I'm a "professional homeowner", and I do a decent amount of clearing in the woods around my house. I've taken a few safety courses in tree cutting, but this is the *first time* I have seen a clear and comprehensive diagram of what causes a barber chair and the physics behind why it happens. It's made me realize that I'm pretty lucky I haven't had this happen to me before. Thank you so much for taking the time to put this information together and share it with others.
As a retired tree Superviser, i can say this is a very well explained tutorial. Their are way too many inexperienced tree workers out there that have no idea what a Barberchair senario is! Great job!
ya.. many have never seen one... and I'll bet there's been more than a few deaths from BC where the person hadno idea what just happened to the tree...
Yes, i was almost one of them! Fortunately for me, the 20" Ash decides to fail on the opposite side of where i was cutting it. Me and my whole crew were speechless when it happened. I would have been driven into the ground like a nail. Never had any idea it could happen back then. Their was little education about it at that time.
I’ve seen a lot of videos on tree falling. They would talk about getting rid of the Dutchman, but never once explained what the hell it is. Now I know. Over the last 20 years, I’ve probably cut down close to 100 cords of firewood. 90% of it red oak. I now know that I have fallen trees with a Dutchman in the notch…many times. Never had a barber chair because of luck or tree species, but it does explain the behavior of the falling tree at times. Like the video, I’ve had a few start to fall then stop just like your video and never realized there was a barber chair danger. Wow. I always thought that risk was confined to leaners. Now I will be more attentive and make sure there is no Dutchman and remove it if there is. Thank you so much.
I took the 30-video tree-felling course on RU-vid published by a Canadian tree-felling company, and they showed something similar to this regarding avoiding a Barber-Chair mishap. You did a great job with your drawings and video demonstration!
Dang, glad that guy didn't get hit. Very comprehensive video regarding the dangers of A Barber Chair and breaking it down so as to understand the root cause and not make this mistake. Great Job.
This is the first time I've seen a demonstration, or heard an explanation of the consequences of cutting a Dutchman. I've heard a lot about not doing it and now that has been explained. Very informative and useful. Thanks.
A few days ago I was taught by a friends father how to fell trees. He never mention "dutchman cut", but did make sure that I didnt over cut one side when making the wedge. I wasnt quite sure why, but always checked that I didnt overcut and if so I corrected. Now I know what have a potential of happening if you dont! Thx, very good video!
Very well explained. I see 2 errors there: the first one, causing the barber chair. The second, running away with the chainsaw instead of dropping it instantly.
Awesome explanation. I have a cottonwood leaning over my driveway. What I learned from this video is to just hire someone competent, I don't wanna die any time soon.
Im a farmer primarily but do logging in winter. Ive fallen more trees then your average trees remover but less then your average logger. I had this happen once on a more recent timber track. I really like thus explanation and diagram. Having a better understanding now this video might save my life on the next stick I cut
good.. glas to hear it... amd no one except a logger has dropped as many trees as your average logger.. It looks like we're doing the same kind of work, but it's a much different game..
There are many more things like that in this biz.. so few people really don't understand the "Why".. they just do it or even teacd it because that's the way it's always been done... I always look for the why.. once you understand the why, the door opens to a world of new possibilities
@@murphy4trees weird you saying that, you sounded like me last week explaining how train brakes work to a new starter. Understanding is a mile apart from just doing. I’ve been felling trees for over 30 years and always made a neat face cut not understanding how important it actually is. Again, thank you
Thank you a very clear and concise video and only a few minutes beautiful. Becoming a more confident faller . Five years ago, I was nervous and Nelly and I almost took the gutter off the house . Thanks again.
Good video on a very important subject. Working with trees is all about precision and understanding the forces acting on the tree. You have explained this very well. Thank you.
