It takes HP to move the chain, easy 1/2 a horse just for the accelerations to make the chain go round at full speed. Then add friction, the longer the bar the more friction there is [snip]
I hate to be a newbie arguing with a master, but...
Technically, no power is going into accelerating the chain once it has reached a steady speed. Think of it in terms of energy - the sum of the kinetic energy of the entire chain when it is running at a certain speed is a constant - no energy needs to be put into the chain to maintain speed, except for friction. Friction occurs between the links and the bar, and between each link.
Is the :newbie: right?