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Sawing Wood

rusty6

rusty6

Well-known Member
Location
East central Sask.
Its hard to believe I took this photo 32 years ago. It is one of my favourites of my Dad cutting firewood with the old buzz saw and Cockshutt 40. I kind of miss wood heat. I get to help my brother's family cut some firewood every year just to keep in practice.

mvphoto45980.jpg
 
I grew up with cutting wood to heat, miss the family doing it, but family now does not want to help, so done with it.
 
Yes, everybody comments on how dangerous the saws are. Its true, obviously it could kill or maim you pretty quick if you get careless. But when you have worked
around them all your life, and are conscious of the risk, I don't think it is any more dangerous than driving in heavy traffic with all the distracted drivers
nowadays.
 
(quoted from post at 21:35:15 11/30/19) Great Pic!!
Looks like you took it yesterday.
Click to expand...
Thanks , I actually made a little money on this photo. The Western Producer had it printed either inside or on the cover of one of their weekly editions.
 
I came across a Youtube video of a man running one of those.

He was showing off how fast he could cut with it...

Had on an unzipped jacket, it was flopping around the blade, he was reaching dangerously close with loose sleeves.

I expected the worst, but he made it.
 
Yes, the buzz saw is quite a bit faster than a man with a chain saw as long as we have a good crew to keep things moving. Biggest limiting factor is the belt slippage factor. The old Wisconsin V4 has plenty of power but the belt slips on the bigger logs. I shoot some video every year and this one is from February 2018.
2018 Sawing
 
You?ve got a good point there Rusty, when your driving a highway truck you notice the driving zombies even more.
 
My dad's sawmill had a cutoff saw with a rolling table, we cut all the slabs and edging to firewood length, which went up a
conveyor and into the back of the 52 Studebaker dump for delivery. You were supposed to cut fast and get back to the other end of
the mill to tail the headsaw. We would stand the slabs on edge and flop them into the saw to go faster. Everything was run by the
UD18 power unit so power was not a problem. We couldn't use the saws until we were 12 years old.
 
Used to help my old daddy in law on one of those with an unmuffled A pop,pop,popping right into my
ear. Between that and the saw ain't no wonder I can't hear. He'd always remind me not to stumble or
fall. Still miss him.
 
I have a couple of those type saws, around here they are either called cut off saws or cordwood saws.The best one mounts on a 3pt hitch and is run by the PTO shaft,the other is a New Holland belt driven about he same way as the one in the picture.For a one man operation they are fine for smaller easy to lift lengths of wood but to be safe at least one other person is needed to catch the wood that is being cut off.Plus wood has to be carried to the saw,for big pieces its about impossible to use unless you have Paul Bunyan helping that day.I can take take a good chain saw and cut far more firewood in the same amount of time.I was getting long lengths of rejected wood flooring from a local company at one time the cut off saw worked good for that.
 
How do you handle the big size wood as those saws only cut something up to about a foot in diameter?A lot of wood I cut I have to take the splitter to the cut pieces to split it up before I can load it.
 
They were common around here, ones on the front of the farmall tractors as well as the Dearborn ones off the back, belt, PTO driven etc.

I have a CH & E sawrig that my father used here on the farm for smaller diameter wood and even wood from demolition, avoiding the nails. I used this thing last in the early 80's, and can recall how quickly he could buck a manure spreader load of smaller diameter wood. It's rated for 6" thick lumber. The shafts and belt sheaves roll free, nothing seize, though it has been out side but with something over the table top. I've got a nice 12 HP Kohler engine for it, original was outside too long, but actually still useable. This is a 60's era model, common on construction sites back in the day. I hope to get the engine in it at some point and put it back into use. This land is loaded with small trees that I would like to clear quite a bit of, could make a very large quantity of firewood from that alone, besides the larger trees I have an abundance of.

Interestingly, I found one of these sawrigs earlier this year, 4 cylinder Wisconsin, in very nice shape, had the fence with it, seller wanted $3500.00, a bit much but maybe worth it if I was to use it enough, passed, seeing I have one that would work just the same. I did save the photos of it off of CL, was going to post, can't find LOL !
 
Over 50 years ago my dad used a buzz saw, that's
what he called it. I used a chainsaw, cut branches
and drug then to the saw. We used wood to heat milk
processing plant and house. Never ending job.

