All the effort it takes me to heat my house with firewood really has me thinking about what the pioneers of this country had to deal with. I have a chainsaw and log splitter and it is still a lot of work. Without power tools it must have been substantially more effort. Have any of you processed your firewood entirely with hand tools? I am talking about a manual cross cut saw and axe to split all the logs. What was the experience like compared to having modern power tools?
Old school firewood processing?
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I have cut some big trees with old-style two-man saws. It is a bit of work, but not as bad as it sounds as long as the saw is the right one for the job and well sharpened. Fortunately, we had a man on the crew who specialized in these saws.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
I think they were much colder than we are now. I remember seeing bed warmer pans that you filled with coals to warm your bed and thinking how cold was your bed that you needed it warmed. Probably near freezing.
I think a one man two handed cross cut could make pretty short work of 8-12” trees. Not chainsaw fast. Splitting with an ax hasn’t changed. I split everything by hand and if time were important id pick straight grained easy splitting trees. Probably in the winter when snow was just deep enough to use a sleigh/sled. Haul out of bush in management lengths while the weather was decent split buck and split a a log or four every morning before breakfast.
Prairie dwellers used buffalo chips.
I think a one man two handed cross cut could make pretty short work of 8-12” trees. Not chainsaw fast. Splitting with an ax hasn’t changed. I split everything by hand and if time were important id pick straight grained easy splitting trees. Probably in the winter when snow was just deep enough to use a sleigh/sled. Haul out of bush in management lengths while the weather was decent split buck and split a a log or four every morning before breakfast.
Prairie dwellers used buffalo chips.
Prof
Minister of Fire
Prof
Minister of Fire
Some years ago I was in India and had the chance to witness cow chips in action (I suspect buffalo chips would be much the same). A family I was with heated a caldron of water and cooked our dinner easily and beautifully. It was a gentle heat that accomplished the task with no discernable smell. I was impressed. It was the dry season there and the chips seemed to be like if a wind storm had deposited seasoned splits throughout the landscape. We've had rain in my portion of PA more days than not in the last month. I don't know how I would dry cow chips out in a feasible way at the moment. I think that out west the task may be a bit easier.
Homes were a lot smaller too. Now a 1000sqft house is considered small, 100 years ago that was unthinkably large, at least here it was.
My grandpa as a child lived in a 10x16 wood shack with a dirt floor (part of a logging camp). No running water, so nothing to freeze, if you left for a while the house did just that. They came back, lit the stove, and warmed the place up. In a logging camp there was always lots of wood for fuel, and the small space, although not well insulated, didn't require much wood to keep warm. I think even then (this would be late 30's) chainsaws began doing much of the cutting work. Of course the portable sawmills were also powered by steam or diesel engines.
My dad grew up in a 22' x 26' house (with 5 siblings), no basement, slab on grade (this was the 60's). No running water, they hauled water from the dugout, and warmed on the stove for hot water. In the winter they chopped a hole in the ice before packing the water. Eventually they trenched in a line below the frost line to the bottom of the dugout that allowed a pressurized water system in the house. I believe they had a wood stove, but also relied on propane, which is fun in -40, as propane remains a liquid at atmospheric pressure. They used to use electric cattle heaters, or even lightbulbs to warm the tank so the furnace would work.
Once natural gas arrived they left wood heat (and the work) behind, their new house built in the early 70's didn't even have a wood stove. Up until a few years ago my grandfather used to process wood in retirement for something to do, much like many of you he seemed unable to pass a fallen tree without getting out the chainsaw. But now at 91, he's slowed down and stopped with firewood processing.
My grandpa as a child lived in a 10x16 wood shack with a dirt floor (part of a logging camp). No running water, so nothing to freeze, if you left for a while the house did just that. They came back, lit the stove, and warmed the place up. In a logging camp there was always lots of wood for fuel, and the small space, although not well insulated, didn't require much wood to keep warm. I think even then (this would be late 30's) chainsaws began doing much of the cutting work. Of course the portable sawmills were also powered by steam or diesel engines.
My dad grew up in a 22' x 26' house (with 5 siblings), no basement, slab on grade (this was the 60's). No running water, they hauled water from the dugout, and warmed on the stove for hot water. In the winter they chopped a hole in the ice before packing the water. Eventually they trenched in a line below the frost line to the bottom of the dugout that allowed a pressurized water system in the house. I believe they had a wood stove, but also relied on propane, which is fun in -40, as propane remains a liquid at atmospheric pressure. They used to use electric cattle heaters, or even lightbulbs to warm the tank so the furnace would work.
Once natural gas arrived they left wood heat (and the work) behind, their new house built in the early 70's didn't even have a wood stove. Up until a few years ago my grandfather used to process wood in retirement for something to do, much like many of you he seemed unable to pass a fallen tree without getting out the chainsaw. But now at 91, he's slowed down and stopped with firewood processing.
Interesting: chips. Where I'm from originally, we called them cow pies. But yes, they burn well and pretty clean, when dry.
The "chips" might burn well, but I don't think the morning "eggs ala turd" would be very tasty.
