After cutting, blocking, hauling, and splitting the tree trunks, the split wood was threw into a pile some six to eight feet high to await drying in the summer sun for use the following winter. In the meantime the intact limb wood was piled also. The first photo shows a pile of limb wood. Sometime in late fall my father would decide it was time to start the Sandwich engine, belt it up to the buzz saw and cut the seasoned limb wood to stove length.
The Sandwich engine was a stationary engine, at least to the point it had no wheels or means of movement. Its method of transmitting its power to anything else was through the use of a pulley about ten inches in diameter at one side. An eight inch wide canvas belt was placed on the pulley and stretched to the buzz saw placed at the distance necessary to keep the belt tight. The saw was held in place with the use of large bars pounded into the ground within the saw frame. The second photo is of a Sandwich engine somewhat similar to the one my father owned, but not on the wheeled platform.
The next photo is that of a buzz saw. The wooden table is hinged and tilts towards the saw blade. A limb is placed on the table, tilted until the limb contacts the blade, and then continues until a 16” section falls to the ground beneath the blade. The process is repeated as many times as is necessary to reduce the limb into 16 “ pieces. Then another limb, or sometimes more than one, is placed on the table, and the entire process is repeated again and again until the pile of limb wood has been entirely cut into 16” lengths.
The last photo depicts the process in action. It can easily be seen this saw is a very dangerous piece of machinery with its large spinning blade, but I don’t recall ever hearing of anyone being hurt on one.
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