This is how they trim powerlines in my neighborhood. -- Hal

That is different. It's also expensive!

Not necessarily. That chopper can trim trees a lot higher up than can a boom truck. That makes for less power outages, and less repair trips. And it's faster too. They said they can get 5-6 miles a day.

Hal

You for sure wouldn't want to be texting and driving while doing that

They close the roads and stop traffic when the helicopter is near. A clean-up tree trimming crew and a line repair crew stay at hand at all times.

The first time they tried this a few years ago, they didn't send a line repair crew. When (not if) they knocked down a line, or shorted a transformer, the crew had to come all the way from town to fix it. Then, to add insult to injury, the crew would go back to town to wait on the next mishap. Figure 45 minutes to get there and 45 minutes to get back, plus repair time. Do that three or four times a day, and we were without electricity for quite a few hours per day.

Like I said, now they follow along with a repair crew.

Hal

I guess I'm puzzled on how this thing works. It looks like something I run down the barrels of my long guns. Does this thing cork screw on a solid shaft? Rotating head on the end? Chain saws on the end?? Describe please.

Frank.

What appears to be a corkscrew is actually a series of round saw blades like you might find in a table saw. They work it with an up and down motion as they inch forward.

Hal

Here's a close up.

Wow! Pretty slickery. Ten blades around two feet in diameter. Definitely a tool of 'mass destruction'. Is the up-down motion actuated by a gizmo in the plane to yo-yo the cutters, or does the pilot control the chopper to do it? Either way I can see where repair crews are necessary on site.

Thanks, Frank.

Four or 5 years ago they had one of those contraptions here in this valley. Not sure, it was here for 2 or 3 weeks? They kept the thing parked on one of the farms that I trap, just as a place to refuel and do maintence.

The landowner (Sam) talked to the pilot, several times. Sam said the secret to how the thing works is the rpm's and the "set" in the saw blades. They cut across my granddad's farm, the sawdust was big, rough chunks.

Sam told me that the "chopper's" power unit was a snowmobile engine. I never did get to see it up close cutting. I did watch the pilot trim the brush up over one ridge, he was off about a half mile, but I could see the brush/tree limbs falling with the naked eye.

It didn't take very long until he was out of sight. Next time they come around I'll stop and inspect that gizmo. But figure, 10 blades running high rpm's, that's a lot of momentum.