Barber chair

[hseII]

It's amazing how easy bitternut hickory will split. I split one length ways once just by dropping the log from the logarch to the ground.
The first tree I chaired was a 24" beech which smashed my P45, but that was in 1985 before I new what a dutchman was. Lol

How about a Dutchwoman?


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[Gypo Logger]

How about a Dutchwoman?


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I can't think of a good comeback.

 

[Gypo Logger]

This guy was extremely lucky!

 

[VW Splitter]

This is a heavy leaning sycamore tree I recently cut while doing some volunteer disaster relief work in Gatlinburg TN after the recent wild fire. The tree was leaning, 90 to 100' tall, and had been 54" in dia. It was hollow up the middle and 2/3 of the base was rotten/burnt/gone. I'm an electrician by trade, not a logger. I have learned a lot from this site, reading books, and watching videos. I had to really think hard on this before I cut it. It needed to miss some power lines and not damage two other nearby trees. It went within 10' of the way I was aiming it. The stump measured 54" one way by 12' + or - the other way.

 

[svk]

This is a heavy leaning sycamore tree I recently cut while doing some volunteer disaster relief work in Gatlinburg TN after the recent wild fire. The tree was leaning, 90 to 100' tall, and had been 54" in dia. It was hollow up the middle and 2/3 of the base was rotten/burnt/gone. I'm an electrician by trade, not a logger. I have learned a lot from this site, reading books, and watching videos. I had to really think hard on this before I cut it. It needed to miss some power lines and not damage two other nearby trees. It went within 10' of the way I was aiming it. View attachment 550131 The stump measured 54" one way by 12' + or - the other way.

Impressive work there considering how little you were given to start with!

 

[Westboastfaller]

This guy was extremely lucky!

There are those that prevent things for happenings, those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and the ones that just say...
WTF just happened.

So WTF did just happen? Comments everyone.

That's an intense explosion.

 

[Gypo Logger]

There are those that prevent things for happenings, those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and the ones that just say...
WTF just happened.

So WTF did just happen? Comments everyone.

That's an intense explosion.

My guess is that the tree had vertical fractures in the trunk, possibly due to lightning.

 

[turnkey4099]

Thank you sir! Here's a good chair from 4 years ago. Hickory that split 25 feet up. Was around 30" on the stump. It had a lightning scar on the one side that I didn't see. I couldn't saw fast enough once it started opening up.

I was nearly killed/maimed by a 4 ft white oak six years ago. I ran about 15ft turned around and saw it coming back over the stump. I then turned to run and tripped and quickly pulled myself ahead. The slab landed inches from my foot. It had come 20ft back over the stump. I had bore cut it and had lost track of of my cuts and was in a hurry. I was using a short bar at the time.


View attachment 550028

That is exactly what my first barber chair lookedlike, even almost the same size. Every thing was fine, notch, back cut, walking away when I heard the pop. It even started falling normally but chaired when the undercut closed up - my mistake, I cut too thin of a wedge

 

[derwoodii]

this brave bloke used straps 100 foot up to hold a leaning decayed trunk together as he dismantles it "sphincter"

 

[Woody912]

This guy was extremely lucky!

I thought that tree looked like a pending disaster from the first frame!

 

[bitzer]

There are those that prevent things for happenings, those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and the ones that just say...
WTF just happened.

So WTF did just happen? Comments everyone.

That's an intense explosion.

At 36 seconds he looks at the camera. His mind is not fully on task. He's more worried about the film. Shortly after he should have realized there was something wrong. I have no experience with Doug fir but I'm pretty sure if I did I would have known what was up with the tree when I put the face in. If not then as soon as I started the back cut. In species that I know I can tell things are happening pretty quickly. At that point he should have re-evaluated how he was going to cut it up instead of trying to race the back cut for the camera. There are those that take a guy by surprise but there are those that can be taken. My forester sent me this video months ago with the caption, " well your day wasn't as bad as this guys".

 

[NSMaple1]

this brave bloke used straps 100 foot up to hold a leaning decayed trunk together as he dismantles it "sphincter"

Holy crap.

There's no way I would be that high in the air on anything - let alone that high in the air on that, doing that.

(That looked like more than 100 feet - eesshhh....)

 

[bitzer]

It's amazing how easy bitternut hickory will split. I split one length ways once just by dropping the log from the logarch to the ground.
The first tree I chaired was a 24" beech which smashed my P45, but that was in 1985 before I new what a dutchman was. Lol

Yep. It was a shagbark in the picture but really the same difference. Hickory is by far the worst splitting tree. Followed by white oak and then ash.

 

[firefighter938]

this brave bloke used straps 100 foot up to hold a leaning decayed trunk together as he dismantles it "sphincter"

That's an awesome video. Give those guys credit! I also feel sorry for that climber, having to walk around all the time with balls that big.

 

[hardpan]

I didn't. I was handed a saw one day and was told put a notch in where you want it to fall. Then I was left alone for the week to clear a few acres of some big nasty box elder. Day two I had a 4ft boxelder explode on me. It was like lightning. Maybe the scariest thing that had happened to me up to that point. I never told anyone. I started reading some books and eventually started watching YouTube when guys started putting tree cutting videos up. I tried different ways to manipulate the hinge in order to manipulate the tree. I also started quietly reading and learning and posting here. 90 percent of my learning had been at the stump. Instincts play a big role. Not everyone has them.

I can't say much for your employer that first week. His wife must have been the insurance investigator for the company. LOL.
Your instincts and desire to learn a better way have kept you alive and healthy.

I REALLY like that method for cutting leaners, better than a coos bay. You can better keep track of the hinge width on the opposite side and the back cut will not wander too high or too low in respect to the face cut as often happens (to me) with bigger trees. The back cut is easier to control with a shorter bar. The bore is only half of the tree width so it is faster. I have a question, what makes your decision to sometimes bore out the heartwood, entered from the face cut?

 

[hseII]

Yep. It was a shagbark in the picture but really the same difference. Hickory is by far the worst splitting tree. Followed by white oak and then ash.

I did not know White Oak was in the mix: I've been really fortunate.
All the White Oak I've fooled with, I can't remember ever chairing one.

Popular is the main Chair prone tree around here, but I will certainly be more cautious with White Oak & Hickory from now on.

Thank You.


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[hseII]

I can't think of a good comeback.

No Ill will here, just ribbing you a bit.

How's the weather today over there?


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[Gypo Logger]

I just wanted to add that the lower the tree is cut to the ground, the less susceptible it may be to chairing as the grain there is much tougher as anyone knows how hard it is to split a stump piece with an axe.
In the video I posted, if only the feller had dragged in a 36' chain and a load binder up and over the mountain, he could have saved that glorified snag. Lol.

 

[hseII]

I just wanted to add that the lower the tree is cut to the ground, the less susceptible it may be to chairing as the grain there is much tougher as anyone knows how hard it is to split a stump piece with an axe.
In the video I posted, if only the feller had dragged in a 36' chain and a load binder up and over the mountain, he could have saved that glorified snag. Lol.

HaHaHa.


Those Ratchet Straps we spoke of earlier are lighter, much lighter, & do the job: you were using them when I was still in diapers, so I'd venture a guess that you already know this.



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[Gypo Logger]

No Ill will here, just ribbing you a bit.

How's the weather today over there?


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It's been minus 30 or more everyday since New Years, but supposed to be raining by saturday.
I haven't been in the bush for over a month now.