A while back I posted about splitting a sheep carcase and separating the chops with a 10" Tramontina. The last time I did this job I had borrowed a meat saw for cutting through various bones.
I had to kill and butcher another sheep today.... but I didn't have the meat saw.
The machete cut neatly through the sternum. I only had to push and slice it to cut through it.
I found that I could cut through the leg bones, fairly cleanly, with one swing. In the absence of a saw I could have separated the bones at the joint just using my knife, but this makes the 'roasts' a bit long to fit into my freezer bags. I was impressed.
I also found that I could cut down through the ribs while the carcase was hanging (as compared to cleaving them while sitting on a chopping block). This job can't be done with tentative strokes, you have to confidently take a sharp swing. The picture shows about eight ribs cut neatly with one stroke. I cut maybe nine or ten ribs on the other side, but I don't have a decent picture of this.
After cutting through the bones there was no obvious damage to the edge of the blade. These Tramontinas certainly seem to be excellent value for money. Other machetes may be just as good of course, but I only have my Tramontina with me on the farm where I'm currently staying.
I've also included a picture showing how I hoisted and hung the carcase to work on it. I have a 2:1 pulley arrangement using two single-sheave pulleys. I tie one leg to the lower pulley and hoist the sheep right up, then tie another fixed rope to the other leg. I then lower the pulley until the animal is hanging vertically with it's spine straight and its legs looking symmetrical..... this helps me keep things straight while splitting the body down the backbone (once again I split the backbone by batoning the machete... it works really well).
Lizzy (my dog) and I have had some good times on this farm. Lizzy used to be an 'inside' dog, but there are no places for an inside dog on this farm. She sleeps in my car and she has adapted to it. She has also found a couple of rabbits which we caught as a team. She started to eat the second one paws and all. I took it off her and skinned it just after I took this photo:
I had to kill and butcher another sheep today.... but I didn't have the meat saw.
The machete cut neatly through the sternum. I only had to push and slice it to cut through it.
I found that I could cut through the leg bones, fairly cleanly, with one swing. In the absence of a saw I could have separated the bones at the joint just using my knife, but this makes the 'roasts' a bit long to fit into my freezer bags. I was impressed.
I also found that I could cut down through the ribs while the carcase was hanging (as compared to cleaving them while sitting on a chopping block). This job can't be done with tentative strokes, you have to confidently take a sharp swing. The picture shows about eight ribs cut neatly with one stroke. I cut maybe nine or ten ribs on the other side, but I don't have a decent picture of this.
After cutting through the bones there was no obvious damage to the edge of the blade. These Tramontinas certainly seem to be excellent value for money. Other machetes may be just as good of course, but I only have my Tramontina with me on the farm where I'm currently staying.
I've also included a picture showing how I hoisted and hung the carcase to work on it. I have a 2:1 pulley arrangement using two single-sheave pulleys. I tie one leg to the lower pulley and hoist the sheep right up, then tie another fixed rope to the other leg. I then lower the pulley until the animal is hanging vertically with it's spine straight and its legs looking symmetrical..... this helps me keep things straight while splitting the body down the backbone (once again I split the backbone by batoning the machete... it works really well).
Lizzy (my dog) and I have had some good times on this farm. Lizzy used to be an 'inside' dog, but there are no places for an inside dog on this farm. She sleeps in my car and she has adapted to it. She has also found a couple of rabbits which we caught as a team. She started to eat the second one paws and all. I took it off her and skinned it just after I took this photo:
