At that time, yew wood was not considered suitable for making utensils. The only thing it was thought fit for was to be burnt to make charcoal. But big yews left standing in the forests were put to another use: with their well-developed root systems, they could be used as anchoring points when moving timber: steel cables would be run around them to haul together the logs from felled trees.
若說當時成不了大器的紅豆杉還有點作用，就是被當薪炭木燒掉；留在林地的紅豆杉大樹，則為人作嫁，由於根系發達，常被利用來作集材柱﹘﹘以鋼索將伐倒的木材集中時，就以紅豆杉作為支撐點。