Talk:Steam donkey

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[edit] Earlier mentions

I found a mention of a donkey-engine dating back to 1857: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A02E2D9163CEE34BC4B51DFBF66838C649FDE Is 1881 the right date for when the engine was invented? Krupenin (talk) 11:24, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of name

The information I found suggests that the name donkey engine actually came from the shipping industry via John Dolbeer in 1881. The Loggers, pg 106 ISBN 0-8094-1527-5. I will edit accordingly if no reply or references are added. MDSNYDER 23:20, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Snapped Cables can kill?

Many stories surrounding the use of the steam donkey speak of men who were "cut in half" when cables snapped. Supposedly, operating the donkey was one of the most dangerous, and high-paying jobs on a logging operation. An episode on the Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" explored this cable-snapping-myth, and the results of tests with pig carcasses suggest that a person cannot be cut in half with a cable. (This could be referenced if anyone can find a the episode's transcript.) I think it was still a dangerous job due to the fact that the boilers periodically exploded.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tsarevna (talk • contribs) 10:28, 20 July 2007.

Surely a cable-snap could kill a person, even if not 'cut in half'? EdJogg 13:51, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

On Mythbusters, the steel cables usually made a "rope burn" on the dead pigs, but one did actually split the skin. It's quite feasable that a person could bleed out if a snapped cable split open an armpit or neck. Bear in mind this testing was done with cables only; it's well documented that snapped cables that fling the objects they were tied to often kill. (See the Disneyland accident with the ship-mooring cable.)