A steam donkey or donkey engine is a steam-powered winch once widely used in logging, mining, maritime, and other industrial applications.

Steam-powered donkeys were commonly found on large metal-hulled multi-masted cargo vessels in the later decades of the Age of Sail on through the Age of Steam, particularly heavily sailed skeleton-crewed windjammers.

A donkey used in forestry, also known as a logging engine, was often attached to a yarder for hauling logs from where trees were felled to a central processing area. The operator of a donkey was known as a donkeyman. Many thanks to Pcas1986(Paul) for helping me get the…