Sawbucks and gang cutting for small wood? Time saver or annoyance?

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Why did I wait so long to build this? It really speeds things up and makes it a TON easier on the back vs chasing around small sticks. These pics were taken after it was full then cut, im well on my way to the second filling. Probably the best $12 ive ever spent. Still need to paint it. I also think Im going to need a much bigger bar if I want to cut it in one go. Currently Im using a 18" and its 18" between the uprights, but its well short of being able to cut the whole width. 20" might not even work.

Some pics.


[Hearth.com] Sawbucks and gang cutting for small wood? Time saver or annoyance?[Hearth.com] Sawbucks and gang cutting for small wood? Time saver or annoyance?[Hearth.com] Sawbucks and gang cutting for small wood? Time saver or annoyance?
 
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You should either get a longer bar or make the sawbuck narrower. Otherwise you're risking kickback.
 
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Add a 2x4 to the inside of the uprights on one side, your dimension will change to 16-1/2" deep. Mine is 17" deep and my 18" bar handles it fine.
 
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bubba3228 said:
Add a 2x4 to the inside of the uprights on one side, your dimension will change to 16-1/2" deep. Mine is 17" deep and my 18" bar handles it fine.
Click to expand...
Good Idea. I think Ill do that
 
I like it! Waste none/want none. I have no shame in piling in a bunch of branch wood in my stove, makes for a good hot fire on the first load of the am.
 
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My sawbuck is a lot like scooby074's. I have a 20" bar so I made it 18" wide. I have 5 pairs of upright 2x4s so I can handle logs up to about 6' long. If I can safely lift a 6' section of log, it goes in the sawbuck. It is soo much faster than cutting 1 piece at a time.

I used nails on my first attempt, they came loose fairly quickly. I put it back together using screws and plywood triangles for added strength. It's still rock solid after almost 2 years.
 
For those that use ATVs & trailers - put your sawbuck in your trailer, drive your trailer to where your trees fall, load up the sawbuck with long lengths, drive the trailer to where you split/pile, cut to length on trailer, then split/pile.

Might have to remove your sideboards first. :)
 
scooby074 said:
(broken image removed)

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That video is teh sickness!
Gotta admit, though I prefer the look of the wooden sawbuck,
the collapsible Oregon design would suit my very tight space and storage needs to a "T" especially since I'm an occasional user.
 
I like the idea of aluminum, but when you have in experienced friends or relatives helping out, it can make for hell on your equipment.

When I hurt my shoulder, I had my brother helping cut up slab wood that was banded. Needless to say 3 chains were wrecked in the process.

In my opinion wood with no way of screws or nails being hit with the saw is best.

Now I am thinking, if there would be a way to take that design and add hinges so it could collapse and be mobile to take into the woods or where ever you were cutting!
 
OldLumberKid said:
That video is teh sickness!
Gotta admit, though I prefer the look of the wooden sawbuck,
the collapsible Oregon design would suit my very tight space and storage needs to a "T" especially since I'm an occasional user.
Click to expand...

The fold-up-ability of that sawbuck is sweet for sure. I wonder if Oregon even offers it for sale in North America? If so , how much$$?
 
[Hearth.com] Sawbucks and gang cutting for small wood? Time saver or annoyance?



This one folds...there's a handle on the far side for carrying. It's treated wood with galvanized hardware. It's heavy, but that helps with stability. Note the off-center spacing of the uprights for cutting different lengths.
 
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jatoxico said:
I made this one up out of 5 8" 2x4. The short leg helps hold things when you have to work on the stubby ones. It folds up too.

View attachment 83692
Click to expand...

jatoxico,
Can you post the dimensions of that, I need one of those yesterday! Why the long space between the one section.... where are you on LI, wanna build another one? ;)
 
Here''s another Oregon sawbuck video I just came across.

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And a poor mans firewood processor (I like this one!)

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Machria said:
jatoxico,
Can you post the dimensions of that, I need one of those yesterday! Why the long space between the one section.... where are you on LI, wanna build another one? ;)
Click to expand...

Hey Mach, now you gotta feed that new stove right? ;lol Saw the install pics, very nice. I am on the north shore near West Meadow Beach.

