The "Alligator (Warping tug) tug" combined both a tugboat and a winch. The engine could be used to drive the propellor, or it could be used to drive an automatic self-winding drum winch which held a mile of 5/8" steel wire cable. Under the power of its propellor the tug could travel at a speed of 5 to 6 miles per hour. The winch was used when logs or barges were being hauled or when the tug traveled over a portage of up to 3 miles per day and angles up to 20 degrees. The boat was sufficiently powerful to move a boom containing 60,000 logs in calm weather, 30,000 logs in a head wind.