Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Nov 18, 2007, at 7:24 PM, Robert Walton wrote:

> I split the wood by hand, but what are the basic saws for one or two
> people needed to fell a tree and buck it up?

Crosscut saws have long been made in both one-man and two-man  
versions. I learned as a teen to make firewood with a crosscut saw  
before we got a chainsaw. In the early days of chainsaws, they were  
so heavy and awkward they required two guys to handle them. The  
modern chainsaw is a marvel, but expensive. And seriously dangerous.

For making firewood out of limbs and smaller stuff, a bucksaw is  
good. If the wood is light enough to get up onto a cutting rack your  
back will be happier. I have somewhere a steel tool that grabs a log  
like a peavy and then you rock back and it lifts the log off the  
ground, which saves the teeth of whichever saw is being used.