# What Is A Barber Chair?



## Kevin

I forget the thread but somewhere down the line this topic came up and I mentioned I would intentionally cause a barber chair the next time the opportunity presented itself. It did today, and for instructional purposes there couldn't have been a better specimen, so to speak. This tree had a lot going for it, for me to readily say _"I'm going to risk my life to create a barber chair tutorial"_. But it did. And I did.

That may be a tad melodramatic, but this really was the perfect specimen. It had just enough lean and top weight that I knew there was just the right amount of tension|compression wood along an invisible line (that only us loggers can "see") that I felt comfortable releasing so much energy so "haphazardly". It also had something else going for it. A nice big fat healthy ash - also leaning dramatically but well able to take the weight of the target tree, that I knew it would stop the BE from going over before I could evacuate. When I mentioned in my logging thread that I had hung two trees today, I didn't count this one because I hung this one intentionally.






Never mind that I was hovering 2 feet above the forest floor, you get the idea. You can see that huge vertical opening in the tree . . . that is what we call a barber chair. I actually made my cuts from the opposite side from where the graphic logger is making his cut but you get idea. If I had not chosen this tree to make my tutorial, where the big healthy ash could catch it for me, and I had not been standing away from the direction of the barber chair, that "split trunk" could have punted my head into the next county.

I took another picture of it close up, but it was so blurry I thought better not to post it. I'll take some more tomorrow when I go back in. Do we all now understand what a barber chair is?

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Great Post 5 | Way Cool 1 | Informative 4


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## JR Custom Calls

Thanks for posting Kevin. I've read lots of bad stuff about these, and that was all that was going through my head today cutting that tree that was hollow. 

In your opinion, would a tree that's heavy on one side that is also rotten in the middle pose a risk of barber chairing if cut in the 'traditional' sense (notch and back cut)? 

I'm really trying to learn how to log safely, as I have 3 kids and a wife to support (although, I am worth more dead haha).


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## woodtickgreg

Excellent post Kevin.  Really tells folks how dangerous felling timbers can be. I have done it too, makes a pretty scarey pop when it lets go, you will never forget it.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## kazuma78

Boy that would tear your head right off wouldn't it. That's a grisly picture


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## woodtickgreg

Jonathan, always have an escape route, and never have your body or head in the line of fire.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## NYWoodturner

I never knew what it was called - I always called it "A reason to have to cut down two trees"

Reactions: Funny 5


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## Kevin

JR Custom Calls said:


> In your opinion, would a tree that's heavy on one side that is also rotten in the middle pose a risk of barber chairing if cut in the 'traditional' sense (notch and back cut)?



Absolutely. Big hollow trees are killers if you don't do your due diligence even if they don't have much lean they can still be widow makers.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1 | Useful 1


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## JR Custom Calls

woodtickgreg said:


> Jonathan, always have an escape route, and never have your body or head in the line of fire.


Clearing a path is always the first thing I do... and I always make sure I can get away from any angle, not just back from the way I expect it to fall. 



Kevin said:


> Absolutely. Big hollow trees are killers if you don't do your due diligence even if they don't have much lean they can still be widow makers.


Thanks! Seemed like I had read that somewhere. Guess watching a lot of youtube videos (from places like husqvarna, not redneck joe), and reading up on logging forums was a good idea.


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## DKMD

That's a great trick... Perfect half-round bowl blanks!

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## Tony

Is there a reason to create a barber chair or did you do this to show the danger of it happening accidentally? I've never logged before, so I don't understand. Also, my name is Tony, and I'm a little slow

Reactions: Great Post 1


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## ironman123

Thanks. Kevin.


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## Kevin

Tony said:


> Is there a reason to create a barber chair or did you do this to show the danger of it happening accidentally?





Kevin said:


> I forget the thread but somewhere down the line this topic came up and I mentioned I would intentionally cause a barber chair the next time the opportunity presented itself.





Tony said:


> .... my name is Tony, and I'm a little slow



Bless its little pea-pickin heart . . . .

Reactions: Funny 4 | +Karma 1


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## Tony

I still don't understand Kevin, you'll have to speak in monosyllabic sentences for me to get it.


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## DKMD

Tony said:


> I still don't understand Kevin, you'll have to speak in monosyllabic sentences for me to get it.



Huh?(the only single syllable sentence that came to mind)

Reactions: Funny 5


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## Tony

DKMD said:


> Huh?(the only single syllable sentence that came to mind)



What?


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## justallan

Jonathan, I will second the idea of hollow and rotted trees being very, VERY dangerous. What I do is saw out my wedge and then come around to the back and just as soon as you have room start using nylon wedges. With a tree being hollow you end up with way less of a hinge so I'll leave it a bit thicker to let it have the strength so it doesn't come straight down onto my saw.

