If you can safely get a rope in the top do that before you make the first cut Wide notch on top and back cut from the bottom. It may take several progressive top-notch/back cuts to get it near vertical then pull back out of the tree its leaned into
Not sure about your definition of "fun" there, sir. Be careful, slow and steady just like the guy in your nickname.
That root ball is gonna want to stand back up for sure. Wide notch in the underside, careful top cut & leave a hinge just like felling a standing tree. When stuff moves, get clear! Hook to the base of the stem with a choker & pull it clear with a truck, tractor, winch, etc. Make firewood!
I think before I would do any cutting I would put a chain on that bad boy at the bottom and see if it would just drag free sideways with what is left holding at the root ball
A properly placed rope of C4 will do just as good as detcord. if done right it can look almost like it was cut with a chain saw. I second the try to pull the root ball and all out before trying to do any thing else since the C4 is hard to get. My second methoid would be to see if I could clear and then cut from the top down to the stump. May be pull the top lower even. Al
So far this is the only thing I know for sure: there is going to be a whole lot more time spent thinking about this than actually cutting. I’ve thought about notching the top of the trunk, cutting the bottom and getting it free that way. It’s so fetched up in the other trees I really don’t know if it will drop straight or roll and I don’t know which way it will roll. Not loving my odds on that one. I have a tractor and chain but it’s a forked tree interlaced with another forked tree so I can’t pull it free. May be able to at least loosen it so it drops farther and maybe I can safely start to get some pieces off and work from there. I don’t have high hopes this will actually help but it is at least reasonably safe if I use a long enough chain. I could cut the roots and try to drag it with a long chain (when it does start to move, it will be coming towards the tractor) but I’m not sure that a 55 horse tractor is even remotely strong enough for that. I’m not sure if the explosive ideas were in jest but I did consider a drill and a can of black powder to reduce the support tree. Of course when that doesn’t work, I’ll have a half way broken support tree to contend with. I’m pretty confident that when packing a hole full of black powder and blowing it up legitimately sounds like the best option, it is time to think of more options.
