# firewood post shtfshtf



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

So what are some solutions to processing firewood in quantity post shtf? I'm envisioning propane for cooking, wood stove for cooking/heat, and diesel for garden/transportation equipment. Maybe a gassifier/solar for limited electrical needs. I don't want to have to rely on gasoline due to the short shelf life. Chopping enough wood with an ax every year would be extremely time consuming. I was looking at some hydrolic options from katoba. Has anyone found a good solution for processing a lot of firewood without relying on gasoline?


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

So if SHTF SHTF then are we back to normal

I love wood and it is/was/will be my primary fuel source for most things.
A GOOD axe with an experienced person is an ok way to FELL trees, not to buck them up. Obviously a chainsaw is going to work much easier. If there was any supply of gas at all then there would be enough for a chainsaw. Gasoline can keep fairly well under the right circumstances, for an off the shelf solution you can even buy it in cans for chainsaw use, these keep quite well but are very expensive per gallon. 

For bucking them up there are a few options, an old fashioned "buzz saw" can be run with pretty much anything, old flat belt or converted to a modern small engine, electric or pto. The blades seem to last forever.

A band-saw will certainly work but they are expensive and can have more maintenance.

For splitting an axe can be almost as fast as a splitter, it just takes a lot more effort. I love splitting wood by hand. Also, depending on your application wood doesn't always have to be split into nice little uniform bits, with an outdoor wood boiler whole logs work great.
There are electric, gasoline, hydraulic, and manual hydraulic splitters available and they are also not that hard to make.


----------



## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

From what the old timers tell me around here they didnt cut down a tree that required a lot of splitting and those few pieces that did get splt sat out side with a railroad spike driven in one end and ice did most of the work you just tapped each spike on the way back from the out house all winter.
All summer on the way back from the outhouse you picked up the bucket of water from under the hardwood ash tank and poured it back on top.
NEVER SPILL THIS ON YOU OR YOU WONT BE ABLE TO GET TO THE POND FAST ENOUGH TO SAVE YOUR SKIN.
This is where we get lye water from pure clean hardwood ash.
This lye water will ruin a oak barrel in less than 1 summer
remember to cover or roof your plastic barrel or rain will steal your lye water.


----------



## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

As far as cutting posts into stove wood a walking horse dog or child can turn a buzz saw wheel and these contraptions used to be wagon mounted and horse pulled and have a circuit for each county.
If they were cutting your wood you provided food [dont even think about skimping them] coffee a haybunk and cash or trade.


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

The railroad spike is an interesting idea I'm just not sure it gets cold enough often enough in the southeast to really do the job. I hope I do have folks to help but I'm a single guy so I'm planning for the lowest possible amount of help and any received would be a bonus. That's why I was thinking stored diesel with antibacterial treatment and running a hydrolic saw and splitter off a tractor or something. Just long term planning I suppose. I get through school and living in the city by planning out my post graduation property and lifestyle


----------



## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

Go louis go.
Sometimes dreams are more important than food.
The spike trick works in lower missouri its a heat thaw thing it may not work in minasota.
Storing for the future should be part of every plan,
But always remember sustainability is the goal.
UH OH LOOK OUT FREE OLD MAN SAYING COMING UP.
Hand cutting wood warms a man twice.


----------



## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

How bout using an old cross cut two man saw? I have one short one, about 4' long. on the look out for one of the longer ones as well as the tools to keep in sharp and set. 

I would like to get a horse and tack to pull logs and a skid or trailer.


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Even with everything I have in mind I'm assuming I'll still have to spend quite a bit of time with an ax. While setting up all this after I can move I'm going to be working. I can't see being able to set up and maintain a small farm completely independent of fuels. Just not enough hours in the week to work and do that. It would be nice but I think unrealistic for one person. I'm hoping I can store enough to last until I can slowly convert to more time and resource appropriate methods as needed and with bartering. That's why I think diesel and hydrolics may be a good answer to get me through the worst part of society's readjustment.


----------



## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

A 36" bow saw with as many blades as you can afford would be good for smaller wood (up to about 6"-7"). I always split wood by hand. A splitting maul works excellent. But I only did it for 35 years or so.


