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A logging truck or timber lorry is a large
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
used to carry logs. Some have integrated flatbeds, some are discrete
tractor unit A tractor unit (also known as a truck unit, power unit, prime mover, ten-wheeler, semi-tractor, tractor truck, semi-truck, tractor cab, truck cab, tractor rig, truck rig or big rig or simply a tractor, truck, semi or rig) is a characteristical ...
s, and some are configured to spread a load between the tractor unit and a dollied trailer pulled behind it. Often more than one trailer is attached.


History

The most convenient trees to cut down were those near waterways for easy transportation. As the supply dwindled and loggers had to go further from water, they used teams of oxen or horses for hauling. These were superseded by steam-powered
donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as ...
s and
locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
. The final development was the logging truck. A truck was used for logging in
Covington, Washington Covington is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 20,777 at the time of the 2020 census. Prior to the 2010 census, Covington was counted as part of Covington-Sawyer-Wilderness CDP. History The area presently kno ...
, in 1913. The coming of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and the resulting demand for the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
's
Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-lar ...
for airplanes "established log trucking in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
". The
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
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. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
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.


Configuration

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. 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. Timber is commonly grown in hilly country unsuitable for farming and so the ability of a log truck to climb a
gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gr ...
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. The legal weight limits will vary by jurisdiction but, for example, in the southern states of the USA, they range from — about . To load the logs, the truck may be fitted with one or more
winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attach ...
es or
cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname ...
. The logs are commonly unloaded by letting them roll off sideways.


Gallery

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.tif, 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 An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, beari ...
KrAZ-255B logging truck File:Wood exploitation in Finland 2.jpg,
Sisu SiSU (SiSU information structuring universe or Structured information, serialized units), is a Unix command line-oriented framework for document structuring, publishing and search. Usage Using markup applied to a document, or a collection of do ...
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 Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The origi ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
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 ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...
, Malheur National Forest, 1942 File:Lolo_Hot_Springs,_Lolo,_MT,_2011_3.jpg, Straight truck with log loader and pup trailer, Montana, 2011


See also

*
Flatbed truck A flatbed truck (or flatbed lorry in British English) is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, its bodywork is just an entirely flat, level 'bed' with no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy loa ...
*
Hayes Truck The Hayes Manufacturing Company Limited was a Vancouver-based Canadian manufacturer of heavy trucks known for their durability and a revolving bunk system. Founded in 1920, Hayes built both highway and off-road trucks, particularly for the loggi ...
*
Logging road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unit ...
* Pacific Trucks


References


External links


Log Truck
— the site of New Zealand's Log Transport Safety Council
The Washington Log Trucking Industry: Costs and Safety Analysis

Transport Canada regulations

Transport Alberta regulations
{{Forestry tools Logging Trucks Forestry equipment