30 Lansdowne Drive Rayleigh, Essex SS6 9AL, England
Having just seen a copy of your GEM I was intrigued to see the
brief article on page 9, July 1994 issue, (29/7/19B), about the
Ottawa Buzz Master.
I thought you might be interested in my own similar, but
probably more lethal, machine, a Lane and Whittaker Ltd.
‘Treehog’, of early 1950s vintage.
When I first acquired it, I couldn’t believe such a crude
and dangerous ma chine was ‘true to life,’ so I went to the
Patent Office in London to search it out. Sure enough, there it
was: No. 722, 874.B.S.A. engine (Villiers in patent drawings),
420cc, 24′ blade.
The patents make interesting reading: ‘The appliance thus
constructed can be wheeled forwards with the saw horizontal to cut
through any bush or growth of any nature, or even cut grass [!] in
view of the high speed of rotation of the circular saw. The
appliance can be used for felling trees as it can be applied to the
tree trunk with the saw horizontal. When the tree has been felled,
the plane of the saw can be adjusted for splitting the tree whilst
on the ground and sawing the same into small pieces.
‘The appliance can be used for trimming the sides and tops
of hedges. ..’.
Apparently a guard was fitted to protect the operator from
flying debris, although it is not shown on the patent drawings.
There are two vacant lugs on mine.
Oddly, the machine is ‘out of balance,’ and despite
there being a stand at the back end, it will tip onto the blade if
let go. One could imagine it behaving like a puppy chasing its
tail!
The boots shown in photos are ‘props.’ I show them with
the saw, suit ably painted, which causes some amusement with Joe
Public.
Mindful of the reaction of a Health and Safety official on a
rally site, if I dared demonstrate it, it is not used, though I did
give it a very tentative try-out at home, on some grass, no
trees!