hinge pics

Hindsight's 20:20, but perhaps boring it would have been a good idea if he was afraid of going too deep in the face.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #357
Going deep in the face cut is one of the ways to help prevent a trunk from splitting. The fact that he thinks the depth of the face cut is an issue shows a lack of understanding... The fact that he made that cut with nothing but a lanyard underneath it and no climbing line, which easily could have been tied into the other stem, makes him lucky to be alive. Plunge cut, coos bay, wrapping above and below the cut to prevent splitting, all would have thrown the odds of not dying in his favor. Using a climbing line tied into the other stem would have been infinitely safer. You have to wonder if he knows how close he came to dying... His post about the depth of the notch seems pretty nonchalant.
 
When in doubt climb higher and cut smaller. Coos bay aloft sounds wicked sketchy.
 
Looks like bigleaf maple, if so is that species more prone to splitting?
 
Looks like this "climber" was more interested in his GoPro than being a "Pro" . Notice the brand new saw that looks like it never got a break-in on the ground... The mistakes are so many I don't even want to begin. If this behavior continues we will have a well documented Darwin award. Douglas Dent was a forensic stump inspector before video was common place and could tell you how these mistakes happen and how to avoid them. WORK SAFE AS PRACTICAL AND GET EDUCATED FIRST!
 
You are right on the back cut, Mick. He could have had his guts squeezed out. I agree with Murphy...I would have at least tied into the side tree...and had my lanyard on it, too. Then a BBC wouldn't have mattered.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #365
This young climber wanted to rent my bucket truck a few weeks back. I met him just before dark to drop the truck off, but after seeing the job (in the side of a sledding hill) and the forecast calling for rain the next day there was no way I was goiong to let him drive that truck on the wet hill.. even though he thought he'd be ok because he had mats.

It was only the top of two trees, the second of which I could take in one cut.. so even though it was dark I said let's get this done and we set the truck up under the first tree. I got the offending branches cut quickly to where he could drop the rest of the tree, but was going to make it a little easier for him by taking another couple big cuts to get the side weight off when the cops showed up. So he explains why we were working that late to the cop (this is only a couple of weeks after the biggest storm damage anyone around here remembers). The cop says you can make one more cut. So I say let's get the top of that oak out... we reposition the truck and by this time it's pitch black. The oak was probably 90' with a good bit of front lean to an open DZ for 60 feet. No worries at all about directional control. I went up to just below the first big crotch and made up a cut on the spot.

I call it the box cut...
Cut a level undercut about the same distance as would be used for a standard notch (say about 1/3 diameter)
go to the far side of the tree and make a side cut in the same plane (perpendicular to the first cut) again about 1/3 diameter)
then do the same on the near side... so there are basically three sides of the tree cut about 1/3 of the way with the only uncut wood on the backside.

then just start cutting from the back straight in and cut til the wood pops.

It worked perfectly...

Now this was pretty sturdy wood grain and just below a crotch, with not toooooo much front lean, so the chances of BBC were reduced. I wouldn't have used this cut if the chances of BBC were much more than they were.

One of the things I had to explain to the experts on this forum (which Burnham clearly didn't understand) is that the reason the coos bay is so effective at preventing BBC, si not because it allows the faller to race through the cut (as B thought), but because you have effectively reduced the amount of intact fibers between the trunk and the top to a point where there aren't enough fibers to put a sheer force on the wood. The few intact fibers would have to split the wood across the area of cut fibers, which would be impossible in almost every possible scenario. So the box cut uses the same principle, just taking out far fewer fibers so it's best used when the chances of BBC are small. In the above scenario, it worked well because I didn't need to see what was going on.. it was fast and reliable
 
Daniel, you didn’t make that cut up. It has been used in the UK for years. I was shown it about 16 years ago by one of the guys I was working for at the time.

I do similar and to my understanding, from FOGTW, thought it was a coos bay. I just use 3 cuts instead of 4. The first two forming the tip of a triangle in the rough direction of fall. I cut the sideith the most compression first 45*. Then the side closest for you a twin at 45*. The power through to match the cuts up from the back. Pop it goes, leaving a triangular hinge in the centre of the wood.
 
I hope the guy was wearing brown pants ! Coulda been good-nite Irene ... lumberjack Zack = Cracker Jack ... NOT
 
Last edited:
No boy-scout here daniel, just because you take every chance you get to pull out outlier cuts (poorly executed I may add) doesn’t make you good or ballsy. I’ll rarely pull out a dutchman or sizewheel but this example did not need a fancy cut to get it down safely.
 
Daniel, Barber chair is likely better abbreviated as BC. I can't see where the extra b comes in, just a thought
 
Last edited:
A barber chair (ideally abbreviated: B.B.C.H.R.) is almost always for cutting hair, and should but rarely be used to refer to a split tree.
 
Back
Top