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

It really wasn't so much the splitting I was worried about. It was more the downing trees, processing to manageable size, and transporting. Just figured with a little prior planning and equipment I could make it much less of a pain in the butt. What I'm hearing is that its really not as much work as I'm building it up to be in my head. Still I can think of a lot of other uses for that time. That's why I was asking.


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> It really wasn't so much the splitting I was worried about. It was more the downing trees, processing to manageable size, and transporting. Just figured with a little prior planning and equipment I could make it much less of a pain in the butt. What I'm hearing is that its really not as much work as I'm building it up to be in my head. Still I can think of a lot of other uses for that time. That's why I was asking.


It seems like you have a pretty good idea of what it entails. Splitting the wood manually is not that bad compared to using equipment and equipment is easy to make or buy.
Felling the trees is not that hard to accomplish with an axe or whatever, it will be a lot of work and you will wish you had a chainsaw but it is doable.

IMO bucking up the wood is the tough one. With regards to the crosscut saws, they are great to have but not to use Seriously, swinging an axe all day is HARD work but running a crosscut saw is akin to torture. That's why I like the old buzz saws and the sheer number of them still kicking around shows just how much people liked them back in the day. Btw, anyone with any mechanical skills could build a buzz saw if so inclined, the blade is another story but still doable. It is just a circular blade on an axle with whatever pulley or driveshaft suits the purpose.

Here is a fancy one with a splitter as well.









http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/130155-buzz-saw-splitter-combo.html

Here is one more typical of the thousands that are still rusting away in the countryside.









Btw, if it isn't painfully obvious these things are dangerous


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Alright I have to show my ignorance? Bucking wood? Is this cutting into planks for building?


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> Alright I have to show my ignorance? Bucking wood? Is this cutting into planks for building?


Sorry, easy to forget everyone has different terms. For us felling trees is cutting them down, then delimbing is cutting off the smaller branches to get a log, then bucking it is cutting it into shorter pieces (16" long or whatever).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_bucking


----------



## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> Alright I have to show my ignorance? Bucking wood? Is this cutting into planks for building?


Thank you! I was wondering the same thing.

Simultaneous post! Thank you Cowboy, for the explanation.


----------



## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

Wood cutting/firewood will be one of our SHTF businesses. I spent a great deal of time and money on the equipment. I have 2 man saws. one man saws, mauls,axes, splitting wedges galore. 
here is a link to where I got all my saws. http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/products.asp?dept=308
You will need sharpening and setting tools. Look at the bottom of the page in this link. There is a really good set of tools for sharpening and setting.
http://www.crosscutsaw.com/6.html
Just a note. Paint your splitting wedges fluorescent orange. They like to play hide and seek in the woods.


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

JustCliff said:


> Wood cutting/firewood will be one of our SHTF businesses. I spent a great deal of time and money on the equipment. I have 2 man saws. one man saws, mauls,axes, splitting wedges galore.
> here is a link to where I got all my saws. http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/products.asp?dept=308
> You will need sharpening and setting tools. Look at the bottom of the page in this link. There is a really good set of tools for sharpening and setting.
> http://www.crosscutsaw.com/6.html
> Just a note. Paint your splitting wedges fluorescent orange. They like to play hide and seek in the woods.


What would your limited man power solution be?


----------



## dutch9mm (Jul 29, 2013)

Have cords and cords stacked off the ground and covered. Just prep it as you would yer beans etc problem solved


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

We built a pedal powered bucking saw out of an old flywheel style exercise bike and a chain saw bar, it works as well or better than a misery whip (2 man crosscut) is easy to sharpen or repair, the only machining that I had to do was to make a bushing for a saw clutch cup to attach to the flywheel, I thought that I had pictures but I couldn't find them


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

It might be worth mentioning that if you are going to have a source of electricity like a large inverter or a generator then an electric chainsaw would probably be the cheapest/easiest way to have a non-gasoline way of processing a lot of wood. They definitely have their drawbacks but they are quiet and can cut a lot of wood in a day.
I like to always have a non-electric way to do do things but that doesn't mean I'm not going to use the more "efficient" way if possible.


----------



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

I like the ideas on wood storage and prep, I just wanted to add that when I was taking the EMT classes they stressed that there are 21 toxic fumes emitted from a burning a structure fire... so treated 2x4's etc are definitely not an option. 

