FAO FORESTRY PAPER 36 bas~c .technology .i n G@U@0G ®[~x~f?~]OD®LrU0 ~FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ROME FAO FORESTRY PAPER 36 basic technology in forest operations FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITEDRome NATIONS 1_ The designations employed and the presentation of material In this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. M-30 ISBN 92-5-101260-1 All rIghts reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored In a retrieval system, or transmitted In any form or by any means, electronic, mechenlcal. photocopying or otherwIse. wIthout the prior permission of the copyrIght owner. Applications for such permIssIon, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme dl Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. © FAO 1982 - iii - TABLE OF CONTENTS Page FOREWORD 1 IlfrRODUCTION 3 Pattern of development 3 Appropriate technology in forestry and the 5 practical app1ioations The five simple machines 5 CU'l'I' 00 TOOLS 9 The axe 9 Axeheads 9 a. Des~ and applioation 9 b. Manufacture 11 c. Sharpening 14 d. Grindstones 15 e. Files 18 A%e handles 19 a. Des~ 19 b. Ha.nging new handles 22 c. Replacement of handles 24 Saws 25 Crossout saws 25 a. Crosscut saw aintenanoe 28 b. Saw tiling devioes 29 c. Crossout saw bandles 31 Pit sawing 32 :Bowaawa 34 a. Jointers for bows&w blades 36 b. SettiDg tools 37 Sawhorses 38 Shaving hone 39 - iv - Page Wedges 39 Wedges tor telling, orosscutting and ripsawing 39 Splitting wedges 40 Sle~es and mallets 41 Brush cutters and. .aohetes 43 Bark:iDg tools 45 QirdliDg tools 51 53 Felling 53 Lodged trees 54 )loving or rollin« logs or trees 55 Log hoOD or hand hoob 58 Sappie (or Pickeroon) 59 Log tonga or double hoob 60 ElTRAOTIOlf 63 JIoviDg and carryiDg heavy loads without equipment 63 Tokes 64 BundliDg tirewood 65 Wheelbarrowa 66 Sledges 67 Hand-sulkies 69 Tt.ber carriers 71 Kuda-Kuda and rolling 72 Narrow puge railway- 74 Pole t:raok 75 Logging incline 76 Log chut. 77 lOving loads with an~l power 78 Skidding harness 78 Ani __l drawn arches and d.:rap 80 Skidding to.. 83 Skidding cones &rld p&D8 84 B1g wheels 86 Oxen 10ggiDg 87 Cable logg~ 90 pn.,DIJ AHD WADllU 93 Pil ing jack 93 Log loading 94 Truck 10adiDg with a cable and siDgle pulle7 96 Use ot toDp to anchor loaden or skidders 99 -v- Page TRUlSPORTATION 101 Land transport 101 Temporary roads - Wooden 101 Logging mats 103 Corduroy roada 104 Wooden wheel. 104 Load binder 105 A simple method of raiaiQg a truok to ohange 107 a front tyre Devioe for starting hea\7 10atW 108 Water transportation 108 Keana of fastening fioating 10gB into a ra:tt using local _teriala 108 Pike pole or log Kook 109 BASIC IIm'ALLUBGY AJID BLAClCSXITHllIl III Fbrges and bellows 114 AnvUa 117 JIISCELLANmUS 119 Stake driver 119 Poat driver 119 Ketal plate ohain link 120 BaDdl iDg ot large rooks 120 Chaine&v method tor outt iItg boarda 121 Pulling atUllpll 122 BIBLIOOBAPHY 123 - 1 - FOREWORD This Handbook on Basic Technology for Fbrest Operations deals with the manufacture and utilization of tools and mechanisms meant to reduce the expenditure of physical energy and improve productivity in labour-intensive forestry operations. The aim is to make forest work easier, to promote self­ reliance at the community level and to decrease dependence on foreign currency. It is not meant to support or encourage heavy labour-intensive operations. The Handbook is mainly for the use of forest owners and operators (forest owners associations, independent operators, logging foremen and supervisors); extension personnel (extension specialists, training schools); tool manufacturers (machine shops, blacksmith shops and the like). FAO attaches great importance to these educat iona.l and training activities as a means of transferring knowledge and technology to developing countries. The Handbook is written in olear and simple language and tries to explain as mu~: as possible through abundant illustrations concerning tool design or use. It is issued in English, French and Spanish. The publication of this handbook was made possible by a speoial contribution from Sweden, under the FAO/SIDA Government Cooperative ProgralllDe (GCP/INI'/343/SWE). The main draft has been prepared b.y Ross Silversides, Canada in collaboration with Gunnar Segerstr8m of the Logging and Transport Branch of FAO. Advice has been given by Bernt Strehlke, ItO, Mikko Kantola and Klaus Virtanen, Finland and J,rgen von Ubisch, Tanzania. Illustrations were prepared by Alex Golob, Canada. The draf't has been scrutinized by the participants in the FAO/SIDA Consultation on Intermediate Technology for Forestry, held in India from 18 October to 7 November 1981. The Project Leader was Gunnar Segerstr8m, FAO. -3 - INTRODUCTION In the course of recent years