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Old February 11, 2009, 06:48 PM   #1
bswiv
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Sawzall and hogs.....

I should have taken some pictures of this, will on the next one.

Learned a new thing, to me at least, the other day. Now I clean fish for a living, have for over 30 years. And I've cleaned a lot of stuff besides fish; everything from armidillos, gators ( We are a state licensed processor. ), snakes, turtles a couple of emus, more than a few hogs and deer and even a ostritch once. Usually have some idea what to do with it once it dead.

WIth that though I'm always open to new ideas. If it's easier or faster or results in more meat yield that the way I'm doing it now I want to know about it. I mean cleaning game is not exactly the fun part......

So the other day Rich, the brother in law, and I are getting ready to clean a hog and my buddy Don sends his wife over with a battery powered sawzall. He says that it is the cats meow, will make things "quicker" and "easier".

Now I figured it'd be more trouble than it was worth but as it was Don's sawzall that we were going to trash figured what the heck and went at it.

Well turns out it was a good idea. In about the same amount of time as it takes to carefully remove the backstrap and the tenderloin we had the ribs off, the backbone and pelvis split all the way to the neck and the neck roast cleanly removed.

Then we went at the split backbone and in no time we had about 30 chops that looked about as good as any you ever saw in Publix, even though a little smaller.

And we did not even break the saw..............

Worth a try the next animal you've got to work on.
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Old February 11, 2009, 08:49 PM   #2
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I've cleaned and cut up pleanty of hogs. I never had the equip to do it right (bone on chops and all). I was wondering about the process. The Chops you are refering to, is that the backstraps connected to the backbone, or part of the hind quarter or what? I never learned too much about what the parts were called cept for Backstraps, tenderloins and that's bout it as far as technical terms.
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Old February 11, 2009, 08:54 PM   #3
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+1; I have used it on deer and it works really well. A little messy to clean up, but the ease over a handsaw is more than worth it...
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Old February 11, 2009, 09:17 PM   #4
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The "chops" as we made them were accomplished by cutting the ribs free on both sides starting about 3 or 4 inches from the backbone. You have to adjust this based on how big the hog is. Just make sure you are a inch or so outside the backstrap when you do it.

Then split the hog right down the center of the backbone from the but to the neck. We removed the neck portion but I guess you could also do the same with it.

Then with the backbone halfs, which have the backstrap on each, we just went along and hit the bone every inch or so and finished it up clean with a knife.

Actually got more usable meat this way...........

We'll be using one a lot from now on.

Wish someone had turned my old self onto this idea sooner.
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Old February 11, 2009, 09:26 PM   #5
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Thank you sir. Now I've got something to try. Better go kill one.
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Old February 11, 2009, 09:37 PM   #6
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I did a couple deer with a buddy's sawzall. Worked like a charm. It throws a bunch of tiny bits of bone, meat and sinew but the end result was two deer processed in a shorter time frame than it usually takes to do one. I'd guess it's a good idea to clean the sawzall before the bloody crud dries.
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Old February 12, 2009, 01:48 PM   #7
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Yup.. Cleaned lots hogs using a sawzall. Split right down the backbone. When you are done cutting, rinse the spine area off really well to get the bone ships off. My family has a few sawzalls set aside just for this purpose. A big 250 pounder ( about as big as you would want to eat) can be split butt to neck in about 1 minute.
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Old February 12, 2009, 01:56 PM   #8
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What kind of blade do you use for that?

Seems like a fine tooth would be what you'd want. Maybe a metal cutting one?

I think I want to try this.
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Old February 12, 2009, 04:27 PM   #9
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A coarse blade is what I have seen used most. The finer tooth blade gets clogged faster.
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Old February 12, 2009, 04:47 PM   #10
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Dad used to do something similar.

He'd also wrap the sawzall in old plastic grocery bags to reduce the cleanup. Honestly I don't know how he kept the cooling vents clear.
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Old February 12, 2009, 11:04 PM   #11
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I would be concerned about cleaning the saw well enough to use the saw a second time.
The machines I use in a professional kitchen to cut and process meat are designed to be easily taken apart and cleaned and even then they still have a very high incidence of bacterial growth.

