# How were large trees cut/processed in 17th century America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628 "2021-11-19T14:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628/21 "2021-11-20T06:25:14Z")
Interesting they didn’t turn the wood into charcoal first. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628/22 "2021-11-20T07:42:09Z")
Allaire State Park included a beehive style furnace. I’ve been there often. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628/23 "2021-11-20T07:58:04Z")
If any thread called for this video, it’s this thread: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Srp7k-9oCkw/maxresdefault.jpg "Canada Vignettes: Log Driver's Waltz (Sing-along Version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srp7k-9oCkw) It indicates how logs were moved. Once they got to where they were needed, cutting and shaping the logs was easy, if you had access to a steam engine with a flywheel that could do that. I’ve seen such an operation, only they were using a tractor with one tire gone, and a saw hooked up to the sawblade by a belt to the tractor wheel. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628/24 "2021-11-20T13:06:49Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Interesting they didn’t turn the wood into charcoal first. Wood (and virgin lend with more wood) were cheap. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628/25 "2021-11-20T13:12:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Interesting they didn’t turn the wood into charcoal first > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Wood (and virgin lend with more wood) were cheap. Exactly. Why bother? If you need more heat, just add more wood. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628/26 "2021-11-20T13:20:21Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > If any thread called for this video, it’s this thread: One of the main rivers where log drives were a thing was the Ottawa River. Some of the logs were turned into pulp for paper; in the 60’s to pollution from this was so bad there was apparently a coating of wood chip crud along the banks of the river even just down from the Parliament Buildings. When Queen Elizabeth was on a visit to Ottawa, they did a tour of the river. One of the eager reporters following the Queen’s boat thought the crud was solid land, and ended up neck deep in the stuff by jumping out of their own boat too soon. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2021, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628/27 "2021-11-20T14:50:55Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Wood (and virgin lend with more wood) were cheap. Sure, but wood contains a lot of volatiles and water that you should not want in your furnace. I’m not saying you _can’t_ make steel with wood, but it would not be optimal. Back in the day, it’s not like charcoal was super-expensive to make. I more suspected a slight misreading of the process, [which does seem to be the case.](https://www.jstor.org/stable/520299) > [@md-2000](#): > > Exactly. Why bother? If you need more heat, just add more wood. Wood burns at most at ~1000°C, whereas you can get charcoal up to 1500°C in a furnace. That’s leaving aside how terrible green wood would be as a reducing agent, which is a large part of what charcoal is doing in smelting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-large-trees-cut-processed-in-17th-century-america/954628.md?page=1)