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WOODCHOPPING

   

2010 Woodchop line up now over TWO DAYS, SATURDAY 27TH and SUNDAY 28TH March.

Woodchop events will be held from 10:00am in the Woodchop Arena. Contestants are members of the NSW Axemen's Association, who compete regularly at agricultural shows throughout NSW. The competition is set to be a callenging and exciting display of talent.

 Standing Block

Standing block, where the axeman stands and swings at a log level with his or her shoulders

 Underhand & Junior Underhand  

Underhand, where the log is horizontal, and the axeman stands on it, swinging the axe between his or her feet

 Treefelling

Tree felling, where the block to be cut is vertical, but on top of a pole, so the axeman must first position some planks (usually three) in narrow cuts made in the pole, climb and stand on the highest plank whilst chopping through the log.

 Double Handed Saw

Double Handed Saw, where a team of two use the long saw in a race against other teams to cut a slice of the horizontal log.

Handicap & Championship

Many wood chopping events are handicap events, where the axemen start at different times, depending how fast they are expected to chop through the log.

Handicap events may use logs of 250 mm to 350 mm, depending on the skill of the competitors. All competitors have the same size log, the handicap is based purely on time.

Championship events are scratch events with no handicap, and typically use larger diameter logs (375 mm).

Entry Form and further information is available at the following link.

2010 Woodchop

HISTORY OF WOODCHOPPING IN AUSTRALIA

An excerpt from an interview with George Negus, George Negus Tonight - Broadcast 6.30pm on 31/05/2004.
ABC - http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1119675.htm

Bill Youd, 10 Times World Champion Axeman

"We owe a lot to the old pioneers of the bush. I think that's where our original sport started from. It was the pioneers of the bush that learnt to read the timber, learnt to sharpen their tools, their axes and their crosscut saws, because that's the only tools they had in those days. They were gifted men. They knew the trade. They knew the timber. They were a tough lot, because they would have had to have worked big hours, probably eight hours a day. And eight hours a day on a crosscut saw or an axe is...is pretty hard work. They had to be very efficient so that they could do the job as quick as possible. You can imagine a tree of this size how long it would take. To put a face cut in with the axe and then crosscut it down would take most of the day.

The first competition woodchop was dated back to 1870. It was a wager between two bushmen. One reckoned he was better than the other, and they had this race to see who was the best. And it was reportedly for £5. And in 1870, £5 would have been a lot of money. So, er, you know, it's, er...that is how it originated. And in 1970 they had 100 years to commemorate that occasion."