40", 157 ft tall black cottonwood

[ArtB]

Going to drop this tree, setup to drop will be per attached pix. Do not simply want to pull it over with cable 1 as the 2 near buildings are wellhouses and I do not want to disturb the upper soil.

Cables (1/2 and 3/4) attached at 45 ft height (end of straight section of tree)

Before I get responses as given to other non-pro arborists, I have felled literally 1000's of Fir, alder, and maple up to 3 ft dia. in logging operations. This particular cottonwood has nearly all the branch weight on one side over the pumphouses and probably the most weight lopsided big tree near buildings I've dealt with.

The question is what are some of the pro's and cons' of chaining (1/2 HS chain) the bole to the stump across the hinge line. (will definetely chain the bole to prevent barberchair) The thought is here that I do not want the bole to jump sideways and take out the nearer pump house due to roll that is probable due to the unsymetrical nature of the crown. Felling cut will be open (95 deg) cut.

BTW, this is my own property, and yes, professional arborists have looked at it - this is my first post on this site. Also plan to park a few junk cars in the fall path for future pix. <G>.

 

[treeclimber165]

You should consider a rope of at least 6000# breaking strength routed from the tractor up into the crown of the tree, through a solid crotch and down the backside of the trunk, tied around the trunk above your notch. This will give you substantially more leverage than a rope or chain simply attached to a high fork.

Imagine someone tying a rope around your neck and trying to pull you over. Then imagine someone running that rope over your shoulder and tying it to your ankles and trying to pull you over. The amount of leverage is at least double with equal amounts of pull.
Do not use just any old rope for this. A good rope that is not dry rotted, nicked or tied together in little pieces is very important. You will have a substantial amount of tension on it and it cannot break. The higher you can set the rope, the more leverage you will have. A person pulling a rope set at 100'+ will have more leverage than a tractor pulling a chain set at 40'

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I've never chained across the hinge, but I have often used a rope running from the bottom of the spar, just above the cut, to another tree in the opposite direction from what I was trying to avoid. As an arborist, I have lots of ropes and no chains, but a chain should work.
How about before, during, and after pictures, for our entertainment?

 

[ArtB]

Thanks Mike and treeclimber.
I'll add both suggestions to the lashup. I've lots of 1/2 and 3/8 wire rope, so will put another cable thru the higher fork and bring it down the back.
One of the local arborists stayed (I get chips from him) and gave some additional advise on techniques to get a cottonwood to twist on the way down to rotate the big left hand branch so it hits the ground first, mostly involving specific wedge placement and tapered hinge.

The photo is looking in the direction of fall (north), you can see the high weight and lean to the left of the nearest cottonwood. The biggest upper branch is right over the pumphouse with the 30 ft tower. Probably won't drop it till a few weeks from now, awful wet this week yet, and need to get the added cable up to the about 70+ ft fork. . Will post an after pix, even if I have to rebuild the pumphouse?

PS: will remove some of the alder that could hang up the fall.