That is what I envisioning when you said bow saw, but in one-person sized model with part of the chain, with a tensioner like a hacksaw (which I guess is kind of turnbuckle-ish).

Hmm... once the hubub with halloween shows die down, I think I need to talk to my mechanical geeks about a prototype.

"Hmm... once the hubub with halloween shows die down, I think I need to talk to my mechanical geeks about a prototype."

And you'll post the results here, right?

Sue

i tell the gang at Classic Camp Stoves that being a collector around here is hard because not very many people used Primus stoves for camping or like Europe at home for heat and cooking.Minnesota is "ax and saw country" and i have plenty of both.who said the wood pile heats twice?..once when you chop and again when you burn.
as a thought experiment i did mull over that problem.with the last of the chainsaw gas i would cut down the 60 foot pine in the yard and cut as many rounds as i could and then start splitting.
i assume every stick of wood would be cut down at the river early on along with wood fences and such by those who wanted to winter over and not pull up stakes and treck South.i have at least ten good axe's and hatchets i could trade for whatever..ok Sue now you have me drifting over the line in survivalism!!!!

Following Susan's no-power scenario, someone is going to steal the wood you so tediously have cut down, split and stacked.

Seasoning wood for the next season requires several cubic meters of volume. Along with unseasoned wood comes insects. A wood stack is the most perfect breeding ground for mice and rats you can think of. How many of you are willing or able to drag that stuff indoors?

A lot of people will think of stealing a few logs for heat as "bartering" - after all, wood grows on trees, so who will notice if they take a few logs? It doesn't take many freezing people with that attitude to make a big stack disappear.

I once helped a relative salvage some mesquite fence posts for firewood. He was using a chain saw which required frequent sharpening ( about every other fence post). A nice Swedish bow saw actually cut faster than the chain saw. I'll go for a bow saw every time, as well.

"Seasoning wood for the next season requires several cubic meters of volume. Along with unseasoned wood comes insects. A wood stack is the most perfect breeding ground for mice and rats you can think of. How many of you are willing or able to drag that stuff indoors?"

You aren't seeing the Big Picture! The mice and rats eat the insects, and then I trap the rats and mice to feed my cats, thus saving on cat food!

OR, I train the largest rats to defend the woodpile. You've heard of 'ankle biters', right?

It isn't usually suggested to stack wood against the house, but maybe it would provide extra insulation.

Sue

i would bring the wood into the cold rooms of the house to keep it close and dry...but the chance of this for real is so tiny as not to really plan for..but--that generator to run the gas furnace and a couple lights is something i do take for real.every time i go to the Big Box hardware store for a can of paint or 2x4 i look them over again..and what Sue said about bugs,plus if things are that bad a bug is the last thing you will be worried about.and--will you have a plan on which of the furniture will be chopped up and in what order??..this could get complicated!!!!

I heated an old farm house in Kansas one winter with old lumber
from the dump cut with a bow saw.

We did spend a lot of time downstairs by the stove. Couldn't
heat the whole drafty house.

Putting aside wood-gathering for a moment, and addressing the broader "fuel-gathering" challenge ... seems viable to consider cow-, horse- and poultry-manure as potential solution (assuming one lives in an area where sources are reasonably plentiful). Granted, there are some drying/seasoning issues.

But, low-tech, no specialized tools required. Used everyday in some parts of the world.

The pioneers used dried cow pies all the way across the country for fires. The kids used them as the first frisbee.

But I'll bet stacked cow pies have more bugs than wood...

And keeping them dry here in the PNW could be a trick.

Keep the chickens in the house for safety, keep the wood in the house for safety... NOW I have to keep the COW in the house? Darn, it's getting crowded in here. ROOSTER! -- YOU! -- OUT!

Sue