Another huge caution about the same as barber chairs is when you are limbing the tree once it's on the ground. Remember that now sometimes only 3-4-5 limbs are bent and carrying the weight of the entire tree. These branches will go where they want and fast, plus while your dodging them try to keep in mind that you just knocked one of the legs out from under you tree and it's coming also. What I do is either walk beside or down the tree, sawing ONLY the branches that are free from the ground and not pinned by other branches. I then put a cable on it and pull it over with the truck and go get the rest of the branches.
Just be careful and do plenty of walking around your tree and when you think you have a plan, walk around it again.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## EastmansWoodturning

Bore cutting is the safest way to cut most trees and most if not all insurance companies ( we use to have Nor Tim till it went broke) require it. Establish your notch, bore in behind it and establish your hinge, from there cut towards the back, add wedges as needed and continue towards the back leaving enough in the back to hold the tree, when ready and wedges are where needed come around to the back of the tree and cut what is left holding the tree.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Informative 1


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## Kevin

I agree Todd. I have given that advice here before I probably should have also included a proper way to drop a leaner.


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## JR Custom Calls

As an after thought yesterday, I should have mounted my dads gopro on an adjacent tree and uploaded the video for a critique of my cutting. Hindsight. 

I felt good about the bore cut though, and will likely utilize that cut every opportunity I have.


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## EastmansWoodturning

It also helps if they have a big enough saw and know how to sharpen it. Bringing your electric chainsaw out with the safety chain on it to fell trees is like bringing a knife to a gun fight, chances are you'll lose. When in doubt let one of us loggers that know what we are doing and have the experience handle the tree cutting PLEASE.


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## Kevin

EastmansWoodturning said:


> It also helps if they have a big enough saw and know how to sharpen it. Bringing your electric chainsaw out with the safety chain on it to fell trees is like bringing a knife to a gun fight, chances are you'll lose. When in doubt let one of us loggers that know what we are doing and have the experience handle the tree cutting PLEASE.



I disagree. If you had taken your own advice you would never have become a logger yourself. Everyone starts somewhere. As long as someone seeks proper training and conscientiously educates themselves they can become safe, effective loggers. And "having a big enough saw" is relative and often overrated.

Reactions: Agree 3


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## EastmansWoodturning

I see your point but some of us are born loggers and a lot never will be. I have had a good share of training green horns and have seen some really bad accidents ( +1 death) and even being experienced have had a lot of close calls even when you do as you should. There is not a lot of room for operator error. And I still feel home owners with questionable trees beyond there comfortable capability should have someone experience handle them for them.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Kevin

Todd, at WB we help each other out. I'm a member of numerous logging and forestry forums but I rarely post on them because loggers, more than most groups, seem to have some axe to grind (see what I did there). Most loggers especially the young ones still full of testosterone want to bring this attitude that they are some elite group of warriors that others must worship and bow down to. We don't have that kind of attitude here because most of us are grown men who see through that bullshite. The vast majority of the younger men here may not have our experience, but they have the humility and respect and willingness to learn that it takes to become good at anything they attempt.

The idea that someone is "born a logger" is funny and made me shirk at the thought of the poor mother giving birth to a baby with a running chainsaw in its hands. 

Anyone with an IQ above 90 can be trained to be a safe effective logger. In fact, many of the loggers I've been around probably had an IQ closer to 60.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Great Post 3


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## EastmansWoodturning

Kevin you took it all in a bad way maybe my words were not chosen so not to offend the softer at heart and in no way said anything of being elite and deserving any worship or to make any feel ignorant. I am in no way saying the trade can't be learned but needs to be respected with some common sense which is a trait lost by a lot. Not into arguing and having someone interpret and put words in my mouth as someone should be worshiping them. Stay safe guys just don't want to see anyone get hurt over a tree.


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## DLJeffs

I still don't get the resemblance to a barber chair. Barber chairs are pretty cool - they spin around, can be levered up and down, are generally very comfortable to sit in what with their foot rest and all. One certainly cannot sit on or in that leaning broken tree, while it does have some coolness about it - it can spring apart and rip your head off. Maybe it should be called a "jammed grain auger" or "my uncle's cantankerous old bull" or something.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## Kevin

DLJeffs said:


> I still don't get the resemblance to a barber chair. Barber chairs are pretty cool - they spin around, can be levered up and down, are generally very comfortable to sit in what with their foot rest and all. One certainly cannot sit on or in that leaning broken tree, while it does have some coolness about it - it can spring apart and rip your head off. Maybe it should be called a "jammed grain auger" or "my uncle's cantankerous old bull" or something.



The best explanation I can offer is to ask you to consider what came up with the name . . . . . some logger's brain.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## ripjack13

I found a video last night...crazy how fast things happen...about 30 seconds into the video.


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## gman2431

Almost got him when he went back in for it. Holy moly!


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## Kevin

He didn't even have a proper under cut so you knew right off he has had no training either professional or even self taught. The gov site below shows two proven methods of falling leaners. The first method shown is for preventing side tear out - the second method is known in the industry as a coos bay cut (the one using the "triangle" cut). The bottom plunge cut method is more widely used and is the one I use mostly when falling leaners although I did use a coos bay cut on a nightmare humongous hollow cedar once to great effect (that I documented on a logging forum). 

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/manual/felling/cuts/special_techniques.html

Reactions: Like 3 | Informative 1


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## Mike Mills

DLJeffs said:


> I still don't get the resemblance to a barber chair.QUOTE]



I don't know either but to hazard a guess. With either you could be in for a "close shave".

Reactions: Funny 1


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