I love these old machines because they help you to see how far we have come. At one time, this was probably the easiest/least expensive way to split wood. Back in the day, people had to get jobs done how ever possible. I am sure as dangerous as it may look, people were more careful. We must also remember that people had less to distract them from their job at hand. No ipod in their ears, no phone ringing, no text message alert.
I can't help but laugh while thinking of a story my grandfather told me: He was working for the railroad and he controlled the pump used to pump water to the steam engines. It was a one cylinder engine but had two 8 foot tall flywheels. To crank it, he would roll the flywheels over by walking inside of one of them, (think hampster in exercise wheel) until the engine would fire and he would jump out. While it worked well then, I am sure OSHA and/or any other safety organization would have a fit over such a thing now.
