Dropping Standing Dead Stuff

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For those not familiar with the term "Barberchair"...
This...
254069d1348498127-oops-jpg


Is a textbook case of one...
 
:msp_ohmy::eek2:

Anyone who has been cutting for a while has had that happen to them. Yikes. It is always scary to see.
 
Run doesn't have a place in getting away from a dropping tree. Certainly don't lollygag, but running, especially with a saw in your hands isn't the best choice. It's hard to take evasive action if you're flat on your face after tripping over something you didn't see. Again, possibly just not written as it was meant.


Steve, you are correct, "run" should not have been used in that instance, but the point remains, be sure the tree is "commited" to a direction before taking your eyes off it and stepping for cover.I have been working on taling down over 50 dead ashes in my little woods lot, some are easy to read, some not. Lots of these have no branches left, and trunk lean is all you have, some have lots of branches, and trunk lean, a lot trickier. Top weight is harder to read sometimes.
 
Hedgerow said:
For those not familiar with the term "Barberchair"...
This...
254069d1348498127-oops-jpg


Is a textbook case of one...
Click to expand...

The last hackberry I cut did the exact same thing. After the face was in, I was making the back cut and I think a chipmunk farted. Heard a crack and abandoned the saw in enough time to get out of the way.
 
ponyexpress976 said:
The last hackberry I cut did the exact same thing. After the face was in, I was making the back cut and I think a chipmunk farted. Heard a crack and abandoned the saw in enough time to get out of the way.
Click to expand...

That was a straight grained Hackberry in the photo, that had the top weighed down by grape vines... If you'll notice, on the stump, there were a couple things he did not do correctly...:msp_ohmy:
I left it standing there like a monument. I'll jerk it out of there with the loader... After all the neighbors get to see it...
Good thing he's a good sport about it all... And didn't get hurt...
Sometimes it's the near misses that can really stick with us...
 
When a hinge crumbles i run, rarley with the saw but most times i leave the saw in place and just go.
A crumble hinge and most times the saw is trapped anyway so it usualy gets left that way as i depart.
I do see that the tree is going somewhere other than i am before i run, but a crumble on a hinge and the tree can do pretty much anything.

Guess i should have said observe how the tree is going then run like hell in a different direction, pick up the saw later. LOL
 
rwoods said:
I don't see a face cut. Am I just missing it? If not, what other result should one expect? Ron
Click to expand...

Oh, there was a teeny weenie little face cut 90 degrees from where it actually tipped... You're right... I would have expected nothing else other than what happened... That's why I figured it would be a textbook example of what "not" to do...
 
Hedgerow,

I was looking at the barberchair picture thinking to myself something just aint right with cut on the end of the tree.
Must have been a tiny cut for the end to look so smooth.
 
This is an excellent thread, great advice from Randy Mac and several others, glad to see several examples posted. I don't think the "average" firewood cutter, not the AS enthusiast realizes how dangerous falling trees can be. I lost a 2nd cousin who was a 3rd generation logger in the early 80's, tree barber chaired kicked back and hit him in the chest, he died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. A neighbor who lived on a place next to where I first rented after getting married was found under a 30" oak dead, he owned close to 500 acres, went out alone,didn't tell anyone where he went or what he was doing, he was found about 12 hours later, it was very obvious he didn't die instantly, limbs kept it from smashing him flat, his hands were raw dang near to the bone where he had tried digging his way out before sucumbing to internal injuries.
It a dang dangerous task, best thing an newbie can do is go out with someone with lots of expierence and keep their mouth shut,watch several drop, ask any questions he has, and then drop some while being critiqued by the veteran. Randy is here to help people, he means nothing by his west coast banter, read and learn. I walk away from several trees every year. I figure I have nothing to prove, rather walk away than be a smashed rat turd.
 
Shaky Advice

Nothing personal intended by this post nor is this intended to imply that anyone in particular is giving shaky advice.

This thread has become an open discussion of one of the most dangerous cutting activity that many of us non-pros will engage. There are several inherent problems with these types of threads that result in shaky advice:

Good general advice is given without noting the inherent risks nor making it clear to the uninitiated that it is not a cure-all. There are some trees that you should just walk away from untouched. Example: whacking on (sounding) dead trees - a sounding blow can send a top down on you. A chattering saw chain can send a top down on you. Throw a few limbs in there and the risk goes up. Another example: using wedges - although I may use a drill hammer instead of an axe like most loggers, wedges are meant to be driven - if you can't safely drive a wedge without fear of sending something down on you, you need to leave that tree alone and walk away. Sounding and wedging are both examples of good general advice but neither is without risk in and of itself nor is either a cure-all.

Good advice that applies to every situation is often given, but ignored. Example: RandyMac was saying that spending too much of your attention on the potential hazards at the stump can lead you to ignore the greater danger of the overhead hazards. I can have the perfect stump and still be dead because something fell from above.

Advice is given that assumes a higher level of reader competency than exists across the board. Example: Pulling trees - requires a skill set, tools, knowledge and experience many don't have.

Posters use regional or occupational terminology or slang that are not universally understood.

Posters focus on regional or occupational differences of others (or the wood they cut) as a basis to argue their points while ignoring that the laws of physics know no such distinctions.

The espousing of unproven innovative techniques will raise lots of eyebrows and doubts of the experienced and raise the awe of (and sometimes the risks to) the inexperienced. Example: The 5 degree back cut. Most of us, self included, can't even consistently get our "level" back cuts that close. While I understand the goal of getting a wedge in place quicker, I'll let someone else do the geometry that will show the effect of a 5 degree back cut is incidental at most. Does any authority advocates anything other than a level back cut? I don't think so. To a novice if this small angle is a safety feature then why isn't a full "farmer's" cut better?

Ron
 
Last edited:
WidowMaker said:
====

If you mean did I run screaming like a little girl, the answer is yes, yes I did....

and yes that is the most prized fire wood in these parts, though I'm partial to Lodge Pole and Red Fir myself....
Click to expand...

"He who fights, and runs away, lives to fight another day..."
Hahahahahahahaha!!! I'm just glad most of the junk I deal with, ain't that vertical!!!
 

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