My next door neighbor is a fireman and they had some sort of class on felling trees. The preferred method was to cut the notch, then plunge cut through the side so that the back cut is started at the hinge. Cut back leaving a strap in place. Now pound wedges on either side of that strap before finishing off the strap piece there.
Now the tree is braced and wedged should the weight be a bit wrong and you can force it against the lean a bit more than you'd expect. Seemed like a PITA, but we took down a good sized pine like this and pushed it the other direction.
I was reminded vaguely of the felling method that someone posted here on a palm tree, but with a wedge in either side ti would be stabilized a bit more I think.
Anyway- this seemed to add a measure of safety that might help newbies, though plunge/bore cutting requires some skill/safety consideration in itself.
Now the tree is braced and wedged should the weight be a bit wrong and you can force it against the lean a bit more than you'd expect. Seemed like a PITA, but we took down a good sized pine like this and pushed it the other direction.
I was reminded vaguely of the felling method that someone posted here on a palm tree, but with a wedge in either side ti would be stabilized a bit more I think.
Anyway- this seemed to add a measure of safety that might help newbies, though plunge/bore cutting requires some skill/safety consideration in itself.