--------BEFORE CHAINSAWS-----firewood

[woodchuck357]

My grandpa said way back when they used a Finn saw for most stuff. He prolly woulda rather used the Swede saw since that's what he was.

We of Scott/German/Cherokee descent just call them frame saws!

 

[513yj]

We of Scott/German/Cherokee descent just call them frame saws!

I'm guessing they called em Finn saws here because maybe the Finns beat the Swede's here. Dunno, but I wish I could ask him.

 

[Chris-PA]

I just bought a five footer off CL for 5 bucks a few days ago almost like new. Got one earlier for 10 that's in the reverse electrolysis bath to remove a light coat of rust. That one has a very aggressive double H tooth design that will be rough to use one man.

I picked up a 3' single handled saw with a removable handle that can be installed at the far end, or attached as an extra handle for one man use. It was $6 at the local flea market and is in very good shape.

 

[Dalmatian90]

I believe they were stacked to mark out the edges of the cleared fields, not just for property lines.

Ayup.

Typically the earliest fences would have been zig-zag fences.

It took about 50 years for the stones to start being an issue -- a combination of the original forest duff/soil eroding off and frost working them up. Forest floors don't get frost to any where near the extent open fields do.

So you dump the stones along the zig-zag fences that you can't grow crops or mow easily near.

Later on, as you have time, you come back and straighten them up and make a wall about waist height which is as high as is comfortable to easily lift them.

The stones probably made it hog tight, but not high enough to keep cows from jumping over, nor sheep from clambering over (they, like goats, love to climb on rocky places!). So you still had to build a wood fence on top of them, probably like an "A" or "H" frame with the legs down to the ground and horizontal members above the stones, though there was a few styles. Whatever the design, they took a lot less wood then the old zig-zag fences (important now that you had cleared most of the land), plus they were straighter giving you more useable land in the cultivated fields.

For a family farm of say 1780 -- 1830 (and most stone walls were built after the Revolution!) that is cutting, splitting, and burning 30 cords a year...building 500' of stone wall a year around the farm really wasn't that much work in comparison. Do that for two or three decades and you're talking some serious wall building.

 

[Mad Professor]

Been there done that.

Still have both bucking saws and felling saws that are sharp and ready to go.

Anybody remember the difference? The feller is a little more flexible and thin. Also have files and point sets for both.

Four men work best. Two cutting, the third with a lever/limb to keep saw from pinching, the fourth takes a rest , and then you switch spots. Buck them into what your team can carry to a wagon.

Take breaks and drink plenty of water.

Back home, saw horse comes in handy, you cut to length and split.

Then eat hardy and sleep well.

 

[Mad Professor]

Ayup.

Typically the earliest fences would have been zig-zag fences.

It took about 50 years for the stones to start being an issue -- a combination of the original forest duff/soil eroding off and frost working them up. Forest floors don't get frost to any where near the extent open fields do.

So you dump the stones along the zig-zag fences that you can't grow crops or mow easily near.

Later on, as you have time, you come back and straighten them up and make a wall about waist height which is as high as is comfortable to easily lift them.

The stones probably made it hog tight, but not high enough to keep cows from jumping over, nor sheep from clambering over (they, like goats, love to climb on rocky places!). So you still had to build a wood fence on top of them, probably like an "A" or "H" frame with the legs down to the ground and horizontal members above the stones, though there was a few styles. Whatever the design, they took a lot less wood then the old zig-zag fences (important now that you had cleared most of the land), plus they were straighter giving you more useable land in the cultivated fields.

For a family farm of say 1780 -- 1830 (and most stone walls were built after the Revolution!) that is cutting, splitting, and burning 30 cords a year...building 500' of stone wall a year around the farm really wasn't that much work in comparison. Do that for two or three decades and you're talking some serious wall building.

Cows and horses got "hobbled" so they could not get too far away even without a fence. That was after there were no more wolves to worry about.

Not to get off topic too much, anyone ever put up hay, loose with scythe and a pitchfork right from the field? That is real work too.

