I remember you posting about that, I hope you have now recovered. That barber chair I posted here had all the appearance of a sound tree but It had dry rotted on one side at the base. wbf had me questioning my memory, so I looked at it today - no bypassing cuts, it just broke. Maybe if I had cut faster, just maybe, I could have prevented it. Today's pictures will show why I leave the stump so quickly when cutting ash.
First ash today - felled about 30* off the lean to put it in the road where intended with no collateral damage. Despite small branches at the top which gave the appearance of a dying ash, the top folded back. All of that debris in the road is from the ash.
View attachment 958500
Second ash of the day also felled about 30* off the lean to put it in the road with no collateral damage. It looked very similar to the first one (now underneath the second), but its top stayed in place though exploding upon impact. Yes, I ditched the 500i.
View attachment 958504
Third ash of the day - clearly dead. It fell where intended, but what was left of the top folded back putting 2" limbs at the stump and just past the stump, right where I had been standing. Every limb in the foreground is off that tree.
View attachment 958511
The third tree also had a little surprise. This 6" fork fell about thirty feet in front of the stump after I took the stump picture and had gather my stuff - easily a minute later.
View attachment 958518
The third tree was not on my list for today. I just came upon it while scouting the road situation. It taught me another lesson. As an afterthought, I took the saw with me on my scout. I had my cap on and didn't realize that I wasn't wearing my hard hat until it was too late. Sure glad I had put some distance between me and the stump. I believe I will try to make it a habit from now on to leave the cap in the truck whenever falling is on the agenda.
Fourth ash of the day was also not on my list. It was about 1/3 mile down the road next to my log pile from the few trees I have skidded out so far. Nothing particularly instructive about the fourth ash. It also fell where intended. The person in the picture is one of my cutting buddies. The MAC 700 on the stump is mine that I used for fun to buck the main stem and the right fork. I used my MAC 800 to fall it. The 500i took the first three.
View attachment 958546
My point in mentioning that they fell where intended is not to say I have any particular skill; it is to say that within limits dead ash can be steered which often lessens the hazards posed. Nor am I advising that you should pound wedges in a dead ash; you should simply work with the lean/load as much as you can. None of today's ash were wedged, only the third tree had the lean/load where I wanted.
Road conditions and my fat belly kept me from getting to more ash today.
Be safe out there.
R