leaner
The safest way is a little tricky if it's almost on the ground and sprung, first you must determin that there is no presure side ways where the tree could swing towards you , then you must check the ground that there are no imature trees already lieing down that may stand up when the root wad falls back into place, the next step is you need a good running sharp saw with a good escape route behind you start your cut about 4 ft away from the rootwad straight down everytime the tree starts to crack and pop pull your saw out of the cut and start a new one about 3 inches closer to the root repeat this until the presure on the tree is released and the tree is on the ground,be sure your body is on the rootwad side of the cut the root will not kick sideways but the tree can. you will need good eye protection it will make a real mess of the bottom 6 ft of the tree but it is probably one of the more safe and inexpensive ways to do it. Do not keep the saw in one cut to long or you will get pinched it should take about 8 cuts straight down , when you get to the point of about 15% of the tree holding on , the presure is off and the tree is lying on the ground you can then move about 10 feet up the trunk cut it right off there before cutting the last little bet off the root to keep from getting pinched. good luck let me know how you make out be safe wear the proper gear and have a second saw handy and a buddy.