pit sawing

noun

a method of sawing logs or timbers, as into boards, in which the piece to be cut is laid horizontally across a pit and cut by a saw operated vertically by two people, one above and one in the pit below the piece.

Origin of pit sawing

First recorded in 1905–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pit sawing

Historical Examples of pit sawing

The Yahgans were employed on road-making, chopping, pit-sawing and other work of the hardest kind.
The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn
John R. Spears