A steam donkey is type of stationary steam engine historically used during logging operations to haul logs to a log-landing. Logs were pulled with a wire cable attached to a winch. Also known as a donkey engine. Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. ... Loggers on break, c. ... steel wire rope Wire rope consists of several strands of metal wires twisted together. ... Modern self-tailing winch on a sailing boat. ...

Steam donkey in the UBC Malcolm Knapp Research Forest

Similar small steam engines known as "donkeys" were sometimes found on large sailing ships towards the end of the 19th century. A ship's donkey engine was not used to propel the vessel but to power a single windlass to which various loads could be attached such as anchor cables, halyards, and hoists for cargo. Having such an engine allowed larger ships to be sailed by fewer crew. The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university with its main campus located at Point Grey, in the University Endowment Lands adjacent to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and another smaller campus known as UBC Okanagan located in Kelowna, British Columbia. ... A windjammer is a type of sailing ship with a large iron hull, usually used for cargo in the nineteenth century. ... In sailing, a halyard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist (pull up) a sail or a yard to which a sail has been attached (bent on). ...

Possibly because of this, an auxiliary engine on a sailing craft (which does propel the vessel) is still sometimes informally known as "the donk".

External links

• Steam Donkeys
• Steam Power — Pacific County Historical Society and Museum

University of Washington Libraries: Digital Collections:

• Clark Kinsey Photographs Over 1000 images by commercial photographer Clark Kinsey documenting the logging and milling camps and other forest related activities in Washington State, ca. 1910-1945. Includes images of donkey engines.
• Darius Kinsey Photographs Images from the period 1890-1939, documenting the logging industry in Washington State. Includes images of loggers and logging camps, skid roads, donkey engines, loading operations, logging trucks and railroads.
• Man to Machine: Peninsula Logging) Online museum exhibit based upon the Clark Kinsey Logging Photographs Collection and the recollections of Harry C. Hall, who worked as a logger on the Olympic Peninsula in the early 1900s. Includes a video on the Hobi family logging history (late 1800s – early 1900s). Includes many images of donkey engines.