Becoming a Logger

I've never cut down a tree before, but since our primary source of heat is our woodstove, I need to learn how to produce fuel for it. I haven't actually bought a chainsaw yet, but I did inherit a small electric one, which if I use within 50 feet of the generator works ok for cutting up the tree into 16" to 18" sections.

Today I started by picking some trees that were in the way and needed to come down anyway and that were small enough that I couldn't cause any significant damage to anything (including myself) if something went wrong. As luck would have it, both trees were just out of reach of my 50-foot extension cord. So I used a hand saw. The standing dead tree was only about four inches in diameter and the living one was about six inches, so were easily manageable with a small handsaw. Both were birch trees about 30 feet tall or so.

After a minute or so of sawing the dead tree came down. Even with my little handsaw, I made two cuts--the first on the side I wanted the tree to fall and the second cut slightly higher from the back side. The live tree took a little longer because the moisture caused the saw blade to stick a little, and because my second cut was crooked. After the trees had fallen I dragged them over near the generator shed so I could use my electric chain saw to cut them up.

Using a chain saw didn't come naturally at first, but it wasn't hard to learn. I didn't naturally want to keep the bucking spike against the tree, but once I realized how doing that makes it so much easier to manipulate the saw and actually cut the wood, the bucking spike became my friend, and the work progressed much more quickly. I didn't get much firewood out of the dead tree because part of it was rotting. The live tree should give me almost one day's worth of heat on a not-too-cold day.

The trees are now stacked and drying out, getting ready for use next season. I've got a lot of work to do before next winter. Hmmm, I'm going to need a real saw.