When Dad used this saw, ground was covered with
snow. I find it interesting, no YT OSHA police are
saying how dangerous this thing is. Calling it a
"Death machine." No belt guard, no blade guard.
Where is SV'v Barney?
geo
 
Till the early 60's Daddy and Pop used a saw like that to saw firewood. They ran it with a belt and H farmall. My job was to catch it off the saw and
throw it on the pile. I m 72 now and I can still hear it sing. They had a Kut Kwik wheel saw that they used some back in the day. I have heard of several
men hurt bad and one killed with one of them. I still have both saws jus for keepsakes.
 
My dad used a file to sharpened the saw before using it. Just like a chainsaw, a dull saw wouldn't cut.

I found an old school dewalt 10 inch saw blade. Not carbide, moly steel blade. I have a cheapie HF sharpner. Just touch up the teeth and it cuts better than any carbide.

Chains don't last and are expensive. The buzz saw just needed teeth touched up and it kept on cutting.
geo
 
Our neighbor had a sawmill and have dad a
big hay wagon load of slab wood as he
called it. We put the buzz saw on the M
and cut alot of wood fast. The problem is
the pieces were not big and we never did
it again.
 
Got my Grandpa's here. Cut a lot of Grandma's cookstove wood with it many, many years ago.
Was mounted on a 49 JD A I grew up on.
Richard in NW SC
 
(quoted from post at 05:05:57 12/01/19) How do you handle the big size wood as those saws only cut something up to about a foot in diameter?A lot of wood I cut I have to take the splitter to the cut pieces to split it up before I can load it.
Click to expand...
I'd say its rare to handle a log a foot in diameter here so its not a problem. I've seen where we'd have to cut half way through, then rotate the log to cut through from the other side to finish. But mostly we get smaller trees. 99% aspen poplar.
 
Couple of newer photos from 99 to 2001 of wood sawing at my uncle's. It was a yearly event and more than just one day as you can tell by the size of the woodpile.
Not many big logs but a huge stack of smaller trees. He kept right on cutting firewood and cooking on a wood stove til he died in 02.
That is his JD AR powering the saw.
cvphoto43373.jpg


cvphoto43374.jpg
 
Buzzed and split (with a single bit axe) a lot of fire wood as a kid.
The BN Farmall ran the saw perfectly. Dad was old time saw mill man and
safty was always number one job! Fell trees with Homelite Buzz chain saw
that weighed 24 lbs dry so bucking smaller logs was way easier on the
buzz rig(any one else call it a buzz rig?). Hauled logs out of the woods
to the back yard on a home made trailer, that's how poor we were.
Fond memories of those times.
Dave
 
Outstanding photos.....just a joy to see the history you have captured with photos & videos.
It brings back such memories of my youth. I always wish I was looking forward enough to have
saved some of my families activities with photos. Keep up the great work!
 
(quoted from post at 10:43:48 12/01/19) Buzzed and split (with a single bit axe) a lot of fire wood as a kid.
The BN Farmall ran the saw perfectly. Dad was old time saw mill man and
safty was always number one job! Fell trees with Homelite Buzz chain saw
that weighed 24 lbs dry so bucking smaller logs was way easier on the
buzz rig(any one else call it a buzz rig?). Hauled logs out of the woods
to the back yard on a home made trailer, that's how poor we were.
Fond memories of those times.
Dave
Click to expand...

Yup, we always called it a buzz rig. Ours was mounted on a 38 John Deere A. Put it on every Fall. We also had the big pile and the buzz pile of wood. I'd stand there and throw away until my feet were buried in saw dust and warmed back up. That was in the 50s.
 
We had a buzz saw on the 3 point of the 8N, used a right angle turn belt pulley that attached to the PTO. Didn't use it all that much, because most of our wood was ash or maple and 12 or more inches diameter. but the buzz saw was handy for the ends and branches that you could lift easily.
 
We had a buzz saw mounted on the front of a Case SC for years. We buzzed limbs for 3
houses and for 2 evaporators in the sap house. We also used it every spring to sharpen
cedar fence posts that we cut from the swamp.
I still have the saw and an SC to mount it on. Hopefully I will mate them back
together for a tractor show piece.
Loren
 
We got a new saw like that when I was about twelve, was dark green, had a sliding table, mounted on a Farmall M front end and folded up for transport. Wasn't uncommon to hear three or four of those saws singing on a cold Saturday around the neighbor hood. I was glad to see a new fuel oil furnace show up after a few years of listening to that screaming saw.
 
