Barber Chair

[mainer_in_ak]

Been dropping/bucking lots of Alaska birch this spring. Had a mild leaner yesterday. Not even enough to warrant a bore cut. Nice solid 18" diameter tree, no rot. Well that fker barber chaired violently. Was in the back cut saw running full throttle and heard a "pop". Left the saw in the back cut and got the fk outta there. .5 second later: barber chair was violent enough to sling-shot my saw 15 ft away. Another splinter shot out and gouged a nearby tree deeper than what a grizzly bear could do with claws(see picture). The splintered remainder of the tree was falling in all sorts of directions and whipped a few surrounding trees, knocking branches loose. I took a falling branch right in between the shoulders.

Heres what I've been thinking: Alaska birch begins soaking up a sht ton of sap in the spring. So much so, u can fill a five gallon bucket per 24 hours, for making birch syrup. When the Alaska birch is swollen with sap, you can score the bark with a knife and the bark literally explodes off. This tree being swollen with sap amplifies the tension within the wood, the slightest of a lean could barber chair while cutting.

So from here on out, borecut only on even the slightest leaning Alaska Birch. I'd prefer not to have my face wripped in half or be crushed. The saw is ok!

 

[Squareground3691]

Been dropping/bucking lots of Alaska birch this spring. Had a mild leaner yesterday. Not even enough to warrant a bore cut. Nice solid 18" diameter tree, no rot. Well that fker barber chaired violently. Was in the back cut saw running full throttle and heard a "pop". Left the saw in the back cut and got the fk outta there. .5 second later: barber chair was violent enough to sling-shot my saw 15 ft away. Another splinter shot out and gouged a nearby tree deeper than what a grizzly bear could do with claws(see picture). The splintered remainder of the tree was falling in all sorts of directions and whipped a few surrounding trees, knocking branches loose. I took a falling branch right in between the shoulders.

Heres what I've been thinking: Alaska birch begins soaking up a sht ton of sap in the spring. So much so, u can fill a five gallon bucket per 24 hours, for making birch syrup. When the Alaska birch is swollen with sap, you can score the bark with a knife and the bark literally explodes off. This tree being swollen with sap amplifies the tension within the wood, the slightest of a lean could barber chair while cutting.

So from here on out, borecut only on even the slightest leaning Alaska Birch. I'd prefer not to have my face wripped in half or be crushed. The saw is ok!

The cold will make the fibers more brittle to chair with a lean , I’m assuming?

 

[Sloughfoot]

Glad to hear the saw is ok.

 

[fossil]

Scary!

 

[hacskaroly]

Well that fker barber chaired violently.

For noobs like me that has never heard this phrase before referring to a tree...what is "Barber chaired"? A violent pivot backwards?

 

[Duce]

Tree splits in half with one side shooting up and takes your head off. Good side is, less splitting. Search u-tube and you will see one lifting a tractor off the ground. Had an oak do it once, splits right up the middle, once is enough.

 

[hacskaroly]

Tree splits in half with one side shooting up and takes your head off. Good side is, less splitting.,

I can see the upside and downside to this. Would putting a ratchet strap around the tree (if you suspected it could go this way) help prevent the splitting or is there just so much force its going to go any way and best have a buddy you don't care for give it a go?

 

[Duce]

I can see the upside and downside to this. Would putting a ratchet strap around the tree (if you suspected it could go this way) help prevent the splitting or is there just so much force its going to go any way and best have a buddy you don't care for give it a go?

Yes people use straps or chains, strong ones. Things go sideways even for professional services, limbs go through roofs, bases blow out, tops blow out and people die.

 

[Squareground3691]

For noobs like me that has never heard this phrase before referring to a tree...what is "Barber chaired"? A violent pivot backwards?

A bad one ,

 

[hacskaroly]

A bad one ,

Oh, jeeze....

Yes people use straps or chains, strong ones. Things go sideways even for professional services, limbs go through roofs, bases blow out, tops blow out and people die.

After accounting for everything and preparing it still ends up being a random numbers game...

 

[davidwyby]

See also Coos bay cut for trees too small to bore cut.

 

[Sloughfoot]

The cold will make the fibers more brittle to chair with a lean , I’m assuming?

I've read that on extremely cold nights in the upper Midwest U.S., Cottonwoods/ Plains Trees...... have been known to explode.

 

[davidwyby]

See also Coos bay cut for trees too small to bore cut.

...or tilt the bar almost vertical.

 

[HumBurner]

Tree splits in half with one side shooting up and takes your head off. Good side is, less splitting. Search u-tube and you will see one lifting a tractor off the ground. Had an oak do it once, splits right up the middle, once is enough.

Then there's always the intentional barber chair, or, "controlled" barber chair.

 

[HumBurner]

A bad one ,

That's one of the best videos of a typical, but large and dangerous, barber chair.

Way too shallow of a face, no bore/strap.

 

[HumBurner]

I've read that on extremely cold nights in the upper Midwest U.S., Cottonwoods/ Plains Trees...... have been known to explode.

I remember it happening after the ice storms that rolled through KY in 2008ish(?)

It was so cold for so long, that even after the trees lost most of their snow, the warming temperatures caused the trees to explode from their cell-walls bursting.

Pretty crazy stuff.