Haironyourchest

The main damage will be from boots going up the slopes while dragging - lot of to and fro.

If you seriously going to confront and damage these guys, would be wise to invest in a polycarbonate riot shield in addition your bludgeon of choice. Chances are they have legs of lamb or similar too.... A shield with a super bright strobing LED attached to it (pointing at them, obviously) would be good.

...well, yes. Enough genetic material to identify the species that comprised the last couple of meals, at any rate!

Arbtalk: the genteel gentleman-arborist's club. Another brandy my good man!

Arboristsite - a rowdy gang of drunken rednecks with a penchant for word-games, crude jokes and vendettas. Not for the thin skinned...Or under 16's. The Forestry Forum - a bunch of tight-assed Old-Order Amish, knowledgeable but easily offended and quick to shun newcomers. The Tree House - friendly hippies. Treebuzzz - those crazy buzzed-out kids!

Beautiful stuff - should have its own plinth in the "20th century inventions hall of fame!"

I don't know, but we have a pool system here that will provide compensation from damage inflicted by uninsured drivers - I don't know about unidentified individuals though. You have to jump through hoops, apparently, but your legal fees are covered, so thats good.

If there is something on the CCTV would be very interesting to see it.

Or maybe I should seek help for my meme dependancy....

Easy to do, but who would buy the saw? A kickback to the neck wouldn't have to be a running chain to be lethal, just the impact alone could kill, I should think. What you said about mindfulness when making the cut seems to be the whole crux of the issue -as a power tool user for many years, can safely say all power tools are dangerous, they all have their intrinsic mechanical forces and probable injury modes. Mindfulness is the only way to protect ourselves, there is no other way - not ppe (ok, maybe the plate armour) not gadgets - its really all up the the operator. Think ahead, visualise, be casutious when caution is needed, and decisive when it's call for. Top handle saw is just a power tool like any other, it has potential to kick back, fall through etc.

Maybe, but can't hurt....

Just in case anyone out there decides to build their own Alaskan, there's a detail you need to get right. We had our one welded up 20 years ago by a local guy, I think it was the first one he did, and dad and grandad used it a fair bit at the beginning. I think they must have always been milling with blunt chains because recently I dug it out of the shed to plank up some Brazilian walnut baulks, and, as before on the few occasions I have used it, I ran into the same old problem. The bolts that clamp the mill to the bar are too close to the teeth. When the saws at full revs, the centrifugal forces cause the top side of the chain to lift out of the top of the bar groove a bit - enough to contact the bolt and spark. Its been the bane of my life, I keep promising myself I will modify the thing to work properly, but haven't got round to it. I can mill without knackering the teeth, but only on half throttle, its a real pain... Unless the chain is really tight, this always happens. I like to run my chains at the proper tension, not too tight - especially on a three foot bar. Out local veteran chainsaw miller slacks his so much (when milling) it hangs off the bar. So here's a visual diagram of the problem. I know the solution - just weld extensions onto the clamps. Just putting this out there, for all the lurkers and guys who might be buying or building Alaskans. If our pro-welder got it wrong, there's a good chance you might as well.....

Stihl HP Ultra at 40:1 = never worry about it again (if your machines have not already been damaged - remove exhaust muffler and check cylinder bore for scratches)

- and chuck a couple of fake skeletons in there as well!

I think a sheathed wire rope backup, slightly looser than the main bridge, so there is never any friction to speak of on it, would work perfectly. It would run parallel with the main dyneema bridge. If you wanted a one-stop no nonsense bridge, a curved stainless steel rod could replace the dyneema, still allow for twisting body movement and be indestructible. Now would have to replace the aluminium ring with steel though, probably.

(Its friday night, and the beers are evident!) I like the idea. I have a tree motion as well, and the dyneema bridge is rugged as hell, but will easily be cut by a blade or chain, especially if its under tension - I speak from experience cutting my 250 euro dyneema winch rope - the saw went through it like butter. Very very strong in tension, stronger than steel even, but offers no resistance to a bladed article. What about backing up with a thin plastic sheathed wire rope? That should stop a saw, maybe not at full revs, but I reckon it would withstand a nick.

Takjaa, you seriously need to make or acquire a mod for that arm - to accept a silky saw blade! Just bumping this thread again (it hasn't been asleep too long) after I stumbled on these guys - three young tree climbers they been putting out a podcast. Might be old hat to the experienced guys, but for fellers starting out could be worth a listen - I enjoyed them anyway. [ame] [/ame]

Manchineel. Guinness World Record holder of "most dangerous tree in the world". Probably won't grow outdoor in the UK though. What about thorn trees with loose barb wire reinforcement?

Capstan winch?

Misread the thread title - thought I read "Jagger Dead Again". Blinked and looked again - more surprised than the first time!

If the chain heats up when in use, like if the teeth are blunt (not a problem with my saws) it will stretch and you then tighten the chain. When the chain cools, it shrinks and puts mad stress on the bearing. Thats the theory anyway.

(To quote a famous Kazakh) "Chain should hang like sleeve of wizard - high fiiive!"

Not slacking the chain when putting the saws away, and/or over-tightening generally. Tight chains make Baby Jesus cry.

Yeah you're dead right, but around here it's a bit different, hard to explaine but neighbours are friends and friends are neighbours kind of deal. A lot of people I know help each other out with labour on different jobs, contribute our gear etc. And some are very generous when it comes to lending their stuff..it can get political if you know what mean. I'm getting hairier as time goes by though.

Leopard print or zebra stripe?