J Hole

We still have a couple of fellows that make log trains and skid off very steeps slopes. As they say down here “steep as a cows face”.

A j grab is just a regular grab with the smaller spud ground off the chain end so if the pull is in any direction other that straight in line with the grab it will come out.

So a j hole is a system where if the logs in the log train of several logs hooked together with trail grabs and pulled by a single animal off an incredibly steep face and the logs run or start sliding off the mountainside on there own and the animal feels the resistance stop or the logs hitting their heels they simple step to the side in a clearing made by the logger (j hole) and pull the j grab at an angle and it pops out and the logs slide right on by them.

I did see a gray horse set down (assisted by sliding logs) on the head log once and ride it to the bottom but I have never actually seen a j hole horse. I have only heard stories about them, usually told by similar folks that tell the ones about grandpas horses or mules coming back in the woods and skidding out to the sawmill on their own. I don’t think these are “wood myths” but do suspect their is much culture involved that doesn’t get conveyed in the story telling that seems to emphasize the exciting parts and leave out the years of experience and skill of the practitioners. Maybe these story tellers are kin to the producers of extreme logging shows?

Chad Miano is the only guy we have that still consistently makes log trains. He has worked in setting were he made log flumes out of round lumber and sent them off benches on step ground that way. Slow work, dangerous and not what most of us want to do or him either, it just sometimes is where he has to work and where the wood is growing.

The older I get the more I like the gentler sloping land.