Skyline logging
Encyclopedia
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, in which harvested logs are transported on a suspended steel cable, a cableway or "highline", from various locations where the trees are felled to a central location, typically next to a road for logistical reasons. The skyline's cable loop runs around a drive pulley, generally at the central delivery end, and the return pulley at the collection end; the collection-end pulley may be moved radially to other locations within the constraints of the system, and may operate over large areas.
Individual logs are attached to the suspended cable by means of choker cables and carriages. A skyline yarder can pull in 5 to 10 logs at a time, using separate chokers. The pulleys are mounted on towers or cranes, other trees, ridges or, in rare cases, helium balloons.