Trading short term warmth for long term respiratory and vascular issues is never a good bargain. Try everything else first.


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Tirediron said:


> We built a pedal powered bucking saw out of an old flywheel style exercise bike and a chain saw bar, it works as well or better than a misery whip (2 man crosscut) is easy to sharpen or repair, the only machining that I had to do was to make a bushing for a saw clutch cup to attach to the flywheel, I thought that I had pictures but I couldn't find them


I would love to see pictures!


----------



## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> I would love to see pictures!


Yep, me to!


----------



## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

cowboyhermit said:


> It might be worth mentioning that if you are going to have a source of electricity like a large inverter or a generator then an electric chainsaw would probably be the cheapest/easiest way to have a non-gasoline way of processing a lot of wood. They definitely have their drawbacks but they are quiet and can cut a lot of wood in a day.
> I like to always have a non-electric way to do do things but that doesn't mean I'm not going to use the more "efficient" way if possible.


Noise or lack of would be a big advantage of electric chain saw for opsec reasons, allso I've always enjoyed hard work but now that I'm 61 and the calander just isnt slowing down time to start working more with my head less with my back, gonna check into the electric saw.


----------



## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I think you want to do the hardest work now while you can still use a chain saw. Or maybe you just store 100 gallons of gasoline for later. Or try to build up a 3 year supply of firewood now while it's a lot easier. I think turning trees into firewood by hand would be a full time job after it hits the fan.

I'm a big believer in kerosene heaters. The kerosene takes up a lot less space and there's no smoke going up your chimney to let other people know you have heat. I see that as being most important the first year after the collapse. I'd be paranoid working in the woods making all that noise when it could lead people right to you. I'd definitely have a gun with me at all times.


----------



## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> What would your limited man power solution be?


All of us can cut. In a long term situation I would hire others or do like a share cropping deal.


----------



## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

BillS said:


> I think you want to do the hardest work now while you can still use a chain saw. Or maybe you just store 100 gallons of gasoline for later. Or try to build up a 3 year supply of firewood now while it's a lot easier. I think turning trees into firewood by hand would be a full time job after it hits the fan.
> 
> I'm a big believer in kerosene heaters. The kerosene takes up a lot less space and there's no smoke going up your chimney to let other people know you have heat. I see that as being most important the first year after the collapse. I'd be paranoid working in the woods making all that noise when it could lead people right to you. I'd definitely have a gun with me at all times.


Your right 3 years would probably be max for firewood it does go bad, a chainsaw in the woods can be heard a long way off could draw a lot of unwanted attention to oneself, I'm allso working on the kerosene angle to, but then kerosene wont keep forever either.


----------



## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

Ok guys I realize I'm not a mod here but I feel like somebody
needs to point out that this is a family forum and certain cuss
words need to be held to an absolute minimum.


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Jimthewagontraveler said:


> Ok guys I realize I'm not a mod here but I feel like somebody
> needs to point out that this is a family forum and certain cuss
> words need to be held to an absolute minimum.


What words would those be???:dunno:


----------



## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

Tirediron said:


> What words would those be???:dunno:


....Work?


----------



## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

I think a lot of people are underestimating what a good SHARP two man saw can do. The first link shows a properly sharpened saw used by an amiture teenaged girl and an old man with experience. It starts off slow but picks up some steam. 




The second video is an older couple with a short two man saw. The saw is not sharp. Listen close to it and really look at the saw on the wood. The saw is riding in the kerf. 




It doesn't take a great deal of time to learn to use a saw with another person. You should try and saw with the same person as often as you can, learning how each other work.


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Not me, crosscut saws should not be underestimated. For anyone willing to invest the time and money they will get the job done admirably, I have some and wouldn't part with them but they are not for everyone.










Heres a buzzsaw powered by woodgas


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

2 man saws will cut, but having actually cut a fairly big pile just to prove we could the misery whip is hanging up and the big husky is the saw of choice, I think though if we had to buck wood with a 2 man it would at least triple the time it takes, and we would only buck what we needed for a week or so instead of going till the saw runs out of fuel (I will post a pic of the pedal saw soon


----------



## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

IF you plan on using firewood post SHTF, better have a way of concealing it from looters and thieves.