 

[alleyyooper]

Cutting fire wood all my life till the mid 1980's was a family affair and I mean family. We had double bit and single bit( dads favorite for some reason) plumb brand axes. We had bow saws, cross cuts and single man cross cuts and what we called Swedish saws and a couple of buzz rigs for the family.
Once the crops were harvested it was wood cutting time and before spring crops got planted. We built buzz piles of wood huge logs were split with wedges to make then manageable to place on the buzz rig table. Mom and aunts would cook huge meals while all the males were out buzzing wood from the pile which could take a couple of days or more. Then we would gather at a uncles place to repeat the steps till every aunt and uncle had stove wood instead of a buzz pile.
Some time about 1951 or so dad made a mounted rig for the buzz rig on the Allis Chalmers WC, later a WD and even later a Massey Harris 44. I have one that I've mounted on a Massey Harris 30. And a 3 pt one that mounts on the Ford 5000.
One uncle bought a stationary engine that he ran my aunts washer with cut fire wood and other chores so he could do stuff is self.

Those were great family reunions where every one had a great time with great food.

Al

 

[Mad Professor]

Cutting fire wood all my life till the mid 1980's was a family affair and I mean family. We had double bit and single bit( dads favorite for some reason) plumb brand axes. We had bow saws, cross cuts and single man cross cuts and what we called Swedish saws and a couple of buzz rigs for the family.
Once the crops were harvested it was wood cutting time and before spring crops got planted. We built buzz piles of wood huge logs were split with wedges to make then manageable to place on the buzz rig table. Mom and aunts would cook huge meals while all the males were out buzzing wood from the pile which could take a couple of days or more. Then we would gather at a uncles place to repeat the steps till every aunt and uncle had stove wood instead of a buzz pile.
Some time about 1951 or so dad made a mounted rig for the buzz rig on the Allis Chalmers WC, later a WD and even later a Massey Harris 44. I have one that I've mounted on a Massey Harris 30. And a 3 pt one that mounts on the Ford 5000.
One uncle bought a stationary engine that he ran my aunts washer with cut fire wood and other chores so he could do stuff is self.

Those were great family reunions where every one had a great time with great food.

Al

Brings back memories of my grandparents farm. They had a buzz saw on an old Case tractor.

 

[turnkey4099]

We felled with ax and 2man crosscut...well, one man (dad) and boy (me). cut up with a one man dragsaw. Nice working that beast. Set on log, start, round comes off, move saw over, and while it was cutting split and load the previous round. Pleasant time in the woods that way and one really didn't work all that hard. The saw was not a speed demon. Did some work with one many buck saw and saw horses back at the farmstead. Also lots of being the take-off guy on the buzzsaw.

The amount of wood the original settlers used a year, all done manually, was amazing 20-30 cord per year. One wonders where they had the time to do any farming.

Harry K

 

[firebrick43]

Cows and horses got "hobbled" so they could not get too far away even without a fence. That was after there were no more wolves to worry about.

Not to get off topic too much, anyone ever put up hay, loose with scythe and a pitchfork right from the field? That is real work too.

I have and until just last year did it with a new idea hay loader pulled by a single Belgian or team(depending on terrain). Stacked outside in 20ft tall stacks.

When you say fire wood you need to ask who was cutting. Farmers typically got the old technology and didn't do as well as those connected with the lumber industry. Most private individuals just like today's chainsaw owners could not sharpen their saws well and therefore they were misery whips. A well sharpened one with an team that works well together can cut as fast as a decent chainsaw. The wonderful swede saw which became know as the bow or buck saw can cut just as fast but with just one man as long as the wood is under 12-14"! Many employed in the pulpwood cutting would have to fell, buck into 4' lengths and stack 2 cords per day minimum by themselves or they would be let go. Some could even do 4!

30 years ago I ask the old men(all dead now) about fire wood with buzz saws. To a t most said they wouldn't touch wood that we do today. Most cut small trees, ones that could be bucked to 8' lengths and picked up, stacked on a wagon, and brought to the saw. This also made for wood that need not be split as it was small enough already. Big trees of any value were sold on the stump, large trees down that needed out of the way were sometimes burned in place. Cutting large wood on a buzz saw was dangerous and created more chance for the blades to explode. Some more modern buzz saws had guards that would not allow more than 12-14" wood to be sawn. 8" wood and slab wood cutting really shine If the wagon or truck the wood is coming off of is the right Height and some one is on the off cut side take cut wood away. Just don't cut wood with metal or rocks in it, my great uncle perished this way when they blade explode catching him in the face.

 

[AT sawyer]

I picked up a 3' single handled saw with a removable handle that can be installed at the far end, or attached as an extra handle for one man use. It was $6 at the local flea market and is in very good shape.

