horsepowered Logging", Modern Farmer
  • Kendell, Chet (Spring 2005), "Economics of Farming with Horses—Career Cost of Horses versus Tractor", Rural Heritage

Further reading
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