A rotor link attached to a debarking cylinder. An open link is attached to the rotor link and a chain is attached to the open link. The open link must be rotated forward in the direction of rotation of the debarking cylinder so that a flat area of the rotor link is presented adjacent the open area of the open link. This makes it less likely that the link will be disengaged by random movement of the chain during a debarking operation. Thus, individual chains can be removed without removal of the attachment rod and all the chains on the cylinder. A second chain may be attached to the open link through a similar series of translational and rotational movements.