Setting Chokers

[Bushler]

I can still remember clearly how loud the noise was when the machine went down. We were out 4K' from the landing and it sounded like the loudest thunder you ever heard.

When the tube broke free it snapped a whip in the skyline that would send the carriage up the hill toward us...then the chokers would come tight on the turn of logs and stop the carriage from hitting us.

The engineer was in shock. When we got to the landing he was still in the cab, uninjured, and mumbling incoherently. The chaser's story was good. He said it was like skipping rope dodging guylines.

The shovel had moved down the road to fuel, and the trucks were parked in the clear waiting for the shovel. Amazing nobody was hurt.

 

[tramp bushler]

other chocker dog related items

They are called dogs because they sometimes need to dig chocker holes under logs ..
The boots we all wear in the PNW ,BC and Alaska are called CORKS even tho it is spelled the same as what you seal a bath tub with [ caulk ]
Tho they often times have hob nails on them, it is the corks that keep you alive and upright , and sometimes the Triconies .....Some guys don,t put alot of thot into thier corks , some like Humptulips and I put alot into them .. I have mine built in Victoria BC .

The quiting whistle is - shave and a hair cut , 2 bits ...
In Southeast and south central Alaska , the standard tower was a 009 Madill
The standard chocker was 33 ft long 1" dia wire rope ... There is only 1 cable on a tower , that is the SKYLINE CABLE ., Cable up ,,, Cable down ... All the rest have a name .,., Mail line , skidding line , haul back , receeding line strawline & hay wire are the same now a days . guylines , and chockers ...They are usually made from 6 , 19 , wire rope of different sizes ...
A [ jagger ] is a broken wire in a section of any type of wire rope and they hurt like hell when they jab into you , sometimes with deadly consequences ...That is why riggin men where cotton gloves and not leather ......

 

[Haywire Haywood]

...That is why riggin men where cotton gloves and not leather ......

Why is that? Seems like leather would slow it down more than cotton.

Ian

 

[2dogs]

They are called dogs because they sometimes need to dig chocker holes under logs ..
The boots we all wear in the PNW ,BC and Alaska are called CORKS even tho it is spelled the same as what you seal a bath tub with [ caulk ]
Tho they often times have hob nails on them, it is the corks that keep you alive and upright , and sometimes the Triconies .....Some guys don,t put alot of thot into thier corks , some like Humptulips and I put alot into them .. I have mine built in Victoria BC .

The quiting whistle is - shave and a hair cut , 2 bits ...
In Southeast and south central Alaska , the standard tower was a 009 Madill
The standard chocker was 33 ft long 1" dia wire rope ... There is only 1 cable on a tower , that is the SKYLINE CABLE ., Cable up ,,, Cable down ... All the rest have a name .,., Mail line , skidding line , haul back , receeding line strawline & hay wire are the same now a days . guylines , and chockers ...They are usually made from 6 , 19 , wire rope of different sizes ...
A [ jagger ] is a broken wire in a section of any type of wire rope and they hurt like hell when they jab into you , sometimes with deadly consequences ...That is why riggin men where cotton gloves and not leather ......

I am assuming you typoed with "mail line", should have been main line? Our Koller only has a skyline cable, haulback, and mainline. The guyline winches are all manual. I should be able to post some pics of the yarder in a couple weeks. It will be here for new brakes before the next job.

 

[slowp]

I forgot. This came with the purchase of the Moneypit. There are rustic or rusty things hung on the well house. Here's a bigger choker than is used around here today.

And a closeup of the business end.

 

[Gologit]

Why is that? Seems like leather would slow it down more than cotton.

Ian

A jagger will rip out a cotton glove and maybe a piece of hide along with it. Hide heals. A leather glove might not give as much and you could wind up losing an arm or dislocating a shoulder etc. etc. When those jaggers grab you you want to get away from them. When it happens it happens fast and tearing out a cotton glove is the easiest on the body.

 

[Jacob J.]

http://cdbaby.com/cd/buzzmartin

4 - Sick of Setting Chokers

 

[Humptulips]

When I first started out on the chokers we were flying 1 1/8" and had a 1 3/8" bull choker we used ocasionally. 10 years later we were flying 1" or 7/8" with a 1 1/8" bull chokers. Now a days you're lucky enough to have 1 1/8 skyline. The way things are going we'll be using our shoelaces for chokers one of these days.

 

[Humptulips]

I am assuming you typoed with "mail line", should have been main line? Our Koller only has a skyline cable, haulback, and mainline. The guyline winches are all manual. I should be able to post some pics of the yarder in a couple weeks. It will be here for new brakes before the next job.

Crimeny sakes. I hooked on one of them for about 6 months. Most pitiful excuse for a yarder I ever saw.

 

[E&A QCI]

Whistles

In BC 3 short is go ahead, 1 long and 3 short go ahead slow, 2 short 2 short is back, 1 short stop, series of shorts slack the rigging. I have some training films on setting chokers, but I can't figure out how to convert them from DVD to Youtube. Generally, the guy with the bug is the rigging slinger, with two chokermen working with him. Be sure to go to www.youtube.com/jusportel and watch steel spars, log loaders, chokermen, etc. in action!

 

[E&A QCI]

I can still remember clearly how loud the noise was when the machine went down. We were out 4K' from the landing and it sounded like the loudest thunder you ever heard.

When the tube broke free it snapped a whip in the skyline that would send the carriage up the hill toward us...then the chokers would come tight on the turn of logs and stop the carriage from hitting us.

The engineer was in shock. When we got to the landing he was still in the cab, uninjured, and mumbling incoherently. The chaser's story was good. He said it was like skipping rope dodging guylines.

The shovel had moved down the road to fuel, and the trucks were parked in the clear waiting for the shovel. Amazing nobody was hurt.

Quite a few Madill yarders had the tops snap off the pipe, sometimes with fatal results. Also, if a log jill poked the pipe, denting it, they could buckle at the bottom. More than a few Skagit and Tyee towers collapsed when the dogs failed, causing the two pipe sections to telescope. A Madill can tip over if a back quarter hangs up, while the pipe is still on the ram. Amazing that more guys didn't get killed on them things! Especially on the 009, with the cab right at the base of the pipe. I remember hearing about a jillpoke coming right into the cab, killing the engineer.

 

[slowp]

Crimeny sakes. I hooked on one of them for about 6 months. Most pitiful excuse for a yarder I ever saw.

The one going here works well in the thinnings. It is two brothers, both cut, then one sets chokers while one loads and drives truck. Their dad is the yarder engineer. They have an extension on the tube.

They also have a processor which they use for bucking and limbing on the landing. They moved over here from Eastern WA and took up skyline logging and learned quickly. I guess the two brothers started out by skidder logging blowdown on the eastside.