The sawbuck I made was from 5 2"x4"x8'. No sense wasting any wood so the horizontal braces (2) were cut in 1/2. For the x's I marked the half way point then went an additional 3" to one side which makes one leg 6" longer than the other for easier loading. The bolt holes and the upper horizontal brace determine how much it opens and therefore height. Make it comfortable for your height.

Was mostly trial and error to get the height so I tacked it together before final assembly. Easy project but PM if you need anything else glad to help.

Edit: Was outside splitting up more oak from Sandy so I took a few actual measurements, The legs on the x's are 51" and 45" respectively. The bolt holes are 32" up from the bottom of the legs and I set the height of the cradle at 32" then placed the upper cross brace which acts as a stop when open.
 
Here is one, and other ideas here BUILDING A FEXIBLE FOLD UP SAWBUCK

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Interesting ones

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scooby074 said:
And a poor mans firewood processor (I like this one!)

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Ja, I like that one too except I wonder why they put the pivot point so high? Also, they could have mounted the stop block up on the pivot point and not have it in the path of the B&C. I hope it at least has a positive stop to keep the chain from hitting it.

As for some of the other sawbucks, the tall ones you need to lift the wood too high to clear. High capacity is one thing but ease of loading IMHO is paramount.

The metal ones make me cringe... you should see all the saw marks on my all wood sawbuck. I even took care to deeply countersink the screw heads so as not to hit them with the chain.
 
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LLigetfa said:
The metal ones make me cringe... you should see all the saw marks on my all wood sawbuck. I even took care to deeply countersink the screw heads so as not to hit them with the chain.
Click to expand...

Hot dog. Never thought of that, I'm usually obsessively careful not to touch another piece of wood even, to avoid kickback.
Metal contact could get ugly in a hurry.
 
jatoxico said:
Hey Mach, now you gotta feed that new stove right? ;lol Saw the install pics, very nice. I am on the north shore near West Meadow Beach.

The sawbuck I made was from 5 2"x4"x8'. No sense wasting any wood so the horizontal braces (2) were cut in 1/2. For the x's I marked the half way point then went an additional 3" to one side which makes one leg 6" longer than the other for easier loading. The bolt holes and the upper horizontal brace determine how much it opens and therefore height. Make it comfortable for your height.

Was mostly trial and error to get the height so I tacked it together before final assembly. Easy project but PM if you need anything else glad to help.

Edit: Was outside splitting up more oak from Sandy so I took a few actual measurements, The legs on the x's are 51" and 45" respectively. The bolt holes are 32" up from the bottom of the legs and I set the height of the cradle at 32" then placed the upper cross brace which acts as a stop when open.
Click to expand...

Perfect, thanks. I spent the day cutting down a giant fallen (Sandy) Locust today. Gotta a LOT of wood from it.
 
bboulier said:
Anybody have experience with Northern Tools firewood sawhorse? It looks interesting, but there are not a lot of details in the product description. I can get one for a gift if I want one. Here's the link: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...kw={keyword}&gclid=CNm635rSu7QCFUWo4AodwTUARg
Click to expand...

That metal scares the hell out of me! I just bought four 2x4's, and one 5/4 x 6" x 8' and 3 galvanized bolts. Will take 1/2 hour to build the one jataxico pictured above which looks perfect.
 
HDRock said:
Here is one, and other ideas here BUILDING A FEXIBLE FOLD UP SAWBUCK

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The bloke in the first vid, he's kinda inneressin'. At first I thought he was Glen Sather, lol, Is it you HDRock?

The hobo stove vid is classic.
 
Followed Jax plans for the most part, took about 1 hour to build, four 2x4's and one 1x6.... works awsome, saved my back. Wish I had built this years ago.

[Hearth.com] Sawbucks and gang cutting for small wood? Time saver or annoyance?[Hearth.com] Sawbucks and gang cutting for small wood? Time saver or annoyance?
 
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I like it , did U use screws or nails ??
 
I have a sawbuck but don't use it for a whole lot of wood. The occasional bunch of branches.

The best way to cut is wait until you have a snow base and you don't have to worry about grounding out your chain. Just buck it all up where it falls.
 
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