Kickback doesn't really change between them. If you are looking for a great explanation on how it occurs and general safety, search for Dan Tilton chainsaw safety on KZfaq. It's from the early 80's and goes for an hour but there is a lot of incredibly good information in the video. Even watching what I did here, you can see my left thumb resting on the handle instead of being wrapped around. Thats a bad habit I picked up somewhere over the years and I need to think about it when using a saw to stop myself doing it. Power wise, it's a bit of a wash. Full chisel is doing more work in a pass clearing the fibres in go, semi has a few bites at the wood to achieve the same thing. FC needs more power but is also more efficient, so it balances out. For the work you're doing I would stay with the semi. All of this is a bit of a hobby for me now, when I was making money running a saw, all I ran was semi chisel because I spent more time cutting wood and less time sharpening chains. The cutting speed shown here has more to do with throwing horsepower at the problem than the chain.

Hi@@SawChainTheories Thank you very much for the reply, appreciated! Yes I looked up that beast, almost 90cc. I've still got the better part of 4 loops semi chisel to use up before I need to worry about new chain. I decided on Carlton semi chisel years ago after reading the experienced experimental advice of someone called Laurie in Qld. Since getting a Stihl FG2, sharpening has generally become a pleasure, though it still takes some time to do 4 loops @ 40 teeth each. Found the Dan Tilton video, have saved it. Breakfast is done, back to doing things, will watch Dan on breaks through the day. Cheers sincerely d