But back to the topic. Apart from the chain saw, I do things by hand. I do think the axe engineering has improved, so even though I "also" split by hand, I think it's easier than what they did. Even if only in the steel being harder and thus staying sharp longer.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
I used a one man crosscut saw long enough to know why they earned the nickname 'misery whip.' It was enough for me, just four or five strokes on one log, I didn't even finish the cut.
I do think splitting maul tech has advanced quite a bit from the 1970s to the 2010s.
I do agree old houses were both smaller and likely not as warm as what we have now. If you took away my oil fired boiler and gas powered chain saw and electric splitter - but I can keep my modern catalytic woodstove with good air sealing and so on, I wouldn't be interested in a home for me and the wife much bigger than about 16x24, 384 sqft.
I do think splitting maul tech has advanced quite a bit from the 1970s to the 2010s.
I do agree old houses were both smaller and likely not as warm as what we have now. If you took away my oil fired boiler and gas powered chain saw and electric splitter - but I can keep my modern catalytic woodstove with good air sealing and so on, I wouldn't be interested in a home for me and the wife much bigger than about 16x24, 384 sqft.
Those 2 man saws would cut wood fast. In the past they had smaller houses to make heating easier. I bet they were more apt to take down trees that were a foot or less in diameter for firewood. Larger trees were probably more valuable for boards and lumber, maple syrup,, etc.. The limbs would still be cut, split and stacked though!
The change from felling trees with axes to felling them with saws shaped, or changed boat building here. Traditional boats in my area were constructed with spruce from the roots and lower trunk to give them shape. The saws cut the trees down at ground level and removed the free source material.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
Here in the North Carolina mountains, 200 years ago a pioneer got a 16 inch diameter white pine, 18 feet long. He hewed the log with an adze, or broad axe, until it was 6 inches thick but still 16 inches high. Then he cut dovetail notches on the ends and built his cabin. The walls were 6 inches thick.
I build log cabins in this fashion, but I buy logs from the sawmill. My logs are sawed at the sawmill 6 inches thick, and still 14, to 18 inches high. Then I cut the dovetail notches with a chain saw and big chisels.
One time I decided to copy the pioneers. I got a 17 inch diameter white pine log, and I hewed it down to 6 inches thick with an axe, an adze and a broad axe. Good lord! Took me about 4 hours, to do what the sawmill does in 4 minutes. I was big, strong, young and in shape and when I finished my arms felt like noodles. I got the rest of the logs for that house from the sawmill.
Men were men here in the mountains in 1820.
Here is my house.
![[Hearth.com] Old school firewood processing?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/297/297819-31731e1938d8962f59a20a89241e2152.jpg?hash=8Ca8wr3PHV "[Hearth.com] Old school firewood processing?")
I build log cabins in this fashion, but I buy logs from the sawmill. My logs are sawed at the sawmill 6 inches thick, and still 14, to 18 inches high. Then I cut the dovetail notches with a chain saw and big chisels.
One time I decided to copy the pioneers. I got a 17 inch diameter white pine log, and I hewed it down to 6 inches thick with an axe, an adze and a broad axe. Good lord! Took me about 4 hours, to do what the sawmill does in 4 minutes. I was big, strong, young and in shape and when I finished my arms felt like noodles. I got the rest of the logs for that house from the sawmill.
Men were men here in the mountains in 1820.
Here is my house.
When our family got a wood stove during the first il crisis we dropped all of the trees with an ax or bow saw. We cut all the wood with the bow saw and then put it in the trunk of our Ford Maverick and drove it home, then split it by hand. We probably did a half a cord until my dad picked up a cheap pioneer chainsaw but still split by hand. We did have old fashioned two man cross cut saw but didnt realize they needed to be sharpened daily. I have seen and tried a properly sharpened cross cut saw and its truly impressive how quickly the wood cuts.
Chainsaws are dangerous enough. I would imagine a 2 man cross cut saw would be even more dangerous.
old time 2 man saws and single units are not more dangerous than a chain saw, remember you are the power source not some wiz/bang mechanical contraption. there were also thouse, pit saws for one another used the power of a bent saplling to pull the saw on one way of the strokes. higher production went to water wheel or tread mill for power source with a circular blade. I never seen a picture of windmill powered one , might have exsisted though. Steam after those
There used to be boy scout merit badge for forestry. Its been a long time but I think one of the requirements was to chop down a certain minimum size tree then cut it into lengths with an ax and split.
I remember seeing a 2 man crosscut saw cut a log faster than a chainsaw in a race at a loggers "show" about 25 years ago.
Wow.
I presume though that the muscles on those were, erm, "above average"...
Nevertheless, let's see how that goes 30 cuts later...
I presume though that the muscles on those were, erm, "above average"...
Nevertheless, let's see how that goes 30 cuts later...
The pulp mill I worked for used 600 tons per day back in era before chainsaw. The wood was cut 4' long with cross cut saws in the woods then piled next to rivers and streams for as far as 100 miles up the watershed and then floated down the mill in a large river drive every spring. Every logging camp had a "filer" who would usually set up his own shack, he would keep the crosscut saws filed but reportedly he would do an extra special job for those who bribed him. If he didnt like someone, he could file the saw so it didnt cut worth a darn. The mill reported had a couple of thousand loggers in the woods cutting all winter
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