Spencer Logging Tape Measure, 50 ft, Model 950

The Spencer logging tape Model 950 is a 50 ft self-retracting tape with a nail end, built to clip on your belt so one person can measure log lengths on the landing or in the woods. Spencer tapes have long been a fixture with loggers and timber crews.

Measuring logs without a helper

Set the nail into the end grain, walk the log, and mark each cut with a nick from the saw or a lumber crayon. The tape pulls back as you return, so it does not drag through mud and chips. That is the whole point of a logging tape: fast, accurate lengths with nobody holding the dumb end.

For tree crews it is handy whenever the wood is going somewhere specific: a sawmill, a woodworker, or firewood customers who want a set round length.

It also earns its keep laying out work: checking the distance from a tree to a house, measuring a drop zone, or confirming that a felled stem will clear a fence. Keeping it on your belt means it is there when you need it instead of in the truck.

Keeping it working

Retract the blade before you cut and keep it away from the chain. Wipe sap and grit off the blade so it does not wear the case or jam on return. When the nail wears or breaks, replace it rather than retiring the tape, and swap in a refill blade when the markings wear off or the blade kinks.

Wear chaps and keep good footing when walking logs. Find nails, refills, and more in forestry tools.