Sc. [Derivation unknown: it appears to be an agent-n. Cf. JINKER2.] A long pole on wheels, used for carrying logs, also casks or other heavy weights.
1823. Caledonian Mercury, 26 July, 3/4 (Jam.). A janker, (a timber machine), was passing along with a log of wood.
1828. Steuart, Planter’s G., 492. In Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other great towns in this kingdom, a Pole or beam, from fifteen to thirty feet long, of great strength, and fortified with iron, when mounted on a Crossbar with a pair of high Wheels at each end, is called ‘a Janker’; and the immense logs of wood, which are transported by means of it … are swung under the axle and … pole.
1891. Scot. Leader, 21 Jan., 5. A man … attempted to jump on to a janker, used for carrying logs, but fell to the ground.
