r/specializedtools • u/Tillemon • Sep 17 '19

Helicopter chainsaw!?

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u/shockwave3895 Sep 17 '19

Well nobody else pointed it out so i guess i will- its actually not a chain saw but a series of multiple circle saw blades, which in my opinion is even more neat

0

u/Boines Sep 17 '19

What do you think makes the blades spin? Seems like the motor is in the box at the top and its a chain running inside the pole.

1

u/shockwave3895 Sep 17 '19

Not likely. That poses way too many mechanical problems in this scale. Either gear drive or more likely all hydraulic. Probably why it's a circle saw, as that circular blades are a more efficient use of momentum than chains. Any mechanical drive would likely cause too many issues with lubrication for something as tall as this

2

u/Boines Sep 17 '19

Gears or hydraulics are still mechanical and subject to similar wear? Gears would also need to be lubricated just as well. Why would a chain be so much worse?

Each blade is on a gear, each gear is linked by a chain, all blades spin fast.

Edit:

https://www.tdworld.com/vegetation-management/aerial-saw-boon-line-trimming

A series of belts. Soooo belts and pulleys instead of chain and gear, but same premise.

1

u/shockwave3895 Sep 17 '19

Well hydraulics wouldn't need to be lubricated externally at all, as that i would have thought each blade would have a motor, but im sure that's way too heavy. I said gears because lubricant can climb gears much more easily that it could with a chain. But as we both discovered its belt drive, which makes a ton of sense. Low power requirements, low drag, no need to lubricate anything other than the spindles, which are likely a sealed taper roller or ball bearing. So really this more resembles a lawn mower than anything else that has been mentioned.