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

*Pedal saw pics*

they aren't great quality, there isn't much room in the storage trailer, but you should get the idea, the bar mounting plat is machined so that there is a collar on the inside to locate the roller bearing that it pivots off of, and I think there is a bushing to size the bearing onto the "bike" axle, I built this about 10 years ago and don't remember the exact details. there is a metal rack for the wood to sit on that the front feet of the bike hold down, because it isn't possible to pedal at 10,000 rpm, the end of the bar needs some weight, and the raker teeth should be filed down to get a bigger bite, I can give more details if someone is interested in building one


----------



## dutch9mm (Jul 29, 2013)

Tirediron said:


> they aren't great quality, there isn't much room in the storage trailer, but you should get the idea, the bar mounting plat is machined so that there is a collar on the inside to locate the roller bearing that it pivots off of, and I think there is a bushing to size the bearing onto the "bike" axle, I built this about 10 years ago and don't remember the exact details. there is a metal rack for the wood to sit on that the front feet of the bike hold down, because it isn't possible to pedal at 10,000 rpm, the end of the bar needs some weight, and the raker teeth should be filed down to get a bigger bite, I can give more details if someone is interested in building one


There's no way that works. Got a vid of it in action. That's a great idea if it dose work


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

dutch9mm said:


> There's no way that works. Got a vid of it in action. That's a great idea if it dose work


If you think that an insult will get you a video think again, I said it works. Maybe I will get it out this winter and do a video,


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

dutch9mm said:


> There's no way that works.


And why is that exactly? People on here don't do the whole "I have never seen that before and have no knowledge on the subject so you have to prove it to me" thing. If you see a flaw then that is one thing but most people will assume people are honest (especially members who have demonstrated their knowledge and integrity) unless they have actual reason to believe otherwise.

A video would be nice but how much people are willing to post to the internet is up to them and they shouldn't be pressured into posting anything.


----------



## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

Our only heat source is wood heat. It takes us roughly 10 chord a year I can't imagine cutting that much wood with a crosscut or a pedal powered thingamagig......


----------



## dutch9mm (Jul 29, 2013)

Tirediron said:


> If you think that an insult will get you a video think again, I said it works.


No insult it just looks like a joke an insult would be calling it ridiculous or somethin. What keeps downward pressure on the blade when it's cutting?


----------



## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

dutch9mm said:


> No insult it just looks like a joke an insult would be calling it ridiculous or somethin. What keeps downward pressure on the blade when it's cutting?


I'm sure you could cut a stick of wood with it but no faster than you can pedal it would take a long damn time


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

The bar has a long bolt in the end, to hold a weight to keep the bar down, there is also a rack to keep the wood in place, A chain saw motor doesn't make a whole lot of power. this thing makes it possible to use your legs for power, instead of your arm, which is supposed to be a lot harder on your heart for some reason. It won't compete with a 372 husky, but It is a lot faster than a buck saw. a 2 man might beat it through a cut , but I think it is more sustainable to pedal for a longer time and one person can do it. I built it more to see if I could and for peace of mind, knowing that we had another method to cut fire wood, because like hashbrown wood is our only heat source.


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

hashbrown said:


> Our only heat source is wood heat. It takes us roughly 10 chord a year I can't imagine cutting that much wood with a crosscut or a pedal powered thingamagig......


Have you considered looking into the efficiency of your house or are you in Alaska? We are 600ish miles north of the Montana border and 10 chords would be high.



hashbrown said:


> I'm sure you could cut a stick of wood with it but no faster than you can pedal it would take a long damn time


No, I don't think it would cut faster than you could pedal:scratch


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

That thing looks pretty creative. Have you used it to cut an amount of wood? I'd be interested to hear your ideas on how efficient it is compared to one man saw and ax. Idnprobably put wheels on it to get it to whatever I had felled. So nobody thinks stored diesel and hydrolic buzz saw/ splitter running off a tractor would be a solid one man solution? Just wondering. I don't have experience with that equipment but I'm having trouble seeing drawbacks other than cost, maintenance, and the necessity of stored fuel. But diesel can store a long time with antibacterials and diesel engines can be pretty easily made to run on some type of biodiesel with a little know how if I'm not mistaken.


