Yikes! I've had a couple of them over the years, scary stuff.
This one a real heavy lean, standing dead but stiff strong but very brittle:
never said you were perfect lol, but you do show humility which is more often a sign of competence, Claiming to have never made a mistake is red flags in my book.@northmanlogging @catbuster - Need to reevaluate my ash falling qualifications. Yesterday:
Rotate the picture to the left until the trees in the background are vertical to get a better perspective of the actual lean of this storm downed ash. View attachment 981877
I stuck my cutting buddy's prized 1010S while trying to make a small face. I went about freeing it with his similarly prized PM800 with an intent to make a deep face to give more momentum with the hope to clear the 1010S and to make room for a wedge to hold the cut open until the 800 was out of the cut - stuck the 800 while reaching for a wedge - I cut too far and I moved too slow. Oddly (and thankfully) while trying unsuccessfully to wedge the 800 free, the 1010S became loose enough to extract. That event was just a ploy to entice me to proceed - the tree rolled during the back cut and stuck a third saw. No damage to the saws. My swelled ego was deflated a bit.
This ash was sound. I also noted three other fair size ash leafing out. All in the same small area. Hopefully the EAB overlooked them.
Happy Easter,
Ron
The ones I did in Kentucky were a mix of standing dead with a little integrity and just a decomposed punk tree. They both scare me a bit. But at least with the "punky" ones the chance of a barber chair are less when using "standard" technique as the hinge just breaks & doesn't propagate a crack at the back edge. I do remember years back a "punk" tree broke about 30ft up and folded back at me as the tree went down. A wake up moment. The ones with a little integrity are the worst for me, brittle so the complete hinge is a recipe for a Barber chair as when the tree goes and the hinge bends then at the back "edge" it pulls and can start the fracture that goes right up the tree. Took once or twice experiencing that to both brown the shorts and start changing until I came up with what i do. Take away was too much hinge = issue about to happen on Ash and even hickory. Fortunately then I was still quick enough to survive ( Note I think in a couple of my video you could see the effect with too much root flare, same thing happens in the middle of the tree if the hinge is there and thick where it has enough stiffness to "pop" the tree )
Ron... .
I recently cut this one with the lean. First movement and the top (in the foreground) broke off about 15' up; it landed just feet from the stump leaving a stem that I had to wedge over.
View attachment 955303
Ron
"Hopefully the EAB overlooked them."@northmanlogging @catbuster - Need to reevaluate my ash falling qualifications. Yesterday:
Rotate the picture to the left until the trees in the background are vertical to get a better perspective of the actual lean of this storm downed ash. View attachment 981877
I stuck my cutting buddy's prized 1010S while trying to make a small face. I went about freeing it with his similarly prized PM800 with an intent to make a deep face to give more momentum with the hope to clear the 1010S and to make room for a wedge to hold the cut open until the 800 was out of the cut - stuck the 800 while reaching for a wedge - I cut too far and I moved too slow. Oddly (and thankfully) while trying unsuccessfully to wedge the 800 free, the 1010S became loose enough to extract. That event was just a ploy to entice me to proceed - the tree rolled during the back cut and stuck a third saw. No damage to the saws. My swelled ego was deflated a bit.
This ash was sound. I also noted three other fair size ash leafing out. All in the same small area. Hopefully the EAB overlooked them.
Happy Easter,
Ron
We perhaps should not start with an intentional swing dutchman lol. Dent is the man for tricky felling and potential vertical conifer hazards.D. Douglas Dent, The Art of Timber Falling, though its book form and getting harder to source as Mr. Dent has unfortunately vacated this plane.
or easier to get Work Safe BC's course on timber falling, it should be available on the YouTube.
First, I don't consider myself an "expert" qualified to really teach anything, just someone who has dealt with this unique situation and developed a plan that has worked for decades. Had some nasty surprises along the way as well....ended up doing this:
I've been felling ash like that for years and years Two things I do is first ignore the experts who have never done much of them and resort to test book answers designed for pine and healthy hardwoods. That will get u hurt. First I clean the root flares, I do a face cut 10-15 percent of the tree diameter, I bore cut from the face taking out at least 2/3rds of the hinge and take out as much of the heart as I can from the front but don't break thru to the sides or back just yet. REASON is too much hinge promotes the barber chair. So less is better but absolutely need ENOUGH to direct the tree.. It's a balance only experience can give. I then bore cut from the side (sides if its a larger than 30 inch tree ) in the "game of logging" style leaving just enough hinge to direct the tree and a little hold wood in the back so the tree doesn't go just yet. Using this "game of logging approach allows you to carefully and thoughtfully bore cut and "size" the hinges before releasing the tree, a critical point as yet again too much hinge promotes the barber chain and too little is dangerous. On the large "dead" sometime add a wedge during that process so the tree doesn't "crush" and pinch your saw. Step back...evaluate, make damn sure u have a clear escape route away from where things might come tumbling down from the dead branches above. Once the escape plan is internalized, release the tree and escape...fast.
I'll post a couple of videos that kind of show what I've been doing and one in particular shows why
First Here were some I did last weekend that were barber chairs wanting to happen:
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