I believe there is no contributor here on YT that feels they are safe. I would wager (hypothetically) that if 400 operators were selected at random from farms (any non BTO farm), and 400 from the Suburbs, and 1/2 ran a buzz saw, and 1/2 used a 20" bar chain saw for 8 hours, that the farmer group would have 0 accidents with the buzz saw and a minor issue with the chain saw or two. The suburban contenders would have 3 or 4 incidents with the buzz saw, and 15 with the chain saws. Just making up stories for discussion. Jim
 
My wife's grandfather had a buzz rig built on a Model A Ford chassis back in the 40s and 50s.
It had a big rolling carriage and a big open fly-ball governor which I believe they said came off a steam engine. I'm not even sure steam engines had governors but that's what I understood.
He had 3 sons and a son-in-law, all Ford mechanics and they put the thing together for him.
They would all get together and buzz all his wood for the winter in one weekend.
We lived about an eighth mile away and when we heard the "zing, zing" all day long, we knew Harry was getting his wood in for the winter.
A great memory from my childhood and teenage years.
 
I have one on a Deere b. cordwood saw, buzz saw or sawing machine as they were called locally. Really fallen out of favor in past 30 years (think chainsaw) so you do not see them much now. Often contemplated putting them on some other tractors.
 


I agree, any saw is dangerous to a degree. I use a buzz saw and I don't find it any more or less dangerous than my chainsaws. I will say the chainsaw tires me out a lot faster. The buzz saw is many time faster than a chainsaw on pole wood.

I wonder how many of the people that go on about how terribly dangerous some implement or tool is have never even seen one run, much less used one themselves. Believe me, when that blade gets spinning and the belt is flopping out there, you don't need OSHA or any YT Safety Nazis to remind you to stay sharp!
 
Two of my uncles took an old Model T frame and engine and mounted a saw on the frame at the back.
They wood drive it around the area and cut up stove wood for folks who paid them.
This was in the early to mid 30's.
Had a pulley on one rear wheel and would jack the tire off the ground and put a belt on the pulley
to run the saw.
They tried to save money and would run the engine using kerosene.
That works fine for a short time but burns the valves if used too much.
Richard in NW SC
 
Here's a buzz rig powered by only 2 HP.

mvphoto46010.jpg


The young lad in the picture is the Dad of a friend of mine.

In the background, across the "crik" is the combination sawmill, gristmill and cider mill originally powered by water and later by a gigantic "hit and miss" engine.
 
There are few sounds as beautiful as a saw like that cutting...the engine opening the governor briefly, the ring or zing of the blade as it cuts through!

A cold day, frozen or slippery under foot, usually two people handling long lengths...working together, careful of each other, one is the main saw person feeding the blade, the other fetching and holding the other end of the log carefully so as to not endanger the feeder. Maybe a third one (a kid?) hauling away the cut chunks if they are not too big. The smell of fresh sawdust!! Caps with earflaps, maybe hot coco later!
Leo
 
Great photo ....he's just posing for the photo right? And then his safety goggles go on .... LOL !!! The old school fellas didn't even
give that a thought I guess.
 
(quoted from post at 16:49:06 12/01/19) Great photo ....he's just posing for the photo right? And then his safety goggles go on .... LOL !!! The old school fellas didn't even
give that a thought I guess.
Click to expand...
Safety goggles? Surely you jest? But seriously they would have been a good idea to keep sawdust out of the eyes.
This picture is my dad with a load of wood in the late 1940s. Notice there are no chain saw cuts on those logs. They were all cut down by axe in those days. Nobody could afford the luxury of a chain saw even if they had been available.
mvphoto46038.jpg
 


That's a great picture Rusty. Cutting up a load like that to stove length with a chainsaw will exhaust you. That's where the buzzsaw shines!
 
(quoted from post at 14:22:31 12/02/19)

That's a great picture Rusty. Cutting up a load like that to stove length with a chainsaw will exhaust you. That's where the buzzsaw shines!
Click to expand...

Nice load of wood.......love those "bobs"!!
 
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