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I think a tractor / saw combo would be a good solution. I haven't cut much wood with the wheel saw, but I think it would be as or more efficient than a oneman, I bought the bike for $5 because I thought the concept would work, it has the advantage of being almost silent. the tractor on the other hand would let you cut a months worth of wood in 1/2 a day, depending on being somewhere that the noise doesn't matter.


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

CrackbottomLouis said:


> So nobody thinks stored diesel and hydrolic buzz saw/ splitter running off a tractor would be a solid one man solution?


A diesel tractor running a buzzsaw/splitter would absolutely be a solid solution. I would prefer to have the saw running off of pto or a belt for reliability and the fact it could be spun with so many different options, but hydraulic is convenient. With regards to the mobility, most of the time it is/was easier just to drag the logs to where needed, it can be tough to try and get a wagon (or whatever to haul small pieces) into the woods. Obviously this needs equipment or animal power but the wood needs to be hauled anyways so it is easy to work in a yard. However, being easily portable obviously has it's advantages too.


----------



## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

cowboyhermit said:


> Have you considered looking into the efficiency of your house or are you in Alaska? We are 600ish miles north of the Montana border and 10 chords would be high.
> 
> No, I don't think it would cut faster than you could pedal:scratch


4000 ft spread about 3 floors takes a lot of heat......plus a 2000 ft shop


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

hashbrown said:


> 4000 ft spread about 3 floors takes a lot of heat......plus a 2000 ft shop


Ouch, I can imagine. At least heating with wood is free right


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

So, I went over to TiredIron's house to check out his little invention. I have to say, it was harder to pull the PeddlePowered-Saw out of the storage container than it was to peddle it and saw the wood. In the video, you will see that I am wearing my motorcycle boots and pants and a T-shirt, and even being as warm as it was, I didn't even start to break a sweat.


----------



## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I do have to say I like the mighty Mouse shirt, Tirediron.


----------



## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

NaeKid said:


> I have to say, it was harder to pull the Peddle Powered-Saw out of the storage container than it was to peddle it and saw the wood.


I think it would be a far more effective tool if it was geared up a bit to increase the chain speed. I agree, 10000 rpm isn't needed - but if it is that easy to pedal then it should benefit a LOT from some more chain speed.

All in all, diesel is a great option, but if you can swing wood gas that's ideal (abundant source of fuel). It would be an operation similar to a "Threshing Team".... with different folks dedicated to certain operations to keep the process flowing.

If you decide on diesel, get something with a lot of fuel efficiency like a little Yanmar or Kubota - you can probably cut 4-8 times as much wood on one gallon of fuel than a two-stroke chainsaw. You just have to have the correct drive system set-up (not sure hydraulics is it)


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Grimm said:


> I do have to say I like the mighty Mouse shirt, Tirediron.


It really shows my gut off nicely doesn't it:2thumb:

@ LincTex I completely agree with the gear up if one was going to cut much wood with this, the other thing to remember is NaeKid has a lot of experience with pedal power application, so what is easy for him may be a good load for some one else, That being said a derailer and some gears off a 18 speed mountain bike wouldn't be that hard to adapt. IF one needs to cut wood in almost silence. otherwise a efficient 4 cycle engine powering the bar would be a far better answer.


----------



## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Tirediron said:


> they aren't great quality, there isn't much room in the storage trailer, but you should get the idea, the bar mounting plat is machined so that there is a collar on the inside to locate the roller bearing that it pivots off of, and I think there is a bushing to size the bearing onto the "bike" axle, I built this about 10 years ago and don't remember the exact details. there is a metal rack for the wood to sit on that the front feet of the bike hold down, because it isn't possible to pedal at 10,000 rpm, the end of the bar needs some weight, and the raker teeth should be filed down to get a bigger bite, I can give more details if someone is interested in building one


Interestin an some great ******* engineerin! Nice vid a that thin workin! Them bikes can be picked up on the curb fer free an there always be bars an chains ta be had cheap er free!

Cool idear!


