i had to take down a huge oak that was in the arm pit of where my house was "L" shaped.
even had limbs hanging over the house.
I took it down limb by limb then dropped the "pole" that was left.

my friend did his pines the same way (I used his climbing gear). 80ft pines, he would climb them, top them then cut each limb. some he had to rig ropes from adjacent trees to lower the limbs,. then he would cut 4ft sections and drop them.
NOT ME. im not climbing 80ft and hanging from a swinging pine after topping it.

Even with "So Called Pros" there is anxiety..

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RZyzla18Ow4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Really!!

+1 I couldn't make it through the entire video. That's a few minutes of my life I'll never get back

That's how they keep their HDs runnin' at stop lights :)

I had a girl's bike fer years....straight pipes...VROOM, VROOM ;)

I've got old old growth trees on my acreage near Seattle.


6-8 foot diameter trees.


I've counted 100 rings per inch.


yes that's a 6 foot step ladder.


I'm building a RC truggy crawler course over it.


stumps are 14-16 foot high. 2 spring boards upper notches are still there.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1568302783.JPG

You need a 5' bar ....fer drinkin' :)

How old are the trees...they vary so here...one red oak I counted (mebbe 5' dia) went back to Revolutionary times...not "that" old. A similar white oak in size might be 80... twigs for you ;)!

Uncle Billy,
I think what you are calling a wedge, I would call the notch. To me, a wedge is a wood or nylon piece placed in the kerf on the back side of the cut to stabilize the tree so the bar isn't pinched if the mass of the tree is not helping it go where it needs to fall.
I agree, the remaining wood between the notch and the main cut will control the direction of fall, if you do it right.
And that guy's chain is duller than mine!

Milt,
Many years ago, I worked for a couple of winters with a guy who was always blipping the throttle, possibly a hold over from days of running a saw which wouldn't idle. The boss used to remark that the guy cut twice as much air as wood.
Best
Les

Same dull saw guy trimmed all of my trees. No fear in these fellas.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1568334330.jpg

Glad he is ok, but that was all kinds of stupid. You have no idea what kind of tensions are on the base of that tree. It could have kicked sideways and killed him like nothing.