terkio wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2019 1:25 am
From my limited experience at cutting down trees.
They mostly fall the way they want to.
over the decades I've cut a bunch of trees but I am far from expert. Yes, that is my experience too, they fall where their center of mass pulls them unless steered with lines.
Ropes to persuade them to fall another side is likely bound to failure.
I actually had some professional tree guys in my yard about a year ago trimming a bunch of branches from my stand of old pine trees, and taking down one leaner. They had the advantage of a bucket truck so they could attach a steering line higher up the tree where it can be more effective.
It all depends of the side they have more weight and the side they lean too. This must be carefully inspected.
I've been inspecting this particular tree for over a year and it is still standing uncut because of my respect for the mass (its a lot of tree), and height that means it could hit a neighbors building if it falls wrong.
Dangerous ones are those where that is not clear.
Only dangerous if you ignore the reality. I had a dear old neighbor, now RIP who ran a logging company in his prime so he knew stuff about cutting trees. According to him the most dangerous are dead trees where you cannot see inside to completely understand the internal structure, especially if rotten. I cut down one decent sized and rotten tree in his yard (three different kinds of ants inside) a few years ago and he wouldn't get within 50 yards of the tree while I was cutting. He has seen trees just about explode when cut into as they disintegrate violently in unexpected ways. I respected his concern and that tree came down safely.
Back to my current project. This tree hit by lightning 2(?) years ago is dead as a door nail, so should be prime ant food, but I do not see evidence of structural deterioration. I had a huge pecan tree fall a while back because ants weakened the trunk on one side. With the come along I applied so much force the first nylon tow rope failed (all but one strand sheared), and the tree barely budged after over a week under tension.
I am not in a hurry and hopeful that my come along applying force in the general direction I want it to fall could help it come down gracefully. If I let nature take it down, I don't have to explain to my neighbor how it hit his store.
JR
Cancel the "cancel culture", do not support mob hatred.
Then about midday I heard a loud pop and that nylon tow rope let go... 
