From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   On 11/27/2025 6:55 AM, Liz Tuddenham wrote:   
   > Don Y  wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   >> I had a tall tree in the front yard that I wanted to fell.  There was only   
   >> one likely direction to drop it -- straight across the street -- where it   
   >> wouldn't OBVIOUSLY hit some other structure.  But, still no guarantee that   
   >> it wouldn't span the distance and clobber the neighbor's property directly   
   >> across from me!   
   >   
   > Starting from the bottom, take the branches off one-by-one   
   > (symmetrically, so as not to off-balance it) until you can get a ladder   
   > near the top.  Then cut off a small section of the top, using ropes to   
   > make it fall away from your ladder.  Then cut a bit further down etc.   
   > until it is a manageable height.   
      
   [That's how I felled the Mulberry tree in the back yard -- with a bow saw   
   and ropes (by myself).  But, it was only 25 ft tall so entirely manageable.   
   There, it's "bushiness" was the bigger problem than its height.]   
      
   After the measurement exercise, it was apparent that I couldn't drop the   
   tree "straight" across the street as it would have ended up crashing into   
   the neighbors fence/yard/swimming pool.  So, I had to drop it diagonally,   
   across the roadway.   
      
   I fastened a pull rope about 20 ft up the trunk and enlisted 4 neighbors   
   to "coax" it in the correct direction, after having appropriately placed   
   front and back cuts to encourage it to fall that way (the distribution of   
   the foliage at the upper branches made it difficult to determine how it   
   would WANT to fall).   
      
   After it fell, quickly cutting it into 10 ft sections so we could haul it   
   off the roadway and let traffic resume.   
      
   [The tree was 80 ft tall.  No way I was going to carry a chainsaw even   
   *15* feet up the tree in an effort to "top it".  That's a job for an arborist!   
   Neighbors hired a guy to take out 3 Ponderosa Pines -- each over 100 ft   
   tall -- in our adjoining back yards.  The guy was like a monkey CLIMBING   
   the tree with a chainsaw hanging off his belt, lopping off branches as   
   he ascended until he could top it and work his way back down!]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)