Trimming trees with a chopper

[Raider Bill]

Interesting way to trim

http://safeshare.tv/w/sOQkWdQUyp

[mesquite buckeye]

Looks incredibly dangerous.

[ancjr]

They came by my place in 2008, I think it was.

[mad murdock]

Simex mfg out here in oregon makes that saw. It is dangerous. I would not want to be in that helicopter when the saw gets hung up. One of our ex pilots works for an outfit that does aerial rite of way trimming. He has used that saw, could not pay me enough to do that.

[mesquite buckeye]

Seems a ground based all terrain machine would work better and be safer.

[Holmes]

  GREAT  video  I did not know there is a saw like that.

[CCC4]

First time I ever saw aerial trimming I was like what the Hell is he dragging? The helis come through every couple years. I know they use them alot in and around the Boston Mtn area and over by me. The guy up the road was letting them land their saws in his pasture overnight. I stopped over one evening and checked it out a bit. Pretty neat really. I have seen some of them that would telescope down and others that had like 5 or 6 saws in a line.

One year, I think 5 years ago the heli went down while checking to see where they needed to trim. Sadly both pilots were killed.

[OH Boy]

Seems a ground based all terrain machine would work better and be safer.

In some places and cases you are correct. there are other places ( mountainous, swamps, others) where this is the most logical and cost efficient way to clear the lines. this thing can trim several miles a day in the right conditions, and some of the places it works in a day would take weeks to manually trim with a climbing crew. other places it is much more logical to use the jaraff ( ground based saw with extendable arm/ blade), but even those have drawbacks. neither of these pieces make proper trims, but the utility is always trying to balance getting the required miles cleared to meet the govt regulations and requirements, with cost, since tree crews cost a lot. Probably obvious I'm in the industry, and have worked with these. They can be very dangerous, but the guy can always find another job. My understanding is they work a month, then off a month. so pretty good pay I'm sure for working 6 mos/yr. I don't know what they make but it must be worth it to them. wouldn't be to me either. It's just another tool in the utility vegetation management toolbox, and usually only used where it's the right tool. pretty expensive, and no utility does all their clearing with the aerial saw.

[OneWithWood]

Looks like some kind of fun...until you contact one of those lines 

[JDeere]

  Gee, I complain about my insurance costs. I would hate to pay their premiums.

[Philbert]

Seems a ground based all terrain machine would work better and be safer.

These guys make something like that:

http://jarraff.com/

Pretty cool to see them work too.

Philbert

[shortlogger]

Their was a man from Indiana that nearly got killed by one of those this year . The artical is in field and stream . The guy jumped out of his treestand and the saws cut up his crossbow and treestand , it's hard to imagine that thing sneaking up on someone he must had been napping .

[beenthere]

shortlogger
I can just imagine something like that happening... would be a brutal way to go.

Hard to coordinate good communication between hunters and hired ROW clearing crews.