Blowdown – Trees felled by wind or other natural cause.
Calks – the loggers classic high-topped, steel-spiked boots which give steady footing while walking logs.
Carriage – Motorized or non-motorized unit that rides on the mainline which holds chokers and lifts logs off the ground.
Chaser – Person that unhooks logs on the landing.
Chokersetter – Person that wraps chokers (cables) around logs for machine (yarder) to pull to landing.
Clear Cut – harvesting method of cutting all trees down in a given area, which is biologically and economically sound and is generally practiced in Douglas Fir tree zones .
Conk – A fungus that grows on wood and is indicative of rot or disease in the tree.
Crummy – A loggers bus or crew vehicle.
DBH – abbreviation used by foresters which means a tree’s diameter at breast height-4.5′ above ground level.
Dog Hair – A thick growth of small, suppressed trees.
Faller – person who cuts trees down on the logging site.
Grapple – A heavy set of metal tongs, usually attached to the rear of tractors, which fasten around logs to bring them into a landing.
Hardwood – general term which refers to those species of trees that lose their leaves in winter.
Hooktender – The boss of the rigging crew – known as the “hooker” – generally runs a hi-lead logging show.
Landing – The place where the logs are dragged for loading.
Molly – A strand of wire rope that is weaved into a small circle. The loose end acts as a “cotter-pin” to hold pins in blocks.
Nosebag – loggers lunch bucket.
Old Growth – generally conceded to be trees 200 years or older, however, scientists feel old growth is a stage in the dynamic life of a forest rather than a chronological age. A forest will eventually become old growth if left undisturbed.
One Board Foot (bd.ft.) = a board 1″ thick by 12″ square.
Pecker Poles – Small, skinny trees.
Rigging Crew – Loggers that set up and maintain cable yarding systems.
Rotation – the period of years needed to reproduce and grow to maturity a specific crop of trees. In Washington on the west side of the mountains, the rotations can begin as low as 40 years of age and go to over a 100 years for fine sawtimber. The eastside rotations generally start at about 80 years because of slower growth with drier conditions.
Road Change – Moving to an area adjacent to that which has been cleared of logs in tower logging; done by changing the tailhold.
Slash – debris left after a logging operation.
Side – A logging operation, specifically the place where logging is actually occuring.
Springboard – A board with a metal tip, which loggers use as steps to climb a tree – using notches cut in the tree stump. They use the boards as a platform to cut the tree above the swell of the butt.
Stumpage – the price paid to the owner for a tree or trees as they stand on the stump.
Strawline – Small, light cable used for rigging tower lines.
Sustainable Yield – the practice of harvesting each year the equivalent of what you are growing. Therefore, you could log forever – say on a 100 year rotation on 100 acres – one acre each year forever.
Tailhold – A sturdy stump or tree used to support tower guy lines or yarding lines.
Turn – A load of logs which is dragged to a landing by a tower (yarder) or tractor.
Yarder – A logging tower, with winches and cables which , which drags or lifts logs to the landing.