There is a rub with old saws. Many good ones are to be found at auctions and flea markets (in fact better quality than most new saws), but it's still a misery whip if dull. Finding someone to file it correctly, a job that will take hours if done right, will boost the finished price of that 6.00 saw -- but then you will have a quality saw jointed, pointed, and set that cuts far better than a "new" one purchased retail.

 

[Chris-PA]

There is a rub with old saws. Many good ones are to be found at auctions and flea markets (in fact better quality than most new saws), but it's still a misery whip if dull. Finding someone to file it correctly, a job that will take hours if done right, will boost the finished price of that 6.00 saw -- but then you will have a quality saw jointed, pointed, and set that cuts far better than a "new" one purchased retail.

Ahh, but that's the thing - those are tasks I will learn to do myself. I like to sharpen things and enjoy acquiring new skills. I've picked up some saw sets too, mostly for finer pitch, but I think one of the last ones I found might be right.

The particular saw I got for $6 appears to never have been used. If I recall correctly it is Sears branded, but seems to be a decent quality tool. The tooth pattern is not as aggressive as I've seen for western softwood, but I think that is good. I need to clean up the blade and it definitely needs sharpening even if it was not used.

 

[AT sawyer]

You might have seen this if searching for saw filing, but if not, give it a look. My focus was on one-man saws because the small teeth don't always conform to the big jointer-raker gauges designed for 2-man saws. As for files, 8" mill and slim taper files are the only ones you'll need unless you want to lower the gullets, then a 1/4" chainsaw file does that pretty well.

 

[slowp]

Here's the bible we use. I have a small saw that "sings".
http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf04232822/pdf04232822dpi72pt01.pdf

 

[Chris-PA]

You might have seen this if searching for saw filing, but if not, give it a look. My focus was on one-man saws because the small teeth don't always conform to the big jointer-raker gauges designed for 2-man saws. As for files, 8" mill and slim taper files are the only ones you'll need unless you want to lower the gullets, then a 1/4" chainsaw file does that pretty well.

Thanks! That looks pretty close to the blade I have:


I was wrong about the Sears branding - must have been some other one I was thinking of. I saw no markings at all.

 

[AT sawyer]

It might reveal an etch once you get it out of the electrolysis tank and give it a rub with fine sandpaper and WD-40. Otherwise, it looks to be in very good shape. The Warren Miller manual gives a good description of swaging the rakers, a technique you may want to consider when you do this saw. The small rakers and thinner gauge steel are easier to swage than the thick hard steel of heavy bucking saws.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

In the mid-70's I worked with a short stocky old guy, thick European accent, hard to understand. Pretty quiet and to himself. I was told he was in a Russian prison camp when he was young. The men were paired up, and two men had to cut two trees a day into firewood, or they didn't eat. I assumed it was true. Something I do know is that he drove an old four door Buick. Neither front door opened, so he would use the back door and climb over the front seat. He had a good paying job, he just made do I guess.

 

[svk]

I can imagine there was a lot more scrounging of firewood, fallen limbs and smaller trees that didn't need splitting and simply could be cut and stacked. Chop the tree down with a sharp axe then buck it with a good bow saw.

My grandpa, great uncle, and great grandpa did a lot of logging on our family property by hand. First during the depression then again in the mid 50's.

 

[muddstopper]

A two year old thread that was enjoyable to read.
Closest I ever got to harvesting firewood without a chainsaw was going camping. Always took a pole axe and chopped up downed stuff for campfire wood. I do have a almost new crosscut saw. It has a handsaw handle on one end and a straight handle on the other end. It can be used as a two man or one man saw. I also have a big bow saw. I have never used either of them and hope I dont have to. Got to keep em, cant use them if you dont have them, rather have one and not need it than not have one and do need it.

 

[slowp]

I have been cutting up limbs to burn in the stove. I figured they'd at least be useful in the woodstove and put out some heat instead of burning in the slash pile. I can't seem to cut that small with my chainsaws, so I've been doing it by hand, with a pruning saw or a small (dunno what to call it, it has teeth like a crosscut) saw. It goes quickly and I can listen to the radio while cutting.

Oh, I do think I heard my dad talk about using black powder to split wood. He grew up on the wet side of our fair state where the trees were still large, as were the sturgeon.