Measuring stick? I lay my forearm on the log - from my elbow to the tips of my fingers is right about 18 inches. I usually lay my forearm, lift back up and mark real quick with the saw. Can mark out all my cuts on the main trunk of a tree in 2 minutes that way.
My family always cuts them where they fall. We start with the downed ones, then start dropping the dead ones if we need more wood.
Start at the top of the tree, take the brush and crown off, then start working on the limbs. Work on the loose ones first, and be careful when limbing the ones under pressure....they are usually holding the main trunk off the ground. Its an art to take them out in the right sequence so that you don't bind your saw, and roll the trunk wrong (onto yourself).
When you get some good logs cut off the branches, use these to help buck up the main trunk off the ground. As you cut more logs off the main trunk and forks the tree will drop onto these logs that you lay under the main trunk, making it alot easier to continue cutting without having to move the tree or worry about touching the ground with your saw.
If for some reason you wind up with the trunk on the ground, (it just happens sometimes) make sure you level out the saw as you approach the bottom of the log (and the ground). It takes awhile to get the feeling of it, but I can often cut a log so close to all the way without actually passing through, that I can just give the log a swift kick and it pops the rest of the way off. When the final trunk gets to less than 6-8ft (oak, 35-40" diameter), I can often roll it over with a good shove, and finish the rest of my cut through's with a quick zip.
We have a home made wooden carry-all with short sides for the tractor. Its good for bringing in the saws and gas and hauling out the firewood. I can usually put 3 40"x18" cut logs on it at a time and drive them out to our splitting spot. Its amazing where a 2wd tractor will go with AG tires and working steer brakes. I can get to spots that ATV's have trouble getting, just stay in the low gears and don't freak when the front wheels come off the ground. The carry-all acts like a wheelie bar, lower it if the front end gets too high, and steer with the brakes.
If we get 4 of us working at the same time, it gets super efficient. Dad and I with saws get a tree down and started, then I get on the tractor and start hauling cut logs over to the splitting area at the edge of the woods, and 2 people start on the cut logs with the hydraulic splitter. Dad keeps the the cut wood going, I use the tractor to keep the splitter fed. We can average about a cord an hour this way. That's cut, hauled, split and stacked.
My entire extended family burns wood for heat. 4 households go through about 12 cords a winter or so. But if at least 4 of us get together to work on the wood piles, we can get it all done in about 3-4 afternoons throughout the fall and winter. Its one of my favorite past-times when the weather gets cold...always reminds me of doing the same with grandpa when he was alive. = )
