Old tools -- a 1950s Cord Wood Saw

This old saw has been around for a long time.  Hubby's dad likely used it when he was a young man to cut wood for heating the old house.  When coal became inexpensive and available, the old cord wood saw was put out to pasture.  In the 90s Hubby and I got the saw out and cut up a bunch of old fence posts for firewood.  It was cool to see how it worked and how quickly we could saw up a lot of posts. 

NumberOneSon really wanted to get the saw out this past weekend and run it with his favorite tractor, the John Deere Model A.  He and Hubs set up the saw and fired up the tractor which would turn the belt which powered the saw.  The original belt broke on their first run so they had to figure out something else to use.  Resourceful as they are, the guys went to the shop and found a piece of baler belting and attached that to the saw and the tractor and zoom!  Away it went!  The old saw whirred beautifully and didn't have a bit of wobble in it despite its years of storage out in the open.  The men cut up a few fence posts and decided the saw might need a little sharpening.  It could easily cut through softer fence posts, but it took a little longer to saw through the hard pitch posts. 

The guys were truly amazed at the quality of workmanship that went into building the saw.  It was well-balanced and perfectly round, keeping it spinning without the wobble that comes when things are not machined just right.  I think it probably does a better job of cutting firewood than the chainsaw.  The nice part of using it is that it stands at waist height which makes it much easier to cut a lot of firewood at a time.  Not quite such back breaking work as it is leaning over a chain saw.