falling accident

[thedeeredude]

My sawyer told me about this article today.  I am confused, because I've never cut trees down, but how on earth did this happen.  Did the butt shoot and fall on him?  Dunno, but this reminds us all, BE SAFE IN THE WOODS.

[Bob Smalser]

Called a "barber chair" around here, and it's the most innocent-looking tree, the Red Alder, that's the usual killer, taking out a number of city-bred retirees annually on their spanking new 5 acres of forested house site.  Also happens to pros...but rarely.

Cutting without a proper hinge, cutting thru the hinge rather than wedging the tree down, defects in the tree because the "faller" didn't know what to look for, cutting a leaner too fast, not clearing an escape path, not thinking thru ahead of time your actions when the tree surprises you.... 

You name it...happens all the time, you just don't hear about it.

[thedeeredude]

Are there any illustrations or pictures that explain?  I kinda know what it is but not absolutely sure.

[Tom]

Do a search of  "Barber Chair" on the forum and you will find a lot of posts.  It is a common and dangerous tree felling situation.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

[Ianab]

The 'link 2' that Tom posted has some good diagrams and discusses ways to prevent it.
Best method is to use bore cutting and holding strap cuts on leaning trees.
Lots of things that can go wrong falling trees, so it's important to learn how to spot potential hazards, and what to do about them.

Cheers

Ian

[pigman]

A long while ago when I had hair and no brains I had a leaner tree barber chair on me. I still don't have any brains. I was in a bit of a hurry, the tree was about 24 inches in diameter and leaning at about 30 degrees from vertical. Thinking  I was smart I notched the tree as far as I could without the blade pinching.  :P I was making the back cut while someone was hollering hurry up. :( When I got onehalf way to the hinge the tree gave a loud pop and split twenty feet . The split butt of the log missed my nose by inches as it went flying in the air. Thinking all danger was over, I stepped back a few feet just as the tree trunk slapped on the ground 6 inches from my feet.     It is great when everything goes as planned. : 

[Corley5]

I had one, not the only but most memorable, barber chair on me and I was sure my 2094 was toast.  I had the 20"dbh sugar maple almost cut off and it was starting to go over.  I poured the throttle on but the tree split up the middle and broke off at about 8' high.  When it started to split it pinched the saw.  I stayed as long as I dared which wasn't long ;) and it was the saw or me.  I got out of the way.  The tree broke off and landed on the ground.  After the air was clear I walked in and picked up the saw where it lay between the splintered trunk and stump and commenced to cutting up what was left of the tree.  The saw was still running but had escaped total destruction by only a thread.  New saws are sold everyday.  Saw operators are harder to come by

[pigman]

Greg, I left the O D green Remington saw next to the tree and hoped the tree would get it, instead the tree almost got me. :

[Max sawdust]

Thanks Pigman for the reminder.  Good to hear these stories, to keep safety first in our mind.

I had a barberchair once, slight leaner, but full of rot.  No close call for me, but a pain, and a lot of time to get the thing on the ground safely. :(
Max

[Ernie_Edwards]

Whew!!

I am just like that retireree mentioned in one of the links Tom provided. Bought a chainsaw, watched a fellow cut trees down for a few hours( never saw a plunge cut, never heard of it) and proceeded to cut down the trees I needed for a log cabin. Have a few minor stories, but by and large everything worked out just fine. But only by the grace of God and dumb luck.

There is no doubt in my mind, I want formal training on felling before I do it again.

This has been a real eye opener.

[slowzuki]

I've yet to have a barberchair but I have seen them on sites.  The "pro" loggers working a neighbours cedar barberchaired pretty much all the small 4" birch and maple from not even notching it.  It maybe small but it would still knock your teeth clean outta your head and set you on your butt 20 ft away.  No sense being dangerous to save a second or two.

I noticed on the cedar they didn't even really fell them, just slash cut and hope not to wedge the saw.  They get a bit lazy I think with the light trees and having a skidder right there.

[snowman]

The bore method works great if you have a big enough tree but yes, the pinch risk is great too. The main problem in a barber chair heavy leaner is that you cant saw the back cut fast enough to keep up with the force of gravity pulling the tree.I make undercut as deep as possible which sometimes isn't to deep at all, then cut in from both sides paralell to where my backcut will be.This greatly reduces the amount of wood yout cutting as the tree starts falling and with a good sharp chain and a little nerve you can stay put and keep cutting as the tree falls.Ive never had on barberchair on me like this. YET :D

[OneWithWood]

I had a leaner BC on me this past fall.  I still am not sure what I did wrong.
Hard maple 20" bh with a 45° lean.  I notched the tree on the inside face with a standard open face notch, proceeded to bore into the tree and when I moved the bar up to achieve about a 1 ½" hinge the bar got pinched and was stuck fast.  I removed the saw head, retrieved my back up saw and proceeded to bore above the first bore, I did not move forward towards the notch but proceeded to move back to leave holding wood.  Before I even came close to where I thought I need to be the tree split, pulling the a small buttress a portion of the stump out of the ground and crashed to the ground.  The bar and chain that had been trapped flew by my head missing me by inches.  The still running saw was ripped out of my hands and flung behind me.  When I stopped shaking I retrieved the bar and the saw and proceeded to buck the tree.
What did I do wrong?
How could I have prevented the first bar from becoming trapped?

[slowzuki]

OWW, usually the pinch if you have wood on both sides is due to a side lean or your hinge no longer had enough material.  Remember the hinge will shear downwards along the grain to the notch when it is above.  On a heavy leaner the strap will shear along the fiber and rip down the stump to the roots like you you mention.

It is really hard to avoid tearout of fiber on a heavy leaner, there is so much stress in compression on your notched side and tension on the strap side.

