Tree cutting, how not to do it.

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seen it befor. clasic example of what happens when you cut through the hinge and loose all contol:)

what you should do is take your time and check how far you have cut either side of the tree and leave a good hinge. if the tree doesn't fall on its own don't carry on cutting! this is a schoolboy error and results in what you saw in the video. what you should do at this stage is use a felling lever or knock in some wedges.

having said that the tree could have been rotten which makes the tree very unpredictable but seeing how the guy is using the saw he clearly doesn't know what he is doing.



pete
 
Tree felling is definatly one of those things where you need to get some lessons before you try it. It was ambitiuos to try a tree that was that close to your house; I would have paid for a pro to do it.
 
Tree felling really is an art. While I was doing my chainsaw training I took out some phone lines. Tree fell side ways and branches caught the lines taking out a few homes and offices. Needless to say much leg pulling followed...

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there was something about the woman holding the camera and her reaction, she seemed so calm about the whole thing.

Anyho, that link led to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YAf61zz5VU&feature=related

Now that's a proper barbers chair, seen a few (never had one) but that one's a real brown trouser moment.

Barber chair is very nasty and even a small tree can do big damage. A good friend of mine ended up severely brain damaged when a 6" ash did that and dropped square on his head.
 
well, it's a chair cos it looks a little (very little) like a chair. I actually have no idea why it's call a barbers chair tho. I wonder if it's a meaning lost in the mists of time.
 
How the hell these guys thought they could drop this one safely I don't know... :yikes:

[video=youtube;U1_QXOpiPm8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1_QXOpiPm8&feature=related[/video]

why is it called a barbers chair ???

It's because the section of trunk splitting off shoots out similar to a Barber's Chair when they lean you back in it.
 
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Ouch! I thought that was going to be the end result the second it came on.(first video) At the very start you can see more branches hanging towards the house than away from it, and the whole tree looks to have a noticeable lean the wrong way.
It could have been dropped correctly if he would've done it properly.
The video above? No common sense whatsoever...
 
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How the hell these guys thought they could drop this one safely I don't know... :yikes:

[video=youtube;U1_QXOpiPm8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1_QXOpiPm8&feature=related[/video]





It's because the section of trunk splitting off shoots out similar to a Barber's Chair when they lean you back in it.

lol that had take me down a small piece at a time written all over it,,
 
iv seen two propper barber chairs. they happened on the same job, the seccond two days after the first. the guy i was working with was told by an 'old timer' who said you don't need to bother using the propper cuts for a leaning tree.
we had to fell some big sweet chestnuts most over 24 inch at the base. after watching a tree that size split and land only a few feet from your mate leaves you quite shaken. the first thought when i saw it happen was 'HE'S GONNA DIE!' but lickily it missed him. then when it happened again i couldn't beleve it after what happened only a few days erlier. he still didn't bother using the right cut. there was lots of cherry laurel round the tree and not much room to move which was his excuse for not cutting it propperly. this seccond one was a closer call, i was not impressed...

never think 'it wont happen to me' because these things will if you get complacent.


pete
 

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