This is really good advice from guitarborist, please do not overlook it. One of the big bummers about working on a dead tree is that something was wrong with the tree or it would not have died. Sometimes there is little evidence on the outside of major problems on the inside. Without good wood on the inside all the good advice on hinges becomes null and void. Without solid roots a good pull can get you more than you bargained for.
These "Cell Phone" picts are pretty low resolution, but this Loblolly (005 and 010) had no apparent defects on the outside. If someone had asked me to take it down I probably would have fired up on it without hesitation, expecting a good hinge. But the heart was almost completely rotted out of it. A good blow from a thunderstorm took it down. 006 is an example of a pulled root on a neighboring tree. Note the seperation (black crack between root and ground) on the right side of the root.
Well that said and yes careful inspection is a must, I still want my winch
on it. Just because it has a defect makes me want it more. Adequate pull
is a must and if a defect is present still has to be pulled to drop. I don't
get this mentality and if the defect is bad enough I aint climbing the dern
tree. I have felled many thousands of trees hollow,dead,big,huge and little
with a winch! I never have had the problems with chair because I do the
initial pull and kill it in gear the winch will then pull as soon as the truck is started back up! With the truck killed and starting my back cut I can tell
if more needs applied by watching the kerf and if it does not start widening
a little when two inches is left on the hinge, I kill the saw explain exactly
what I want done and safely bring it down. Oh and chair is not
too dangerous if you are quite some distance away, as some hollows after the initial pull mentioned and back cut at two inch
I have the wife bump a little and if it moves easy signal to yard it,
she steps on gas and wolla, it comes the way its pulled.