intentional barber chair
- Thread starter murphy4trees
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woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Some Mexicans I've had the pleasure of meeting never graduated.
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
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- #28
Buddy
Treehouser
Old timer barber chair, probably not intentional.
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
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- #30
Raj
TreeHouser
I don't know if I missed it, was it not safe to climb?
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
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- #32
it was not necessary to climb... usually that's safer too!
Did you have a pull line in it?
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
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- #34
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
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- #36
simple physics yes... your understanding of said physics.. not so much ...
next time I AM going to cut over 50% of the stem with the kerf before pulling...
next time I AM going to cut over 50% of the stem with the kerf before pulling...
BlackSmith
Uncivil
I'd use a saw but that's just me....
Explain it to me then as I obviously don't understand in your eyes, so you should be able to if you understand basic physics quite simply, in a way that we can all comprehend.
Give it to me baby.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
Yes. No one was at the base of the tree when he barber chaired it. As long as there was no risk of damage, it's a harmless experiment. Strange, but harmless
SkwerI
Treehouser
The big problem is that a tree isn't going to barber chair unless it is already cracked or weakened vertically. As Daniel proved with his skid steer, if it isn't already prone to splitting then it will just splinter apart when excessive force is applied.
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
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- #42
In this case yet. It's about where the weakness in the structure is. We normally cut to create a hinge which will be the weakest part of the tree's structure.
When the hinge is left too thick, or there is a bypass in the face cuts, or in this case there is only a kerf backcut, there is a possibility that the weakness is in the vertical grain of the wood. That can split up or down depending on which side is weaker. At the stump, the high side will be weaker than the stump, so the trunk will split up. As it does the new pivot point will be some feet above the cut,
When the hinge is left too thick, or there is a bypass in the face cuts, or in this case there is only a kerf backcut, there is a possibility that the weakness is in the vertical grain of the wood. That can split up or down depending on which side is weaker. At the stump, the high side will be weaker than the stump, so the trunk will split up. As it does the new pivot point will be some feet above the cut,
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Grain might be a factor as well. Would it still split up if there was grain runout around and above the hinge? Try it. 
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
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SeanKroll
Treehouser
This is a time where a springboard shines. I thought the other day, do I need to put that springboard in the truck? I know what is coming from having done the bids. Nah. Was out at the customer's house and he added a dead cedar with a lot of sweep at the bottom, working against the way I wanted it to fall. Ended up cutting it off a short step ladder, and pounding wedges at max height. Worked out.
This week's job was much easier with the spring board. Used it two or three times to fell trees just a bit short of obstacles or cut above defects in a super rotten double trunked cedar.
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
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- #47
NICE!
it would be easy enough to cut the tree pictured from the hooks as well, but I'd rather use a high cut from the ground if possible casue its just faster than getting out the saddle .. ANd more importantly these days I can't wear the hooks anymore... Probably never will again.. they hurt my feet so bad last time.. it's been 7 months since the last time and they still hurt from it.. plantar fasciitis..
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #48
In this case because the cut was at 50% of the way through the strength of the vertical grain of the wood is at its greatest.. rather then splitting far up the trunk with a clean break as is often the case in BBC, this tree splintered just above the cut. An examination of the log just above the cut showed that the grain began to split up the trunk, with a clear crack developing vertically visible in the cross section of the wood, as high as 6 feet above the cut... so it wanted to split up the trunk a good way but didn't, because the fibers just above the cut splintered first.
If the cut had been made more than half way through, there would have been a LOT less strength the vertical grain, making the tree more likely to split with a clean break up the trunk... this is one of the reasons why a shallow notch is not recommended. With a shallow notch, there is a greater tendency for BBC
Raj
TreeHouser
That's a shame about your condition.
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
If the trunk began to split that far above the cut, that means it has already started to barber chair by the internal stress from the pulling, see the split in the middle of some limbs by the wind or by their own weight. It didn't fall apart because something locked the split near the cut, I guess like an old hidden crotch or by the complicated pattern of the fibers near the trunk's junction.
A little higher, your cut should had probably given what you expected.
Understanding the physics is one thing, predicting the actual result is an other because you can't know all the factors involved in a highly variable organism like a tree in its environment.
A little knot badly placed can do some great things. I nearly lost the trunk of a big weeping willow because an old limb was hidden just in my hinge, with just 2" of straight fibers under the bark. I saw after the fall that only half of my hinge was functional. It's a little creepy with a back leaner when it starts to change its path during the pulling.
A little higher, your cut should had probably given what you expected.
Understanding the physics is one thing, predicting the actual result is an other because you can't know all the factors involved in a highly variable organism like a tree in its environment.
A little knot badly placed can do some great things. I nearly lost the trunk of a big weeping willow because an old limb was hidden just in my hinge, with just 2" of straight fibers under the bark. I saw after the fall that only half of my hinge was functional. It's a little creepy with a back leaner when it starts to change its path during the pulling.
