I'm not sure I have enough arm to throw a rope up over this so we can get the cable around it so we can yank it down, maybe a job for Mother Nature.
Hanging on good then! Do you have a come-a-long? Maybe ratchet pull it down if you can get the cable around it, considering if you're worried about being able to throw a rope?
We usually throw the rope up and over and then pull the cable up and around.....hook that up to the winch and down it comes. It's in an area we use to use until it was damaged in some high winds.
X2. It isn't worth your risk. Better to work on something else. It will come down on its own eventually. Seems you have more than your fair share of trees that are hung-up.
I considered dropping a good Cherry into it but since we don't use that area much, I'll let Mother Nature take care of it.
I am no expert, but I am a creative thinker. You know how you can have a section of chainsaw chain in the middle of a rope to throw over and cut down a branch from afar, is it possible to fell a tree in the same manner from a safe distance? Just a crazy idea, Probably not worth it.
I'd seriously consider cutting it off at the butt, like as follows: Make face cut in the direction you want it to fall, bore the back cut, attach cable winch above those cuts with chains/straps keeping the winch operator far enough away where you grab a healthy tree with the other end of the winch. Finish the backcut with polesaw, then winch the butt free. Until ready to fell it, it's a good idea to set line/winch in the opposite direction to restrain it so it doesn't surprise you by falling prematurely. Of course, work up plans B, C, D, etc. with nothing in stone.
A arborist buddy of mine came over to help me top a few trees. He whipped out his throw line and threw it right up over some high crotches. It was basically a small bean bag and some slick line. Worked very well.
Water balloon slingshot launcher and a bean bag tied to the rope will get you in biz. Or you can buy the arborist version for about $150 last time I checked.
I'd choke it with a cable as far up as you can get. Then open notch cut away from the leaner, leaving much more hinge than would let it fall. Use whatever implement you have to yank it over the rest of the way.
TreeStuff sells an air cannon for launching throw weights. Not the cheapest thing in the world, but it's the only way to deal with stuff like that. I have a 60' black locust that looks a lot like that - snapped off 40' up and hung up in a nice sugar maple. I don't think mother nature is going to help me with that one any time soon. That one, and a couple others are what I had in mind when I bought it. It's completely hidden up in the canopy right now though, so that's going to be a fall project. I would **STRONGLY** advise against trying to drop another tree onto it, or standing underneath it while you cut into the trunk with the chainsaw. If dropping the second tree on it doesn't knock it loose, you could end up with 2 trees hung up into a *really* ugly snag. Also, you don't know what kind of leverage that thing is going to want to exert on the top of the spar; it could well be enough to send the tree over earlier than you planned, and of course you don't want to be standing underneath it when it does decide to let go. Of course you might get lucky, but I prefer not to rely on luck when the wager is my life. Be safe out there!
