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Story: Bush trams and other log transport

Boring holes for a log raft

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Boring holes for a log raft

Once the kauri logs had hurtled downstream from the dam, they reached calm water on a river or at a sea inlet. There they would they would be chained together and towed to the mills. This Pūhoi worker, Joe Rauner, is using a steel auger to drill a hole through the end of a log. A chain will be passed through the hole and then connected to a stronger towing chain.

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The Kauri Museum, Matakohe, Tudor Collins Collection

Reference: K_1993_224_822

by Tudor Collins

Permission must be obtained from The Kauri Museum before this image is stored, reproduced, or altered in any form for any purpose.

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How to cite this page

Paul Mahoney, Bush trams and other log transport – Moving kauri: dams and rafting, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/12249/boring-holes-for-a-log-raft (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Paul Mahoney, published 1 March 2009.