I prefer to leave a smaller notch and thicker hinge if I'm not trying to pull the tree anywhere.  I also leave the strap heavier than usual.  When you cut the strap, cut very square so it holds as long as possible then leave quickly.  The tree will be going down fast and has a lot of energy.  This method gets some tearout at the last bit of strap cut and also at the thicker hinge but at least the saw isn't as likely to stick.

Trying to pull a severe leaner for me has always resulted in a pinched saw, too much weight wants it to go straight down.
Ken

[Larry]

OWW, think slowzuki got the why on the pinched bar.  So presuming the side lean is what caused the pinch here is how I deal with it.  First is to bore in on the side lean side but less than half way.  Get a wedge in than move to the other side and cut as normal.  Second way is I generally put my bore in not to far behind the notch.  When I start cutting to the back strap I'll stick a wedge in on the side lean side as soon as I have room.  Might stick in a second wedge if I start to feel the bar pinch or if the tree is a big un.

Not for sure what caused the BC.  Sounds like the tree may have had rot, shake, lightening hit, or maybe unusual grain that made the holding wood weaker than normal.  The bar pinch might have been a clue if there was little side lean and plenty of wood still left to cut.

[johncinquo]

Hey Tom, I hope you dont mind.  I stole a bit of your artwork.   

:D

[Ianab]

45 deg is a serious lean, there is a huge amount of tension present inside that tree.
I agree with Slowzuki's idea, cut a shallow notch, just deep enough to allow you to make a decent hinge. The I bore in just behind the the hinge, leaving the hinge a bit thicker than normal. Because of the lean the hinge wood is under a lot of compression, while the holding strap is under tension.
And yes I've had to take off a powerhard and grab a spare saw before too, just cut the hinge slightly too narrow and there is stayed.  >:(
Then cut the holding strap, yes the holding wood may rip out before you can cut it all, but at least you have the tree down safe  :-\

Here is couple of old pics of a heavy leaner we took down a while ago, of course it was leaning uphill, it was big and all the branches were on the leaning side.  Actually you couldn't really say it 'fell', it more sort of just lay down on the hillside. Anyway you can see the small notch, the thick hinge and how the holding strap tore out anyway.





Cheers

Ian

[Ed_K]

 If you notice in Ian's 2nd pict that the holding cut is a little lower than the back cut. This is safer than cutting equal to the back cut. If you cut higher it may throw your saw up or out of the cut, very dangerous.

[Frickman]

Earlier this week I cut some 20"+ red oak trees that were leaning 45 degrees over a creek. The creek had washed the bank out and the trees leaned over the creek. Alot of this echos what you guys have said.

First, the opening face was cut just deep enough to get a decent width hinge, usually about sixteen inches. You don't need a wide hinge as you know where the tree is going anyway.

Second, I bore cut, usually from both sides, and set up my hinge.

Third, I cut my backcut until about one third of the diameter of the stump was left as my backstrap.

Fourth and final, I dropped down a few inches and completed my backcut from the back forward. The reason I do it this way is as some of you have experienced, the holding wood on the stump down to the roots will break free and fly up past your face as the tree falls. When finish your backcut from the back toward the hinge you have stronger wood holding the tree, and if it does break before the cuts meet all you have is a little fiber pull, like in Ianab's bottom picture. If you drop down a few inches you'll have a little more holding strentgh in the wood remaining in the backcut. The wood fibers will shear when the cuts cross the same fibers a few inches apart.

[Frickman]

Ed K beat me to the post.  ;) That's another reason to drop down, your saw is likely to stay with the stump instead of flying up with the tree. I haven't had too many saws broken when the flew up in the air though, usually they get smashed when they're stuck in the stump and the log rolls onto them.

[slowzuki]

Frickman, that is a well thought out approach to save the fiber.  We live on a hydro dam headpond so most leaners are only leaning a year or so before erosion takes them in.  The tree itself is well structured and useful wood.  I should see about salvaging some before they become navigation hazzards.

Ken

[snowman]

I saw a cartoon once, 3 bars stuck in a tree, 3 loggers with powerheads by them, a guy on a ladder with his saw buried in a heavy leaner "we"ll get her this time boys" :D

[Frickman]

Slowzuki,

On a tree that is leaning hard, you will almost always lose some footage due to fiber pull. The way I've learned to do it minimizes the amount of fiber pull, and sometimes locates it in a lower value potion of the log. The main thing is to get the tree down safely. Sometimes you will lose a little volume either to fiber pull at the bottom or tops splitting up high, it's just part of the deal. All the wood in the world isn't worth a nickel if you're lying in a hospital or the funeral home.  :( :(

[Dale Hatfield]

Frickman Said it best .
The hard foward leaners need to be notched  70 to 90 degrees  like any other. But when you bore cut them   Dont cut back  as far as you would on any other tree.   1/2 to 2/3rds of  the way. The lean of the tree  makes the top want to fall  before the remaining wood can be cut.
Then from the good side  make the back cut  but when you do  go at it full throttle and dont let up. When the tree starts to move ya have to  escape.
Here is a tip for any cutting Try not to make your hing or holding wood on root swells.  Root swells on the hinge will cause some wood to rip from the front of the tree. same thing in back root swells will tare up from the ground . Something ya dont want to be standing over.

Dale

[timberjack240]

my pap showed me how to stump jump em  when theyre leanin taht hard so you dont get pinched. i aint to towild about the whole idea myself  cause tehre no control and all you hear is pop and the tree falls fast and hard. but then again he has 40 + yrs of experience so he can do it but myslf i prefer my notch   ;D he dont do it often just every once in a while that ive ever seen anyway but when i he taught hme now to do it i was standin about 4 ft from him and  il like watchin them slowly go not pop..crunch but i gess its better than get yur saw pinched  :-\