Old school firewood processing?

[stoveliker]

600 tons a day? I.e. 220 000 tons a year?

Let's say it would be oak (it's not, but it's heavy so the least amount of trees).
A ton equals 2000 lbs. A cord of oak equals 5000 lbs, so 2.5 tons.
So 220 000 tons equals 88 000 cords of oak.

For fir (4000 lbs per wet cord), that be 110 000 cords.

That's a chit ton of wood...

 

[Sawset]

My dads first chainsaw was a Mall 1mg. 1957. Bought it at the hardware store down at Punk (pumpkin hollow), for $325. The thing weighed 33lb. He used it a lot, so apparently thought it was an all around good deal. There was a lot of time in the winter to cut wood. Pictures of my grandfather cutting trees and firewood long before that confirm that the trees were by no means small, and that he was by no means overly tough. They just worked hard at so many things, cutting wood was just another chore.

 

[Investmentdude]

I split everything by hand but need the rounds cut to size. Still, there is old school value chopping 5 cords by hand. It’s a great workout. Who needs a gym?

 

[SpaceBus]

I have once dropped a tree with a 2 ft bow saw. I think it was about a 14" dia birch tree.
I had to do what I had to do.
The "once" in the above sentence was the conclusion of that exercise. Never again...

I've cut some 6-8" mimosa trees with a bow saw, but they are very soft. Birch sounds miserable!

 

[kennyp2339]

My neighbor is near 90 now, he grew up during the great depression then world war 2 era, his family of sisters and brothers all grew up on a working farm, he says they were dirt poor back then. He would spend his summers with his brothers cutting firewood by hand, mostly elm for 2 fireplaces, only source of heat, thats all they would do, sometime in the mid 40's they got electric to the farm, but it was just lights for the house and some machinery for the barn.
He got drafted and sent to Korea in 1950 and when he came back, he bought a dirt floor cabin and got married, started building his current house in 1954, by hand (he laid stone foundations for work)
The man has some stories, but what will always stick out to me, is the saying, "If I could die anywhere, it would be on top of my wood pile"

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I suppose better on it than under it, lol.

 

[Deppizzymo]

This group sounds like a bunch of people who really need to be turned onto Eric Sloane's books. He talks at length about what people used to go through in the olden days. He can get somewhat preachy in his writings but I absolutely love his artwork and illustrations. Check out Eric Sloane's America. You can get a used copy for $4 typically. Fantastic read as are all of his books.

Amazon product ASIN 0883940612

 

[E.Merckx]

Lots still split by hand. I do 8+ cord/yr all by hand. I had a crosscut saw on my list to get and use but never did that. Chainsaw is imperitive I think. I do have a 14" crosscut saw that I use for stuff when I don't want to break out the chainsaw. I plan to continue doing it all by hand until my body stops me. I'm 48.

 

[blades]

comes a time when swinging sticks with a piece of steel on the end becomes a problem. For me (71) it is a last resort.