Yarding is the logging operation of moving felled trees or logs from where they were cut to a landing, a high-hazard phase of timber harvesting.
The phase of a logging operation in which felled trees or cut logs are moved from where they fell to a central landing for processing and loading. Yarding may be done by ground-based skidders or tractors, or by cable systems that drag or lift logs using overhead lines, and it is covered under OSHA's logging operations standard (29 CFR 1910.266).
On a steep-slope harvest, a crew uses a cable yarder to pull logs uphill to the landing, with the chokersetters moving to a designated safe position and signaling the yarder operator before each turn of logs is moved.
Major hazards include being struck by moving or rolling logs, swinging or breaking cables, equipment rollovers on steep terrain, and falling limbs or snags disturbed as logs are dragged.
A chokersetter is the crew member who attaches cables, called chokers, around logs so they can be pulled to the landing — one of the most hazardous roles in cable logging because of the proximity to moving logs and lines.
Crews rely on standardized audible signals or radios between ground workers and the yarder operator, and logs should not be moved until all workers have reached a safe location and the signal has been given.
Part of SafetyIQ's EHS glossary: plain-English definitions of workplace health and safety terms.
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