hello everyone tonight

Well just hunkering down tonight, very cold here in Ontario

Was in the bush today getting out next years wood supply, cut some nice white ash logs also-- will square 10 by 10 at 25 feet, thank the lord for 4 wheel drives, and hydraulic loaders, tried to tell a couple of the young lads how things went 100 years ago in the bush--no chain saws, no hydraulic loaders, just axes, crosscut saws, horse drawn sloop sleighs

they began to ask me questions like how did you load the logs, I told them you used your brawn, and when that didn't work you rolled them up at a loading site, prepared at a location usually in a clearing or just outside the bush line, actually it worked quite well and went fast, the sleigh's bunks, being close to the ground facilitated the loading dramatically, just the high logs needed help--here you again used your brain--large logs on the bottom small top wood on the top--you would be surprised what two men could load with just cant hooks and a couple of 12 foot skidding poles!--could average 4 to 5 cords a day depending on the conditions--the colder the day the harder you worked to keep warm

Father would upon reaching the bush, and the cutting area would immediately strip down to his shirt and then grab the axe start felling trees, chopping in from one side, carefully eyeing the landing site for the tree so it wouldn't be lodged, and then a few blows from the opposite side and down she came, usually right on target. the larger trees say over 12 inches needed the crosscut saw's help on the opposite side from the guiding chopped v on the opposite side, now this crosscut saw cut was always just a little above the guiding "v" say 2 inches, I have fond memories of helping him with the sawing, the rakers on the cross cut saw fetching out long strings of wood meaning things were working pretty good

for those that do not know what rakers are well they were placed between sets of cutter teeth, and these rakers would be about a thin dime above the points of the cutting teeth, and filed straight across on their points, and as they passed along the cut would rollup strings of cut wood

enjoy

NH