Curious case of American Broad Axes with long handles

[Ernest DuBois]

Thank you Ernest. Straight forward, simple solution is most likely the right one!!
For some reason (maybe because of folding sawing machine) I imagined some convoluted, mechanically fancy setup that allowed to make rip cuts parallel to the ground without the need to elevate heavy timber.

With such a conception for rip sawing there is no way around some fairly complex guide system that I can think of and soon enough you'd be off defeating your own purposes trying to devise such a thing. There are staging set-ups that eliminate or at least minimize lifting, such as a pit system, something built into a slope or some combination. Otherwise incremental lifting with two or three at each end.