----------



## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

*potty mouth*

:laugh:


Tirediron said:


> What words would those be???:dunno:


Yes words like 
1 crosscut saw
2 bow saw
3 you just had to use the W word dintya.....:eyebulge:


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Jimthewagontraveler said:


> :laugh:
> Yes words like
> 1 crosscut saw
> 2 bow saw
> 3 you just had to use the W word dintya.....:eyebulge:


WHOA, you mean the auto censor has been hacked vract: next it won't catch word like re***nsible and Ac**ntable


----------



## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

Talk about a duh moment!!!!!!!
One of my mag members is an absolute bike nut.
He just decided to ride out to see me one day [30 miles].
And only realised he had passed me when he came to a rather large town 30 miles past me!!
So he decided to take a shortcut home and see me the next day.
I think I want a little different setup a buzz saw driven off a multispeed bike.
1 tire rubs on blade gives easy speed adjustment???
2 wheel rim holds a belt????
Thank you for sharing this


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Like mentioned if it is very easy then it could be geared up, more weight could be added or maybe a spring, or the rakers could be taken right down the only problem with that is you can't put them back (don't let others sharpen your saw). But at the same time it also makes sense to keep it easy enough to pedal that anyone could do it when they have some time.


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I think normal raker height is good now that I got to actually watch it cut up close, the chain is new, and it leaves pretty good chips, I think more speed on the flywheel would really help. The husky 372 will buck 2 loads like this on a tank of gas, we do this in about an hour with my son, my wife and I working at it, we split with Fiskars X 27 axes.


----------



## dutch9mm (Jul 29, 2013)

I thought it was a joke until I saw it work. My hats off to ya. Not the most efficient way and the oak and hickory we use here in missouri would be a pain in the ass but ill be dammed it really works. Nice job.


----------



## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

If you put a lighter flywheel on would that help? Or one with a different ratio that spins more often than your feet turn? I'm just tossing out ideas.


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I think a higher speed on the flywheel would help, but I have a whole bunch of other projects that need to be done before the pedal saw gets "perfected"


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Toffee said:


> If you put a lighter flywheel on would that help? Or one with a different ratio that spins more often than your feet turn? I'm just tossing out ideas.


The flywheel does the real work, I just got it moving. If anything, I would go with a significantly higher-weighted flywheel - that is what makes the "work" so much easier.

I could have easily got the speed up higher if TI wanted more out of the cycle, but, if he just went with a larger "drive-sprocket" on the chainsaw portion, that would speed-up the cutting significantly without needing a faster flywheel.


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Wonder if you could make a similar contraption out of one of those two person bikes and if that would improve the cutting power at all. Guess that gets away from one man solutions but my interest has been peaked


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Chain speed is what is limiting the amount of cut per pedal stroke, If I ever get back to work on it I would change to a .325 narrow kerf chain , with the biggest sprocket available, and then if need be adapt a derailer system form an 18 speed mountain bike. That is using this particular frame and flywheel, the whole gearing thing would be solved by starting out with a multispeed bike chassis, now that we know that a pedal saw is viable. Vance had a simple plan for controlling the bar feed by hooking a control rod between the handle bars and the bar, then the rider could put as much load on the flywheel as they felt they could pedal, And a little more time spent on the wood rack with some kind of quick acting tie down system for the wood. 
If you had room in say your porch or basement where it was cool and out of the weather bucking a day or 2s wood could be done after supper, before breakfast, or when ever you needed to .


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Lol, I was thinking about this while in the field and was going to say the easiest way to get more performance would be a narrow kerf chain, Tirediron already thought of that
The narrow kerf chains have their drawbacks but they require a LOT less horsepower(or peoplepower) if used right. I have used all kinds of professional saws up to the biggest Stihl and Husqvarna makes but what do I grab 9 times out of 10? My little tiny Stihl MS170, the cheapest saw Stihl makes:dunno: If you have to pack a saw a mile or two then the ridiculously low weight of these saws makes a huge difference and the narrow kerf still allows them to cut a decent amount of wood. I have cut trees up to 2 feet in diameter with these little saws (not recommended) Something like a picco chain only needs to cut around half the wood to make the same cut as a large gauge chain (unfortunately they don't usually list kerf specs).

I definitely agree with Naekid about the flywheel, heavy is good in an application like this, once you get it spinning it should take very little power to keep it going and without it you would not go far without a snag.


----------



## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

You could use a derailleur to change pedal speeds, but maybe use #35 chain to get energy from flywheels to chain sprocket? I don't know if bicycle chain would be strong enough to get through a tough log. Of course, I weigh 240 pounds and have never broke a bicycle chain with my full weight on the pedals, so maybe it would be fine.


----------

