A NEW STEAM TREE-FELLER. 127 



ere the stately, handsome tree was brought safely, undamaged 

 and undamaging, to the horizontal. The need for some 

 mechanical means of felling has long been felt. This need has 

 been met in a most satisfactory form by the Ransome Patent 

 Steam Tree-Feller, which has been most successfully used in 

 Scotland during the last six months, by the firm of Messrs Hugh 

 Campbell & Sons, Doune, Perthshire. 



The machine, which weighs about 4 cwts., consists of a steam 

 cylinder of small diameter, having a long stroke, attached to a 

 light wrought-iron frame upon which it is arranged to pivot on 

 its centre, the pivoting motion being controlled by a hand wheel 

 turning a worm which gears into a quadrant cast on the back of 

 the cylinder. The saw is fixed direct to the end of the piston 

 rod, which is made to travel in a true line by guides, and the 

 teeth of the saw are of such a form as to cut only during the 

 inward stroke. Steam is supplied at a high pressure from a 

 portable boiler through a strong flexible steam-pipe 120 feet 

 long, which enables a considerable area to be felled without it 

 being necessary to shift the boiler. 



In operation the tree-feller is placed on the ground close to the 

 tree, and is held fast by a strong screw to a trident-pointed bar, 

 which is driven firmly into the tree at the ground level under the 

 saw, by a few blows of a sledge-hammer. The saw is steadied 

 by hand for the first few strokes, until it is buried in the tree, 

 when wedges are driven into the tree to prevent the saw being 

 pinched, and to help to throw the tree in the desired direc- 

 tion. 



The actual time for cutting of oak logs averaging 30 inches in 

 diameter is from three to four minutes, while oak trees 48 inches 

 in diameter (the full capacity of the machine) have been cut in 

 less than ten minutes, the trees being all sawn off practically at 

 the ground level. It is also a distinct advantage that the tree- 

 feller will cut through the tree from right to left, or from left to 

 right, as desired, by turning the saw upside down in its socket 

 so that the teeth face in the desired direction. 



By shifting the cylinder into a cross-cutting frame, the logs 

 can be quickly cut to the required lengths, and many of the 

 large limbs can be cut off neatly close to the trunk. 



The cost of the machine in September 1915, including' cross- 

 cutting frame, four saws, and 120 feet flexible steam-hose was 

 jQ()0, but the makers' prices will probably now be much higher. 



