Need help or opinion on best way to fell this tree

[spoons]

Hey all, I could use your help on how to best fell this tree. This is my backyard and my concern is hitting my fence.

My son and i have cut down all the branches on the left side except the tallest one. I cannot reach the branches with my telescoping saw and i don’t want to cut it low for fear of damaging my fence.

I was thinking of felling the entire tree towards the hillside but i fear it may roll and damage the fence. The trunk leans away from the picture right out of the ground.

My thought is if i can get that left branch cut i can cut most of the branches on the right pretty easy. I just don’t want to cut anything on the right just yet until i get rid of that weight on the left.

I’m using a 346xp and it cuts like a hot knife on butter but I’m a novice at tree felling. I do have the appropriate ppe gear though.

I will upload an updated picture in the morning. Thanks in advance.

 

[spoons]

 

[wood4heat]

Dig a hole right up against the tree on the fence side. Fill it with TNT. The explosion will send the tree far enough uphill to clear your fence!

Worked on the Oregon Coast in the 70ies. It’s all explained here:

 

[CacaoBoy]

I was thinking of felling the entire tree towards the hillside but i fear it may roll and damage the fence. The trunk leans away from the picture right out of the ground.

Right now it looks like the 3 major branches are fairly evenly distributed off the trunk, so, yeah, rolling is a distinct possibility. But even if you removed that left branch right at the point it meets the trunk, with that steep of a slope there would be a danger that what remained would skid downslope into the fence. You might anchor it with a cable to keep it from skidding far, but an inadequate cable could be very dangerous.

I think that you will want to remove all three remaining branches close to the trunk before cutting the trunk. If you get a line on the branch before cutting you should be able to control, or at least influence, the direction of fall to prevent it coming down on, or rolling into, the fence.

 

[Flintknapper]

That is rough location to work on any tree. The object here would be NOT to 'fell' the tree in the traditional sense of it falling under it's own weight but to 'gradually' pull (control) it over. If it were me...I would go ahead and remove the other limbs (to the right). Get all the weight you can off the tree. It isn't going anywhere. It appears it has a substantial, short trunk to it.

Get all the other limbs off of it, then clear the entire area around it. You are working on a pretty bad slope and have tall, dead (slippery) grass under foot, so be very careful.

I would create an anchor point uphill of the tree. A large earth auger (the kind used for tying down Mobile Homes) could be augered in. A come-along attached to that. Then a GOOD, sturdy rope tied off to the remaining tree limb. Make a fairly shallow face cut on the uphill side (1/4 diameter of trunk), use a very steep face so the trunk will not close up on itself when the tree does begin to fall.

It looks like the trunk is large enough in diameter to use wedges. I would put moderate pressure on the come-along when starting your back cut. Only cut enough to get a wedge in from each side. NEVER put too much pressure on the pulling line because its job is simply help GUIDE the tree uphill. IF you pull too hard (instead of lifting the tree with the wedges) you risk splitting out the trunk. You want to leave a BIG hinge (holding wood) on this one. Remember you want to gently/slowly apply pressure with the rope and the wedges as you feather the back cut (just a little at time). Depending upon what kind of wood it is...you can very likely get the tree going in the right direction.

NOTE: At NO time should you be directly downhill or behind the trunk. GO SLOWLY.