it has become apparent that forest operations in oountries whose deve10pllent is at the initial or intermediate stage are overmechanized. .chines and equipment much too sophisticated and expensive are otten 'beiDg introduoed with far reaohing results, IDOst1y negative. Sooio­ eoonomic oonditions as well as low levels of technical expertise in those oountries argue against this trend which in fact is the best eDlllp1e of how not to prooeed in the transfer of teohno10gy. Two cat~ories of technology exist todayl hard and soft (Goulet, 1975). Hard technology is expensive, oapita1-intensive and oomp1ex. Soft technology is relatively inexpensive, labour­ intensive, flexible and adaptable to local materials of non­ stalldard qua.1it7 whioh can be installed, repaired and maintained b.r people with modest teohnica1 know1~e. This is Basic Teohno10gy. Because IDOst developing oountries are in tropical or semi­ tropical latitudes, labour productivit7 tends to be 10wl dietary defioienoies plus heat stress O&DDOt produce the h~h energy outputs obtainable through labour in temperate c1iates. Per this reason there have been attempts to replace aanpower with maohines. But, from a sooia1 and economic point of view, disp1aoing workers (br~ing in maohines) where there is already a surplus of labour, and draining capital resources to provide maohines and. spare parts is counterproductive. The importation of sophisticated equipment tends to inorease the dependenoe of developing oountries on the industrialized world, with serious eoonoaio and political implications. This has been desoribed &8 st.p17 a transformation tro. domination b7 fore~ oolonizers to do.ination b7 fore~ teohno10gists (Hanlong, 1977). Pattern of deve10J!!ent There i8 a pattern of deve10paent whioh IIOst countries have followed in their progression - from predominant17 agrarian, through industrialization, to the post-industrial stage. JIany developing oountries are still predollinant17 agrarian tod&7, while others are in a transition stage, partly agrarian and partly industrialized. At this point in their developaent the7 might find it usef'ul. to profit from the experience of oountries whioh have preceded them in reaching higher stages of Aeve1olBent, though in the eM they will aost17 learn fro. their own mistakes. We know that ear17 attempts at mechanization were strong17 resisted b.r labour, even though the work of those directly ooncerned was -4- made easier. In many oases teohnologioal development was used as one more means for one sooial olass to maintain oontrol over another. This is still true, whether the teohnology is sophisticated or not. In the latter case, small-scale technology is at times believed to lead to ''mini-oapitalism'', going to people who can afford to bqy it and not necessarily to those who need it. Another factor to be oonsidered here is political (Goulet, 1975). As we have seen, alternate technology offers many advantages - from its low oost to the simple and available materials it requires - but above all it is easy to teaoh, to learn and to apply. But in spite of all this, and the faot that it is oheap and attacks unemployment better than hard teohnology, it is not widely acoepted. Leaders in many developing nations are reluotant to have their oountries olassified as teohnologi­ cally seoond-rate. However, it is necessary to develop and introduoe a technology which will enable men to work in a manner and under oonditions SOCially productive and personally satisfying. It follows that man should be in control of his tools or maohines. He, not the maohine, should be the pao&-setter. The technology introduoed should ttmu:imize work opportunity for the unemployed and the unde:r-employed", rather than the output per man whioh is the oonventional view. Thus we reaoh the inherent oonfliot between what is considered SOCially desirable and what is considered uneconomio - in short, the oonfliot between public and. private interests. The utilization of basic teohnology should not imply that it is a primitive method, as is sometimes believed. Such teohnology should truly inolude the best possible scientific knowledge. Let us take a look at some eDillplesl Modern teohnology has produoed hardened teeth on hand saws, teeth that do not require sharpening and, &s a oonsequenoe, the blade can be used until the teeth are dulled, and then discarded for a new one. In India, a country that lcnowa the iIIportanoe of proper deeign and good _!ntenanoe of its equipment, the saw was put UDder soruti..Jl1' (Chandra, 1978). Studies carried out in oooperation with Sweden's Royal College of Forestry showed that work output could be doubled and the energy input reduoed by half when using saws well designed and a!ntained, instead of badly kept sava made of poor steel.