A regular old sawzall would have a bunch of spaces for germ food to get stuck.
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Old February 13, 2009, 12:21 AM   #12
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My brothers-in-law tried it this past moose season, a cordless with extra batteries. One of them took it out hunting, in a boat, and after shooting and gutting sawed that sucker up. It is a good idea!

Another brother used it to cut up freezer sized pieces after hanging the quarters, too easy. By-by bone saw/hacksaw, hatchet, bow saw, westling with a hundred pound+ leg, trying to find the cartillage between joints, splitting the pelvis (with a rock and knife)( not sarcastic, justa yeah we did that) etc.
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Old February 13, 2009, 04:17 AM   #13
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What is a sawzall? Anyone got a picture?
Dallas Jack

Never mind. I googled it. Neat idea.
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Old February 13, 2009, 09:28 AM   #14
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Go back 30 > or < years and the owner of a Wright Reciprocating saw would have bragging rights on getting the job done with the most sanitary power saw available.
The pneumatic wright reciprocating saw was the most coveted.

Then there were those that used their chain saw without oil and thought it good enough to split the moose down the backbone.:barf:

I will stick to boning out my game. I do miss the venison bone-in-chops
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Old February 13, 2009, 10:16 PM   #15
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Yup! Sawzall is the way to go for cutting up hogs into Cooler sized pieces...Like the man said- split the spine then cross cut into the desired pieces... Just make sure you have extra batteries if you have more than a couple to butcher...

Oh yeah, hopefully you have field dressed the hog. Then hang it up by the back legs, wash out the body cavity, skin it, then use the Sawzall...
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Old February 14, 2009, 12:20 AM   #16
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Sawzall on game..

Not sure how well this applies to hogs but..
FWIW, the State of Wyoming, which is one of many states now with Chronic Wasting Disease, heavily suggest that no one disturb nor haul any portion of the spinal system away from the kill site. That being said, it can be, if hauled to a certified landfill. With this wealth of information, i still routinely see carcasses littered about in the Wyo countryside. Pretty sad really.

So, your nifty new method of chopping them up, could lead to other issues. Worth it? I guess you will decide. For informational puposes only.......
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Old February 14, 2009, 04:38 AM   #17
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I use a Sawzall to make moose short ribs.
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Old February 14, 2009, 08:33 AM   #18
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I once cut up a wild hog with a SkilSaw. cleaned it with compressed air.
I had already split it down the back bone and had it laying on a table.
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Old February 14, 2009, 09:48 AM   #19
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I was introduced to the saws-all this last fall when I went on a buffalo hunt and the place I hunted use one to quarter and a few days latter to cut up two buf, we shot, worked great. Yea go with the coarse long blades.
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Old February 14, 2009, 03:12 PM   #20
armedtotheteeth
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here we are using a sawz all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spc2NMfGyho
the sawsall comes in about 3 minutes

Last edited by armedtotheteeth; February 14, 2009 at 03:26 PM.
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Old February 14, 2009, 07:32 PM   #21
bswiv
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We have no CWD here in Fl. And if the research I have seen is correct hogs don't get it and spread it anyway.
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Old February 15, 2009, 07:48 PM   #22
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Quote:
We have no CWD here in Fl
Probably so, and I sure hope it stays that way for you and your fellow hunters sake. Lotsa comments concerning deer family here..more pointed toward that.
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Old February 16, 2009, 06:51 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATTT
here we are using a sawz all
Oh gawd! Not the one where I used the 17 on that dead pig!
Great! Now I'm gonna get ribbed over that again.
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Old February 16, 2009, 07:21 PM   #24
armedtotheteeth
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yeah, you ruined 1 tablespoon of meat with that damned pistol.
"I did a perfectly good head shot, and you Shot it in the shoulder , with a pistol, from 8 feet"
Kinda like the old man in Harlem nights with the snub 38, after all the tommy guns goin nuts.
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