2013 - Volume #BFS, Issue #13, Page #02
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Predator Eats Through Logs In A Second
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So far, that’s a record, says Robert Andrews, owner and builder of the 509-lb., 300-plus hp, 200-mph cutting monster.
The Enumclaw, Wash., resident built the saw after his wife asked him why he didn’t have an engine-powered saw to use at lumberjack competitions. “About $20,000 later she wondered why she said it,” Andrews laughs.
Employed as a machinist, Andrews was up to the task. He chose a 1963 Buick V-8 215 cubic inch engine because it was the lightest weight V-8.
“It was a short block all in pieces. It all had to be machined, so I custom-built it like a full-blown race engine.”
The driving mechanism is a jackshaft off a tractor. Pulleys from a dragster’s super charger drive the chain.
He purchased the biggest chainsaw chain he could – an Oregon 11H Harvester chain used in mechanized logging – and custom-built the 4-ft. bar. Running at 8,000 to 9,000 rpm’s the biggest concern is breaking a chain during a cut. “When they break they act like a bullwhip,” Andrews says. “At a Canadian competition, a 12-in. piece of chain flew 1 1/2 miles.”
Fascination with the Predator led to a four-page spread in Hot Rod magazine. As far as Andrews knows it’s the only time a chainsaw has ever been featured in the magazine.
“I’m going to keep it forever and get young strong kids to run it,” he laughs.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Andrews, P.O. Box 648, Enumclaw, Wash. 98022 (ph 360 333-3539; predatorhotsaw@hotmail.com).
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