08/19/2026
Logging has come a long way since it first began in the early 1600s. When the first settlers came to America, they had to make do with the tools they had at their disposal. Today we’d like to look back at the equipment that helped shape the country as we know it today.
The need for logging came about in 1607 when the pilgrims arrived and were determined to make the landscape a home for themselves. That need was only amplified later when ship building became more frequent. By the 1790s, New England was exporting 36 million feet of pine boards each year.
Before heavy machinery existed, timber was cut by hand. Men used axes, crosscut saws, steel felling wedges, and springboards for the task, and transported the wood using peaveys and cant hooks, hookaroons, and animals such as oxen or horses. These methods were extremely efficient at the time but made for dangerous and harsh conditions, leading to many of the men to catch diseases.
By the 1900s, the introduction of steam-powered machines made transportation much easier, and the invention of the chainsaw made felling trees faster and less laborious. Today, there is an entire arsenal of tools and machines at the logger’s disposal, and it’s important for us to look back at the industry from time to time to see how our predecessors handled the job with what was available to them.
