Sideways Barberchair

Serf Life

Serf Life

Been here much more than a while
Location
Maine Island
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Ash top from last week, weighted towards the branch/spike, with a pull rope tensioned away from another tree. Bark was intact for the entire top, was leafing out too, and I also rarely climb ash as they are not super common and we don't have EAB yet. Didn't check the hinge wood or really think (baby slept bad for a few days in a row and I was especally sleep deprived), and just trusted in the leverage of the pullrope. Could have gotten hurt if the top had hung up in the other tree and popped back at me or if I had been in a worse position but nothing happened except a good wake up.
 
damn... Are you sure you dont have EAB. I've heard that they tend to turn the dead portions into styrofoam, compared to other dead ash along the same timeline.

Nothing is learned unless you know what to do different next time. Obviously you stated sleep deprivation and auto pilot. However I'm wondering if you took the time to look at the face, what would you have done? Shallow face with the lean in hind sight may have gotten you more control, but once that face is in you're pretty committed.

Glad you're safe, I caught the butt from a top in the stomach a good few years back. One of those get er done days where I kept telling myself if the wind was going to get just a wee bit worse I'd pack up..
 
If I had checked the face and stopped for a sec: talk to my coworker and make a new plan, probably torch it into the other tree trying to get the butt to drop fast, then prune out broken limbs if any occur. If it was a more delicate site then it would have been butt tied with a stay on the spar for support, I was tied into another tree fyi...
 
EAB is just into the most northern bit of our state, it's coming which sucks. Ash rots almost like poplar in the way you discribe for sure, which I know but wasn't thinking.
 
You got super lucky Serf. If that tree had not been so punky you could have experience a true barber-chair and found yourself in a very scary situation. The big old gnarly crotch just below your cut also helped saved your ass. Obviously WAY too much hinge and its no wonder she got funky on you. Where you still aggressively cutting your backcut when she barber-chaired, or had you stopped cutting and were pulling the top over with the tagline?
 
rico said:
You got super lucky Serf. If that tree had not been so punky you could have experience a true barber-chair and found yourself in a truly scary situation. The big old gnarly crotch just below your cut also helped saved your ass. Obviously WAY too much hinge and its no wonder she got funky on you. Where you still aggressively cutting your backcut when she barber-chaired, or had you stopped cutting and were pulling the top over with the tagline?
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Saw was still ripping through with brand new chain, and pull line was under tension but he wasn't pulling hard yet. Fucker just popped with 4inches on the hinge as the uphill side had no decent wood... How would it have barberchaired if it had been solid wood?
 
Serf Life said:
Saw was still ripping through with brand new chain, and pull line was under tension but he wasn't pulling hard yet. Fucker just popped with 4inches on the hinge as the uphill side had no decent wood... How would it have barberchaired if it had been solid wood?
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IF there was more good wood than there was, the barberchair would/could have been worse.
 
Serf Life said:
Saw was still ripping through with brand new chain, and pull line was under tension but he wasn't pulling hard yet. Fucker just popped with 4inches on the hinge as the uphill side had no decent wood... How would it have barberchaired if it had been solid wood?
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Look at your picture. The only part that did barberchair was along the outer edge that appears to be the only place with any sound wood. The rest of the tree was simply to punky to barberchair because the wood fibers were to soft, so they gave up very early and left that little strip of sound wood on the outer edge to barberchair.

A barber chair can and will go both above and below your cut when topping trees, and having that big old crotch below your cut would have most likely stopped any downward barberchair dead in its tracks.
 
This is a wonderful example of the 'once in a lifetime' learning experiences we learn from. After the take-away is gleaned from this cut it'll never happen again.

When I saw the top of the stem I could see the color difference. Also, the texture was different. What information was there but not recognized? Others have already shared conjectures...ash...EAB decay...easy cutting...color of saw chips blowing out.

My side barber chair failure resulted in a cracked driveway...injuries. A very similar set of clues that I didn't recognize.

Learning by experience isn't the best...this experience or inexperience might have lead to death.

Too often arbos learn by experience. The lack of a structured mentorship isn't common in the profession. It's so important to share these subtleties with co workers...,and, in here, we're all co-workers
 
Tom Dunlap said:
This is a wonderful example of the 'once in a lifetime' learning experiences we learn from. After the take-away is gleaned from this cut it'll never happen again.

When I saw the top of the stem I could see the color difference. Also, the texture was different. What information was there but not recognized? Others have already shared conjectures...ash...EAB decay...easy cutting...color of saw chips blowing out.

My side barber chair failure resulted in a cracked driveway...injuries. A very similar set of clues that I didn't recognize.

Learning by experience isn't the best...this experience or inexperience might have lead to death.

Too often arbos learn by experience. The lack of a structured mentorship isn't common in the profession. It's so important to share these subtleties with co workers...,and, in here, we're all co-workers
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Yep. We have Tan Oaks around here and they are infamous for getting extremely punky. They can look perfectly healthy on the outside, but have wood something akin the wet cardboard inside. A good tree-man will quickly learn how to spot the punky ones and adjust their game plan accordingly. Get tied into a nearby tree whenever possible, never put heavy pulls on them, and realize that you can never trust the hinge on these punky pieces of shit!!!
 
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rico said:
Look at your picture. The only part that did barberchair was along the outer edge that appears to be the only place with any sound wood.
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Don't need to, I was there and saved the piece as a reminder. The hinge would have been stable with solid wood. Totally agree with the chance of peel out though. Think you may have a case of keyboard cutting syndrome. Smiley face emogii to show it's a joke...
 
Tom Dunlap said:
This is a wonderful example of the 'once in a lifetime' learning experiences we learn from. After the take-away is gleaned from this cut it'll never happen again.

When I saw the top of the stem I could see the color difference. Also, the texture was different. What information was there but not recognized? Others have already shared conjectures...ash...EAB decay...easy cutting...color of saw chips blowing out.

My side barber chair failure resulted in a cracked driveway...injuries. A very similar set of clues that I didn't recognize.

Learning by experience isn't the best...this experience or inexperience might have lead to death.

Too often arbos learn by experience. The lack of a structured mentorship isn't common in the profession. It's so important to share these subtleties with co workers...,and, in here, we're all co-workers
Click to expand...
That is what I hope, make it once, share it and be thankful. Hope the injuries from your experience were minor!
 
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