When a swinging Dutchman or some other cut is required on a tree that is prone to barber chairing and you really need to avoid the split in the wood (causing you’re using it for lumber) use heavy ratchet straps on the log above your cut. The tension keeps the fibers together. I’ve never had a barber chair happen after I’ve strapped the tree.
ya, a strap is 100% effective as long as it's strong enough to keep th tree from splitting... if the trunk can't split, the tree cannot barber chair... Good cuttign technique will prevent most trees from BC< but a heavy front leaner with structural issues, the strap is the only way to be sure. I try to wrap it around two or three times, as many as possible for extra strength.
you can also bore in cut the center leave side tabs of holding wood and cut back out as long as you dont have enough wood in the center to hold it from falling it wont barber chair but its kind of a learn as you go art , yes unintentional dutchman poor practice I had better luck chopping out a chunk of the wedge and reinserting it if I wanted to use dutchman to swing around now I guess they just jack .
I really found this upload very informative and helpful as I wondered what causes the barber chair scenario. Very well explained and easy to understand. Cheers.
Wow. I was 1/2 way through your video, and I wasn't catching on. Then it hit me! That's phenomenal. If you had not replayed it three times, I would have had to do it myself 3x! I've never fully understood the barber chair causes, and I've never fully understood why, some cutters "brush out" the sawdust, after the first wedge cut.... Now, finally, all this makes sense. All this in less than 4 minutes. Thank you so much! /A New Subscriber.
I very very rarely get involved in tree cutting and when I do it’s typically helping a friend. That said, I find these this video very interesting. It doesn’t hurt to learn something just in case. I think this video does very good of explaining - narration, graphics, video/stills - what is going on. 👍🏻
it all mkas sense when someone finally explains it... One of the reasons I can recognize it when I see it is because I've done it.. back before I knew better.
I have gotten away with inadvertently leaving a dutchman because I didnt understand what it was and worse yet, the potential hazard. Thank you for the clear explanation.
Thanks! I've been doing a fair amount of falling since becoming a landowner, and somehow kind of instinctively always tried to avoid cutting too far when chunking out my pie pieces, but didn't think it would be a big deal if I did accidentally go too far. Seeing this, I'm gonna be even MORE careful!
Thank you very much, very well explained! Although I never experienced any barber chair with falling leaning white ash (ideal species for that!!!), I think I was just lucky so far, because I did not know yet about that bypass. From now, I am going to be very careful about that! Thanks again!
This video really helped me and was straight to the point. Cutting down some white oaks and red oaks on my property that the gypsy moths got to before they go completely south on me punking around the outside like they will do. I didnt have any major barber chair occurrences but some very minute ones ruining first 5' of the first log or having split cracks in the center of the heart wood. Thank you for this
I have BC a couple knowing that wouold make the splitting for firewood easier, but only when I could finish the cut and induce the BC from a pull line set to heavy truck or loader... not worth risking being anywhere a tree when it BCs
Thanks.. god to hear.. it's amazing to me that the best instruction in chainsaw techniques come from RU-vid. The industry trade organizations are terrified of touching anything outside of the narrow little box of their 40 year old cutting techniques.
Good stuff. You can also see it moving just above his head, which clearly shows it was equal movement there as at the top indicating that wind was most likely not a factor. Have a great week.
Excellent explanation of the cause of barber chair. There really is quite a bit of knowledge required to safely and successfully felling trees. Not to mention skill in handling a chainsaw. Thanks, good vid !!! I have seen a number of vids portraying novices " doing it wrong " and I always post to them that they need to get some tutorial on how to do it safely. The last one I watched where a novice was cutting down a tree he, on the back cut, cut almost completely through his hinge. I was yelling at the screen " STOP, STOP, STOP !!! ". Somehow, and by the grace of God, that tree fell just fine, though I do not know how !
Excellent explanation. I would differ with you however, on the movement of the top as the kerf closed....to me, it didn't seem so slight, but almost drastic.
I've seen enough tree failures on the job to know that the tree will often asorb an initial impact, and then with some delay, often deconds, sometimes minutes the fibers will just give up. So the delay is the not unexpected in many scenarios. This is aperfect example.... even that little forward movement and then sudden stop as enough to rip that trunk in half, but it took few seconds.
