Using a Sawbuck for Cutting Limb Wood - SAFELY

Each winter I harvest about 9 cord of firewood from our property for heating our house the following winter.  We have an outdoor wood boiler and it is our only source for heat and hot water from early October through the end of April.  Most of the trees I harvest are the result of thinning around mast trees for wildlife or those with potential for producing quality sawlogs.  This results in a fair bit of pole-sized trees and limbs that are added to my wood pile, about a cord each winter.  

Over the years I have varied my approach to how I cut these smaller diameter pieces to stove length. About 6 years ago I settled into the design pictured.  I combined two sawbuck designs from 1) a 1977 Rodale Press Book, Build It Better Yourself and 2) a 2015 article by Mike Dann in a Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine newsletter.  My contribution to the design was to use ratchet straps, instead of rope, to bind the limbs on the sawbuck.  I found the ratchet straps hold the bundle together tighter and allowed for easy adjustment if needed.

Joe Dembeck graphic

The steps I take to load the sawbuck and then cut the bundle:

  1. The first limb is placed so that the overhang of the larger diameter end is equal to the desired stove length of the cut wood (24 inches in my case).

  2. Now I load limbs until the thickest part of the bundle is slightly smaller than the length of my chainsaw bar.

  3. Two ratchet straps are placed around the bundle at the locations in the picture. Each strap is ratcheted tight.

  4. Cut #1 is made to trim the ends so that the overhang on the left side is now equivalent to my desired stove length.  (Sorry, I don’t measure out the exact length of each limb or pole in the wood.)

  5. Cut #2 is made.  Check the tightness of the straps, adjust if loose.

  6. Cut #3 is made.  Again check the tightness of the straps, adjust if loose.

  7. Cut #4 is made.

  8. Return to Step 1 and start through the process again until your limb wood pile is all cut to stove length.

If you have any questions about this technique or specifications on the sawbuck construction, please contact me at jdembecksc15@gmail.com.

— Joe Dembeck, Somerset SWCD Executive Director