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Lumberjack Terminology
Remember the Paul
Bunyan stories when you were a kid? There is a romantic lure to the life of the
lumberjack. Just like the Surfer those that participate in this line of work
have there own language per se. "Jack talk" Below is some of the
terminology that refers to their line of work. We have included a sub section
under Birling which is the art of log rolling competitively.
- Barber chair: a tree which splits upward along the grain during falling.
- Batteau: a type of boat used on river drives in the eastern United
States
- Belt: leather harness on skid horses of days gone by
- Birler: Person who works on floating
logs to help the logs float downstream - Where corkboots
and uses a pike pole.
- Birling: the game of logrolling
See the subsection of definitions for this sport
- Branding ax: a
tool used for marking ownership of a log
- Buck: to cut a tree into lengths after it has been felled
- Bucker: one who saws trees into logs
- Bullcook (also known derogatorily as the crumb boss): a boy who
performs chores around camp,
such as sweeping up the bunkhouse,
cutting wood for fuel, filling wood boxes, and feeding the livestock
- Cayuse: a horse or pony (a Chinook
term)
- Choke: a notch in a cable used for dragging logs
- Choking: the job of wrapping a choke cable around a log that is to be
skidded out.
- Chord: stack of pulp wood that measures 4'Wx4'Hx8'L
- Coffin nails: cigarettes - normally applies to
unfiltered and hand rolled.
- Conks: fruiting bodies of fungus
in rotting wood
- Conman: Person who tends the conveyor watching for
jams.
- Corks: short, sharp spikes set in the soles of
boots (Corkboots)
- Crotch line: a device for loading logs onto railroad
cars
- Crown fire: a forest fire that reaches and
spreads from the tops of trees
- Deacon seat: a bench, made from a large log split lengthwise, running the
length of a bunkhouse
- Dehorn: a term for an alcoholic
beverage, particularly moonshine,
borrowed from the jargon of the Wobblies
- Donkey: a stationary multiple drum machine, powered by steam
until the prevalence of the internal
combustion engine
- Drag day: the point in the work month when a man can get an advance on his
wages
- Driving pitch: high water suitable from driving logs down a river
- Duplex: a stationary engine that both assembles (yards) and loads
logs
- Edger: Multiple saw blades that cut a slab into various widths and trims
of bark or wane
- Fall guy: Person who cuts down
the trees in the forest -also
known as a "Jack"
- Gandy dancer: a pick-and-shovel man
- Gin pole: a short spar, used for loading and unloading logs
- Green Chain: a tooth chain that pull the log into the mill (new employees
are usually broken in on this job)
- Green or Greenhorn: inexperienced or new employee
- Gyppo: contract work (or worker), measured by the inch or chord (stack of
pulp wood 4'WX4'HX8'L)
- Hardtack outfit: a company running a logging camp which provides
substandard food (derived from the cheap and long-lasting cracker or bread
of the same name)
- Hayburner: a horse
- Highball: to hurry
- Hiyu: plenty, large, enough
- Homeguard: a long-time employee of a company
- Hoot-nanny: a small device used to hold a crosscut
saw while sawing a log from the bottom up
- Ink slinger: a logging camp timekeeper-bookkeeper
- Iron burner: the camp blacksmith
- Jack:
Person who
cuts down
the trees - synonymous
with
"fall
guy"
and
Lumberjack
- Jagger: a sliver of wire.
- Jam: See
logjam
- Jerk wire: a line attached to the whistle
on a yarding donkey, by which a young man (a punk) blows starting and
stopping signals
- King snipe: the boss of a track-laying crew
- Klooch: a woman (Chinook)
- Logjam:
a
knotting
of
logs
that
are
being
transported
by
water
-
can
occur
rapidly
and
poses
a
real
danger
to birlers.
See
also
the subsection
on
birling
-
the
sport
of
log
rolling
- Long logger: a logger working in the fir
and redwood
country of the Western U.S., where logs were often cut in lengths up to 40
feet
- Lopping: removing branches from cut trees
- Macaroni: sawdust
- Memaloose: dead, or death (Chinook)
- Mulligan car: a railroad car where lunch
is served
- Nosebag: a lunch bucket
- Nosebag show: a camp where the midday meal is taken to the woods in lunch
buckets
- Packing a balloon: carrying one's blankets
- Packing a card: to be a member of a union, such as the Wobblies
- Peavey (also known as cant dog): a tool with a sharp point and a
movable hook on it, used on a river to create leaverage when moving floating
logs
- Pecker pole: a small tree, often found in the understory of old
growth
- Pike pole:
A
long
usually
aluminum
pole
with
a
spike
and
hook
on
one
end
used
to
maneuver
floating
logs
(not
the
same
as
a
peavey)
- Potlatch: a social gathering (a Chinook term)
- Pulaski: a thick-handled tool with oval eye used as a combination axe and
hoe, named after its inventor
- Roll
your
own:
A
handmade
cigarette
-
often
borrowed
as
stored
bought
(tailor
made)
were
considered
nearly
sacred
-
Also
known
as
a
coffin
nail
- Schoolmarm: a log or tree that is forked, stable in river driving because
it does not roll easily
- Short staker (or boomer): a worker who quits after earning a small
sum
- Skidroad: formerly the path over which oxen pulled logs; it came to mean
the part of a city where loggers congregate
- Skidrow:
Where
out
of
work
lumberjacks
hang
out
while
waiting
for
employment
(see
Skidroad)
- Skookum: strong, stout, brave (Chinook)
- Smoker:
A
burner
for
sawdust
and
wane
-
because
it
is
constantly
covered
over
with
sawdust
is
just
smokes
and
does
not
flame
up.
