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Started scoring whole hogs down the spine before breaking them and it cut my time on the saw by half
For 12 years I broke hogs by running straight through the ribcage on the bandsaw, which meant fighting the blade the whole way and burning through blades every couple weeks. A retired butcher from a shop up in Modesto showed me his way last fall: score down both sides of the spine first, pop the backbone with a cleaver, then the saw glides through. Took me about 6 hogs to get the feel for it but now a 250 pound carcass that took 20 minutes takes me closer to 9. Blade life has stretched out to almost 2 months now and the cuts come out cleaner with way less bone dust. Seems like most of the newer guys I train have never even seen it done this way. Any of you still splitting hogs with a saw only, or is this the standard where you're at?
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scott.mia25d ago
My uncle ran a small shop in Tulare for 30 years and that spine scoring trick was the first thing he drilled into me back in 2011. We used a 10 inch breaking knife to score both sides then a 6 pound cleaver to knock the backbone loose before it ever touched the saw. The key is getting your score lines deep enough to hit the channel but not so deep you nick the loins, about a half inch on either side of the spine works for most 250 to 280 pound hogs. Once that backbone is popped the saw just falls through, no pushing, no heat buildup, and your blades last way longer because you're not cooking the teeth on solid spine. I've trained maybe 15 guys over the years and every single one fights it at first because they want to muscle the saw through everything. Give them 5 or 6 hogs and they never go back. Your Modesto guy did you a solid, that method is the norm in every decent shop I've worked in up and down the valley.
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