Felling getting better(?)

[Grey]

I felled this 14" dbh white oak today. It must have died over winter. It never leafed out it's crown this Spring. It was a moderate leaner, too. So, I decided it needed to go onto the firewood pile. Shallow and open face cut. Considered finishing with a bore cut, but the diameter was borderline for me, so I used a standard back cut.

 

[HuskStihl]

Nice even hinge. White oak will chair, and a 25% face with no supplementary methods for removing heartwood (coos bay, boring from the face), might get you into trouble if the lean is enough. I'd like to see you putting in 40-50% faces on small head leaners and getting thru the back without dilly-dallying. I'm old, however, and realize the 25-30% face with boring is the new way.

 

[Grey]

Nice even hinge. White oak will chair, and a 25% face with no supplementary methods for removing heartwood (coos bay, boring from the face), might get you into trouble if the lean is enough. I'd like to see you putting in 40-50% faces on small head leaners and getting thru the back without dilly-dallying. I'm old, however, and realize the 25-30% face with boring is the new way.

Dang, you are good! I got a little chair, but just powered through it and worked out o.k. Next time a 40% face.

 

[HuskStihl]

My personal feeling, is that if you are falling a tree, and suspect a chair is happening, I'd GTF outta there rather than "powering thru".
I'll ask some of the bigger boys (in terms of experience, not size, of course) what to do in that situation.

 

[Gologit]

Grey..."powering through" once a 'chair starts isn't a good habit to get into. On something tiny like you cut this time you might get away with it but even something that small can still hurt you.
Barberchairs don't always split straight back. They can also slab out at an angle or break off above you and drop down.
Keep at it. It takes time to figure it all out.

 

[Grey]

Thanks for the feedback. Will keep trying to learn.

 

[Grey]

Thanks for trying to help keep me out of trouble. I fully acknowledge that I'm a weekend warrior but with a open mind.

 

[treeslayer2003]

them boys nailed it, deeper face or gut the heart or both. the white oak here can be really splitty......you not real far away. bigger whites i almost always gut. your white oak bark looks different than here though the wood looks right........maybe the light.

 

[Gologit]

Thanks for the feedback. Will keep trying to learn.

If you really want to learn there's a lot of help available here.

Have you seen this? It's a good way to cut leaners. I like the triangle method...mostly 'cause I'm used to it... but either one will work if you line up your cuts properly.

 

[Grey]

@Gologit Thanks, I look forward to learning all the time. I also value my life and realize that I am not a professional and that falling trees is very dangerous business. I'll try to keep learning about leaners especially, because, that's a lot of what I have to thin out of my woods. Anything close to rotting is a "no go" for sure.

@treeslayer2003 Thanks for the feedback. Probably a "chestnut oak" Quercus prinus. That's what all the little yearlings are around the stump in the first picture. We have a lot of them here and the bark is much more furrowed than standard white oak Quercus alba.

 

[treeslayer2003]

we have both swamp and high ground chestnut oak. huge leaves and acorns. old timers used it for window and door sills for it's rot resistance.