MountainHigh
Selective Tree whacker
..... nice instructional thread! Glad it turned out well.
mini barber chair
- Thread starter chuckwood
- Start date
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HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
This is not mine, but I remember from before. The "face" was actually where a part of the tree split off previously and was cut off. That's what made the whole thing so difficult. The front 40% of the tree was gone, leaving no real room for a proper face. My "vote" on the previous thread was what wound up happening. To help prevent a chair you need to eliminate as much of the holding wood as possible before making the back cut. The thick hinge left too much, and it split up. Nipping the corners of the hinge could have helped as well. Not sure any method would have prevented this tho. Smart move with the pole saw
I prefer the tiangle cut most of the time. The T cut doesnt allow as much leverage if you need to pull the tree as it falls. With the triangle cut, if you find you need to hold the tree in one direction or the other, you can simply slow down cutting the side that need to do the holding and increase the speed of cut on the side you dont want to hold. I have pulled some mighty big trees around the side of a hill using that method.
bitzer
******** Timber Expert
The biggest thing with hard leaners is know where the compression and tension wood is. Remove as much of the compression wood that you can. Like Mudstopper said the hinge should have been behind that seam. If that's not possible than boring out the heart from the face helps a lot. The hinge was left too thick as well. I never bore cut the back cut on leaners. I've posted this in the F&L before and I'll throw it up here now. Hard leaning white oak with a very heavy top. Lately I've been back baring the part that says "bottom bar" though. After I put my face cuts in I don't get off my knees I just back bar from front back toward the hinge about halfway through (from right side of tree). Then I get up and finish with the back bar on the far side. Just cut a woods with about 20-30 white oaks just like this. As most everyone knows white oak likes to chair almost as much as hickory.
bitzer
******** Timber Expert
This works too for pullin really hard leaners around. I just cut from one side across to the other until it takes off. Not pretty as far as fiber pull goes, but sometimes you do what you gotta do.
chuckwood
Addicted to ArboristSite
here's a pic of the tree after I cleared away the big crotch that had peeled off it. There was a big hunk of wood still attached at the base on the leaning side, going up about 6 feet high. There was a vertical crack in the trunk that continued on down from the part that had peeled off. So what I had was a guaranteed barber chair unless I removed a big part of the face.
That tree would have probably killed me because I would have bet most of the farm that a hackberry could not be barberchaired. Still waiting to see a sycamore
I am just a weekend firewood hack, I always considered myself very safety aware, I always like threads like this as an opportunity to learn, thinking back to some of the things I did, it scares me. I wasn't even aware of the danger. I cut down a heavy leaner this morning only about 1/4 the size of that one. I was very careful and have been studying the tree for about a year before I fell it. I also recognize when I am in over my head more now and just leave some trees alone. Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank this site and some of the pros on here.
WOW...GLAD YOU DIDNT GET HURT,LOOK LIKE YOU DID WHAT YOU KNEW HOW AND IT WORKED.......THIS IS A GREAT THREAD THANK YOU FOR IT AND LOVE READING THE AFTER POSTS,SOME GREAT INFO HERE....HECK I NEVER EVEN USED A TRIANGLE CUT......GOOD KNOWLEDGE HERE.........THANKS OP AND ALL!!!
Before and after pics always helps. Looking at it now, it seems you removed most of the already split part of the tree before making the back cut. I still believe if you had just went ahead and cut a notch on that side before the back cut, there wouldnt have been a barberchair, but I wasnt there and it looks easy from where I am setting. You did what you thought was best and only you where in the best position to make that decision. It worked out so You must of been right. Using chains and straps is better than guessing, especially if your guess turns out wrong.
Yep it was a success. I never did like it when cutting a leaner and the barber chair started but stopped as soon as the slack was out of the chan. That sudden BANG is a heart stopper. I reviewed the pictures again and doubt the straps would have made difference.
Harry K
A lot of good info and photos. I'm sure glad you got it down without getting hurt. I'll sure keep the chain (binding) technique in my mind if needed.
What caused all that leaning distortion in the 1st place? Disease or ice storm damage or prevailing wind? Just curious, I'm always curious of the "root cause" no pun intended
What caused all that leaning distortion in the 1st place? Disease or ice storm damage or prevailing wind? Just curious, I'm always curious of the "root cause" no pun intended
I like the idea too of a tractor with a "Loooonnnggg" big chain or cable pull out of fall zone to make that hackberry say "UNCLE"!!!!!!
chuckwood
Addicted to ArboristSite
What caused all that leaning distortion in the 1st place? Disease or ice storm damage or prevailing wind? Just curious, I'm always curious of the "root cause" no pun intended
The hackberry was right at the edge of a field, and behind it were some big trees that were blocking all the sunlight, so the tree just naturally grew towards the light. Here's a pic of another hackberry next to it that did the same thing. This one is a lot smaller than the barber monster but shaped in a similar way
.I see what you mean, I have several small sapling hackberry, black cherry, and mulberry doing that on my south fence line of brome hayfield also?
We dont see a lot of Hackberry around here and am curious if it makes decent firewood?
Ron
Ron
I would put it in the C- category, w/o looking at a chart I would say heat values near sycamore. Not fun to split by hand, I do best taking flakes off the perimeter. Branches like a roll of barb wire when you are trimming
woodchuck357
Addicted to ArboristSite
Hackberry makes really good firewood and isn't that hard to split. It does need to be split soon after felling, if left in the round for long it gets punky. Split, it will dry fairly fast and stay solid for years.
chuckwood
Addicted to ArboristSite
If you have a nice, straight section of hackberry trunk without too many branches, those rounds split fairly easy. I've been splitting some of the barber chair tree late today, and the grain wasn't favorable for easy splitting. The grain wasn't straight because the tree had not been straight either. I ended up having to do a lot of noodling, but with a 77cc saw, it goes pretty fast. After two or three noodle slices on a round, it's pretty easy, just stand the round back up and start whacking. I think it does make decent firewood, similar to hard maple.
Straps or ropes wound tight and cinched work far better than chains, and chains are far better than nothing.
I've climbed trees that I wound with rope as I climbed because of structural defects. It is time consuming, but it sure is nice to be alive and have to the time to spend on it. Big bucks to get an arborist that knows how and when to wrap a tree to get it down safely.
Mr. HE
I've climbed trees that I wound with rope as I climbed because of structural defects. It is time consuming, but it sure is nice to be alive and have to the time to spend on it. Big bucks to get an arborist that knows how and when to wrap a tree to get it down safely.
Mr. HE
