BARBER CHAIR! Avoid this tree falling hazard.
Hello from the Flanigan Homestead Welcome to my barber chair video I'm Going to show you a bunch of clips of Different Barber chair incidents the Reason I want to do this I recently had A barber chair a tree that I knew was Going to Barber chair from experience But because of my Escape Route I wasn't Too worried about it but then I figured I wasn't being a good example and I Remember when I started cutting trees Years ago I didn't know about the Potential hazards of Barber chair and so I'm putting this out there so I will put In layman's term for us uh homesteaders And farmers and loggers backyard loggers A couple things to help keep you safe From Barber chair So we're going to take a look at some of The other Barber chair videos that I've Collected these are not me cutting but Other people that were cutting and Caught on video this one is a very large Stream which would be quite scary to Have this arbitrary you can see he had Plenty of Escape Route clear Escape Route I don't know if he cleared it all Himself Here's another huge fur going down you Don't see it as often and fur as you do In Alder but it does happen This could be quite scary So it's all right Okay good job
Wow In many of these videos including this One there seems to be little to no Effort to make a pie cut or a face cut This is a problem In this video it appears that there is No effort to make a face cut on the fall Side of the tree and it's really Impressive how far up the tree this one Splits that's quite a drop Together Again there appears to be no effort to Make a pie cut or a face cut on the Front of the tree this is a common theme In barbituring First of all barbituring can happen to Any tree but I'm standing on my property In a stand of Alders which is the most Notorious trees here in the Pacific Northwest to Barber chair you need to be Very careful with them there's a couple Different factors that cause that one They do tend to lean a lot if you're on A hillside which creates the extra Pressure and two it's just the way their Fibers are they tend to Barber chair so You can see what a typical stand here in Washington state looks like the leaves Are down we're in late winter and There's a lot of Alders standing right Here they grow in pretty thick a lot of People just call them a really tall weed Around here because if you log and don't Replant the Alder is going to take over
Although they do make for really good Firewood and people are using them in Cabinets as well now Part of my motivation for doing this Video is to help keep other people safe Including my four sons who are now young Adults and they are interested in help Going out and clearing out the trees That we need to to open up space and Using it for firewood and they are not Familiar with what barber chairing is Really and how to protect from it so This is for my sons as well as everybody Out there When I first bought this property about 30 years ago I hadn't been a lot done a Lot of falling of trees and you could Touch an older hand-to-hand almost over My entire property they're in here so Thick so I was just laying them down Really fast building clearing my home Site And a little bit of a view and I Experienced a lot of arbitraring and That was because I didn't have Experience and I didn't know what was Going on and so as I learned more I Don't want to see other people doing the Same thing There's a couple things that you Can solve safe uh from a barber chair Number one learn how to cut the tree Properly and better so that it's less Likely to Barber chair and two make sure
That you can keep yourself clear Uh as I mentioned when I first started Considering my property I was pretty Ignorant of the factors that could play Into this and because my property is so Sloped the Alders tend to lean downhill On that and so I was thinking I didn't Need much of a pie cut because I thought The pie cut was to help direct the tree Which it is but it also helps take out Some of the front of the tree so that When you make the back cut there's not As many fibers and it can just fold over Quickly so when I came up to Alders with A lien like this well all I got to do is Put my chainsaw right into the back side Of this and it's going to fall and yes It is and it is going to fall that Direction but you're not releasing the Pressure on the front or the strength on The front so it want to fall out so you Need to know that just because a tree is Leaning yeah you know which way is Pretty much which way it's going to fall But you still need to put that pie cut In there Typically the pie cut or the face cut Needs to be about a third of the way Through and again sometimes people are Hesitant to do that on a Leaning Tree Because if you start to cut in the Downs The face that's downhill if the tree Leans a little bit it wants to pinch Your saw in there so it makes a little
Bit harder but you still need to get That face cut or that pie cut on the Front also you need to what you want to Have it open about 70 degrees or more so That it has a chance to Collapse on itself before it binds up Again and creates more pressure If an alder is in a thick stand like This and you cut down this Alder that's Leaning here that is potentially going To Barber chair if it gets caught up in These other trees up here uh it's going To want to kick the trunk to either side Or even push it back and so that makes It a little bit more hazardous so you Need to be aware is the tree going to be Able to freely fall or is it going to Potentially get caught up in other trees And create leverage if you look over Here this Alder that's leaning Significantly right here I plan to take That out here soon but it's got this Maple that I want to leave standing Right here so this tree is potentially Going to get caught up in mystery and Create some pressure to kick back Towards me so that's uh something I need To be aware of Uh obviously if you make the Proper Cuts The barber chair is a lot less likely to Happen but they can still happen Especially with these Alders there's a Lot of other variables that can help Make it safer when cutting these Alders
Down especially these that have this Lean on the hillside number one uh The tendency is when working on the Hillside to be in a hurry you don't want To it's hard to get good positioning and Uh just make a cut but you need to be Able to make sure that you have good Footing up on the hillside today is a Really wet day and there's a lot of Sloppy mud you want to make sure that There's decent traction and number two This is very typical of around here now It's late winter so all the leaves and Stuff are off but you could see the Briars and brush and blackberry vines Are all around here and you need to Clear at a good Escape Route so instead Of just getting in a hurry and putting The chain the chainsaw into the tree and Following it I need to make sure that I Have enough space around here cleared Out so that when the tree starts to fall I can take several steps that direction Or this direction and I can get out of The way [Music] Oh [Music] Another thing that may seem obvious but It's clearly not obvious to everyone is Don't put parts of your body in the way Where the tree May Barber tear and kick Back or put your face in the way I was Watching the ax man which is a really
Popular uh show here in the Pacific Northwest on logging and they were Talking about a guy that went a rookie That went to go cut Alders and they Found him his face was basically ripped Off and they didn't know if he was alive Or not but he had been cutting and on The tree with a lien like this it's Going to kick back this way and instead Of keeping your body back out of the way His face was his head was over it and When it Barber chaired it came up it Took his jaw rip basically ripped his Jaw off and a lot of his face and uh he Survived but uh it was a real bad Accident so if you have potential for Barber chair there's a variable here Don't get yourself in front of where It's going to kick up and catch you and When you're making your cut you need to Get your keep yourself back keep your Chainsaw in and keep your face and your Body away with your Escape uh safe Escape Route Last variable that makes things safer That I want to talk about is have a Sharp chain I've had some other trees That I had a good face cut on it and Cutting in the back side and you could See that the fiber is starting to split But on these small Alders like this I Had a sharp chain and I was cutting Through it really quick so I just kept Going
And because I had a sharp chain I was Able to take out all that fiber that was Going to hold on and create a barber Chair that I was able to get through it Quicker Well there you have it folks uh logging Can be dangerous even with Proper Cuts Trees can Barber chair Alder is Notorious for it happening control as Many variables as you can to keep it Safe and stay safe and enjoy working Outdoors Thanks for joining me on the Flanagan Homestead where Christmas trees are my Business teaching including Horticulture Is my job and outdoor projects like Developing my property are my passion Hope to see you again soon everyone be Blessed and stay safe [Applause] Thank you
