How not to remove a tree.

My friend Theo from RX-7Club had a tree problem; in the back of his yard, looming over his tool shed, a dead tree was about to fall on his house. The tree was about about a foot and a half in diameter.

To keep it from falling and breaking things, he wrapped a logging chain around the trunk and used a come-a-long to secure it to a larger tree nearby.


He asked the forum what he should do next:

I have already cut a small wedge out of the tree in the direction of the come-a-long... But not enough to get the tree leaning that way. Once it does start leaning or falling, it'll release the tension on the chain/cable... Then it won't pull anymore. How do I pull it down when the tension is off the cable?

Any other bright ideas before I go killing or breaking something?

He then went out and notched the tree in the direction of the shed:


And the next time he posted, we were graced with the following pictures:



Luckily the shed was crappy and he didn't care much, and the gutters aren't THAT bad ;)

You can read the thread for all the details, and the nom nom shedz tree, here.