- Snoose: damp snuff
or chewing
tobacco
See
Stogey
- Snubber: a device for braking sleighs as they descend steep hills
- Sougan: a heavy woolen blanket
- Stogey:
A
cigar
that
is
either
smoked
or
often
times
just
held
in
the
mouth
and
chewed.
- Swedish fiddle: a crosscut saw
- Tailing the edger:
separating the scrap
wane as the lumber come
out of the edger.
- Taylor
made:
Store
bought
cigarettes
- Tillicum: a Chinook term used also by loggers to mean a man, ordinarily a
friend
- Tin pants: waterproof
clothing worn by loggers in the rainy Pacific
Northwest
- Top
Fall: The top of the tree break loose and falls while it is being cut
by the lumberjack
- Tram: Engine on tracks for hauling the logs to the mill
- Tramline:
Suspended
cable
that
skid
or
even
carry
the
logs
to
the
mill.
- Tramroad:
Often
times
a
raised
road
through
a
swamp,
used
for
skidding
out
logs
- Tree harvester: Large rubber tired machine with jaws for holding tree
while a blade cut them off .
- Tree farmer: large machine with multiple choke cables for skidding logs
out of the woods
- Tyee logger: from the Chinook term meaning a chief, hence the head of a
logging operation
- Veyer:
Conveyor
belt
or
on
who
tends
the
conveyor
also
called
a
con.
- Vic:
short
for
victim
-
someone
who
lost
fingers
or
a
limb
but
still
works
the
trade.
- Wane: The outer edge waste strip that contain bark
The following terms apply to the activity called
Birling or logrolling
back step - running backwards, or back peddling on the
log. It is harder to do than front stepping, or running on the log.
bobbing the log - when a roller rocks the log back and forth in the
water. The object is to put your opponents end of the log under the water,
making it difficult for them to move their feet, hence driving them off the log.
bucking match - this is when two roller are facing opposite directions,
or looking over the same shoulder (usually their left) when rolling. The two
rollers generally fight for control of direction of the log .The opposite of
bucking is running.
checking it down - another way of telling rollers to slow the log down,
and get control of it. Judges will commonly tell rollers to "check it
down" so they can call time in to start the match.
corks - another name for
boot
spikes.
crowding the center line - this refers to rolling very close to the
center line. When two larger rollers surpass time limits and get to a smaller
log, they must roll very close to the center line to keep their end of the log
from sinking under the water. When a roller's end goes under the water (sinks),
it makes it impossible for them to keep up with the foot speed of the roller
whose end is higher out of the water.
dock - a structure fastened to the shore, either supported by supports or
floating, that rollers push off from in a log rolling match. It is commonly used
to be sure that rollers have enough water and clearance from obstacles to roll
safely.
draw - a draw is a fall in a log rolling match that was deemed by the
judges to be a tie. A tie happens when the two competing roller's feet leave the
log at the same time.
fall - a fall is when one roller loses control of the log and their feet
leave the log before their opponent. A fall can happen with only two steps
difference from the time one roller falls in to the other.
foul - a foul is called when a roller breaks a rule of rolling during a
match. One of the most common rules broken is stepping on, or across the center
line of the log while rolling.
front step - this is what running on the log is commonly called. The
opposite is back stepping.
kick - kicking refers to a roller giving the log a sharp jab, or snub of
the log in an effort to knock their opponent off balance. Kicking is commonly
done with the rollers outside foot, or the one furthest from the center line.
knot - a knot is a hard spot in a log where a branch once grew. Knots can
be removed by judges at the request of the roller. They are much harder than the
wood around it, and could result in the roller tripping or slipping or catching
a spike on it.
on deck - when a roller is in the next match up.
pike pole - a long pole with a metal tip and hook on the end that has
been used for hundreds of years to move and jockey logs around.
pole - long wooden or metal poles are used by judges to push rollers out
from the dock and/or obstacles before a match can be started.
pole out - the act of rollers pushing out from the dock using wooden
poles held by the judges. Rollers must be clear of the dock and/or any obstacles
before a match can begin.
quick whistle - a quick whistle is called when the timing judge calls
"time in" and a fall happens before it is deemed that both roller have
control of the log. For example, one roller falling as the judge calls time in
would be a quick whistle.
running match - This is when two rollers are facing the same direction,
or looking over opposite directions when rolling. Much of the match is usually
spent running. The opposite of a running match is a bucking match.
spikes - the shoes worn by professional rollers in competition. Todays
spikes are commonly made of soccer shoes that have metal spikes affixed to the
bottom. The spikes are similar to old metal golf spikes, except that they have a
sharpened tip on them.
splash - splashing is the kicking of water into your opponents eyes using
your foot, or both feet. It is not against the rules, and though risky, is used
to momentarily blind your opponent.
time in - this is when time has been called (or began) by the timing
judge, and the match begins with the timer running.
time limit - every log except the four log has a time limit that forces
rollers to move to the next smaller log after surpassing it. Rollers do not need
to wait for the time limit to go to the next smaller log if the agreement is
mutual to go to the next log. Some of the more advanced professional rollers
will agree to start their match on a smaller log.
timer - the judge who's responsibility is to time the match, calling time
in, quick whistles, etc.
trick and fancy - a sport that has all but been forgotten, it is an event
where roller perform stunts on the log. Usually done with a partner, they can
range from jump rope, juggling, roller skating, to standing on your head on top
of a chair all while balancing on the log.
warm up - in most competitions, rollers are given a chance to step out on
each log for a set amount of time before the match begins. This is to allow
rollers to loosen up, and "feel the log out" before the match begins.
white water - refers to when the log is moving so fast that white water
moves over the log.
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