Giant (wood)
A giant or wooden giant is a chute-like channel for the removal of felled wood from steep terrain, in which the wood is transported down to the valley by gravity. In earlier times giants were an important means of transporting large amounts of wood from difficult to access terrain. Already at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar II in the 7th century BC BC was brought from Lebanon with the help of giants . As far as possible, the timber transport was coupled with the possibilities of trift and rafting . Ideally, the giant ended up right on a watercourse.
The giants were a technical advancement of the "driving", in which logs were allowed to slide down the slopes to the valley, and the "Loite" (also Luite or earth companion ), in which the sliding of the wood had already been improved by technical measures. With the advent of mechanized transport, especially using modern rope systems and all-terrain forwarding vehicles, the importance of this form of transport for forestry decreased. Occasionally, loits or giants made of sheet steel, aluminum or plastic are still used in Europe, which are easy to lay even in difficult terrain and take on forwarding tasks over short distances.
Designations
Both the names and the shapes of the giants were very different locally. In the Black Forest, the term Riesbahn was also used, in Württemberg probably slide (rock rock near Bad Urach ). Other names are also Husche , Laaße , Ploße or Swende . The name of the Giant Mountains is attributed to this construction in some sources.
Depending on the nature of the terrain and the local conditions, there were also earth or path giants. In the case of earth giants, shallow earth gutters were used to obtain slideways for wood. Either existing channels were expanded accordingly or artificial channels were created. These earth giants were used almost exclusively to transport logs . The path giant was the expanded form of a forest path. The edges of the paths were designed with wooden constructions in such a way that the huge wood could not slide over the edge of the path.
The classic wooden giant
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The classic giant was made of wood and the production required high technical skills. About five to twelve round timbers were lumbered together to form a sliding channel and carried by a yoke. At the upper end there was the "Riesmund", into which the wood was brought, and at the lower end of the valley, the "Rieswurf", which either threw the wood straight into the water or released it to a collection point. Depending on the inclination, high transport speeds were achieved, which made the trade of the "wood giant" dangerous. The construction and routing had to meet the highest requirements. With the help of tall yokes, cuts in the terrain could also be overcome. Here, too, the wood had to slide independently, but on the other hand, it was not allowed to become too fast to avoid slipping. Influencing the sliding speed by adding sliding aids such as water or oil for acceleration or, on the other hand, sand for braking, were only effective to a limited extent. Even the installation of "wolves", pieces of wood hanging from above in the giant gutter, only slowed down to a limited extent.
The so-called "giant shepherds" took care of and supplemented the giants.
The construction of timber giants often used up a third of the timber felled. The construction only made sense if large quantities of wood were felled. The steep slopes could have a gradient of up to 40 percent.
The replica of a wooden giant can be done today for. For example, visit the “Waldhusche” adventure area in Hinterhermsdorf , which was named after the giant (“Husche”).
Rope giant
A rope giant is a cable car used to remove logs from steep terrain. The logs are slowly lowered into the valley, secured with a restraint rope.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Trift an der Brandenberger Ache (accessed on July 29, 2011)
- ↑ Thinning with caterpillar crane harvesters; Back with plastic frame Leykam Log-Line
- ↑ Erlbeck, Haseder , Stinglwagner Das Kosmos Wald- und Forstlexikon , Kosmos-Verlag, p. 593 ISBN 3-440-07511-7
- ↑ "Historical forest work and more in the Waldhusche in Saxony" , forstpraxis.de (accessed on August 3, 2011)
- ↑ "Lumberjack type slide" ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de (accessed on August 3, 2011)
- ^ Franz Hasner: On the history of the transport of wood on wire and rope giants . Forstwissenschaftliches Centralblatt, May 1, 1941, Volume 63, No. 5, pp. 100–109.
- ↑ With momentum and without a motor , Wald und Holz, 11/2009, pp. 28–31 (PDF; 2.67 MB)
literature
- Peter Dietz, Wolfgang Knigge, Hans Löffler: Forest development. A textbook for study and practice with a special focus on forest road construction . Parey, Hamburg / Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-490-02116-9 . (Reprint: Verlag Kessel, Remagen 2011, ISBN 978-3-941300-39-2 )
