7 Best Safety Wedges For Directional Felling That Prevent Barber Chairs
Avoid dangerous barber chairs. Our guide to the 7 best felling wedges helps you control the fall and ensure a safer, cleaner cut every time.
You’re standing there, saw in hand, looking up at a dead ash that needs to come down before it falls on the fence line. You’ve made your notch and started the back cut, but the saw kerf is pinching your bar—a sure sign the tree has a heavy forward lean. This is the exact moment a simple piece of plastic, a felling wedge, becomes the most important tool you own, standing between a controlled drop and a dangerous, explosive barber chair.
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How Wedges Prevent Dangerous Barber Chairs
A "barber chair" is one of the most terrifying things you can witness when felling a tree. It happens when a tree splits vertically up the trunk as it begins to fall, sending a massive slab of wood kicking back at lethal speed toward the operator. This failure is often caused by internal stresses in the tree, especially those with a heavy forward lean, which puts immense pressure on the hinge wood.
A felling wedge is your defense against this. As you make your back cut, you hammer a wedge into the cut behind the bar. This accomplishes two critical things at once. First, it keeps the cut open, preventing the tree’s weight from pinching your saw bar.
More importantly, the wedge exerts lifting pressure on the back of the tree. This pressure counteracts the compression forces that want to split the trunk. By lifting the tree and pushing it forward, the wedge ensures the hinge wood can do its job properly, guiding the tree to the ground in a controlled fall. It’s not just about aiming the tree; it’s about managing the incredible forces at play from start to finish.
Husqvarna Felling Wedges: A Trusted Choice
Control tree felling and splitting with this 4-pack of durable ABS plastic wedges. Serrated edges provide superior grip, and a included carry bag offers convenient storage.
When you see that familiar Husqvarna orange, you know you’re getting a tool built for work. Their felling wedges are no different. They’re typically made from a high-impact polystyrene that’s tough enough to take repeated hits from a sledge without shattering, yet soft enough that it won’t wreck your chainsaw chain if you accidentally make contact.
Husqvarna offers wedges in various sizes, but the 5.5-inch and 8-inch models are the most useful for typical hobby farm tasks. The smaller size is perfect for clearing brush or felling smaller firewood trees. The larger sizes give you the extra lift needed for medium-sized trees that might have a slight back-lean.
Their surfaces are often textured, giving them a decent grip inside the cut so they don’t spit back out at you. Think of them as the reliable standard. They aren’t the most specialized, but they are durable, visible, and consistently get the job done without any fuss, making them a staple in any woodcutter’s kit.
Stihl Pro Felling wedges for Maximum Lift
If Husqvarna is the trusty farm truck, Stihl is the high-performance machine you bring out for the really tough jobs. Stihl’s wedges are engineered for maximum effectiveness, often featuring a more aggressive taper and unique surface patterns. This design allows them to generate significant lift with each hammer strike.
This extra lifting power is crucial in tricky situations. Imagine you need to drop a tree that’s leaning slightly toward a shed. You need to defy gravity, and that’s where a Stihl wedge shines. The powerful lift helps overcome that back-lean, pushing the tree over the tipping point in your desired direction.
You might pay a little more for them, but you’re paying for performance under pressure. For routine felling, they might be overkill. But for those challenging trees where you need absolute confidence and control, having a high-lift wedge in your bag is invaluable insurance.
Oregon 5.5-Inch Wedges: Versatile and Tough
Sometimes, you just need a tool that works, is easy to find, and doesn’t cost a fortune. That’s the Oregon felling wedge. They are the workhorses of the woods—tough, affordable, and available just about everywhere.
The 5.5-inch size, in particular, is the perfect all-rounder for a small property. It’s small enough to fit in your back pocket but has enough lift for most trees you’d be felling for firewood or clearing a pasture edge. They’re made of a very durable, high-impact plastic that can absorb a ton of punishment.
You don’t have to worry about babying these wedges. If you lose one in the leaf litter or it gets chewed up after a few seasons, replacing it is no big deal. Their combination of toughness and value makes them a smart, practical choice for everyday felling tasks.
Timber Tuff Spiked Wedges for Superior Grip
A standard wedge can sometimes slip, especially in frozen wood or smooth-barked species like beech. A wedge that backs out of the cut at a critical moment is a serious safety hazard. This is precisely the problem Timber Tuff’s spiked wedges are designed to solve.
These wedges have small, sharp barbs or "spikes" molded into their surface. As you drive the wedge into the back cut, these spikes dig into the wood fiber. This creates a powerful grip that prevents the wedge from slipping or being pushed out by the immense pressure of the tree’s weight.
This feature is a game-changer for winter cutting or when dealing with hardwoods that vibrate heavily during the cut. That extra grip provides peace of mind, ensuring the wedge stays put and continues to do its job. It’s a specialized feature, but one you’ll be deeply thankful for when conditions are less than ideal.
Forester Tapered Wedges for Easy Starting
One of the most frustrating parts of using a wedge can be just getting it started in a tight saw kerf. If a wedge is too thick at the tip, you can find yourself struggling to get it seated properly while also managing your saw. Forester wedges often feature a thin, gradual taper that makes this process much easier.
This slender profile allows the tip of the wedge to slide into even a narrow cut with minimal effort. You can give it a few light taps to seat it securely before you commit to driving it home with heavier blows. This makes a huge difference when you’re working alone and need a free hand.
It’s a small design detail, but one that shows a real understanding of the felling process. By making the wedge easier to start, it makes the entire operation smoother and safer. You spend less time fumbling and more time focused on the tree.
K&H Multi-Pack: The All-in-One Wedge Kit
You should never go into the woods to fell a tree with just one wedge. You often need to "stack" wedges—driving one in, then adding a second one beside it for more lift—or use multiple wedges to steer a particularly large tree. Buying wedges one by one can get expensive, which is where a multi-pack comes in.
K&H and other brands offer convenient kits that typically include a range of sizes, like a 5.5-inch, an 8-inch, and a 10-inch wedge. This gives you a versatile toolkit right out of the box. You have the right tool for small, medium, and larger trees without having to guess which size you’ll need most.
For someone just building their felling gear, a multi-pack is the most economical and practical way to get started. It ensures you’re prepared for different scenarios. Having options is key to safety, and a good wedge kit provides exactly that.
Cold Creek Wedges: Durability for Hardwoods
Felling a dense, heavy hardwood like oak, hickory, or sugar maple is a different beast entirely. The wood is less forgiving, the weight is immense, and the forces exerted on your tools are extreme. A standard, all-purpose wedge can deform or even shatter under this kind of punishment.
This is where heavy-duty wedges like those from Cold Creek prove their worth. They are made from extremely tough polymers specifically chosen for their ability to withstand repeated, high-impact blows without failing. They are built to resist cracking in the cold and mushrooming at the head after seasons of hard use.
Investing in a premium, durable wedge for hardwood felling isn’t about preference; it’s about safety. A tool failure in the middle of dropping a two-ton oak tree is not a situation you ever want to be in. For the toughest jobs on your property, use a wedge that you know can handle the abuse.
Ultimately, the best felling wedge is the one you have with you and are willing to use on every single tree. Whether it’s a basic workhorse or a specialized high-lift model, this simple tool is a non-negotiable piece of safety equipment. Choosing the right one for the trees on your land is a small decision that prevents a catastrophic failure, ensuring you go home safe at the end of the day.
