Should an amateur take on a leaning tree near the house?

[Oregon40Acres]

As some of you may recall, I'm quite the dilettante when it comes to felling trees. I can bring down an isolated straight conifer, and I can even get a straight conifer to drop pretty much where I want it to drop. Whoop-de-doo! However, I have a problem Douglas fir right at the corner of my house. It's not dead yet, but it's dying, and it must come down. My wife and I agreed to hire a professional to bring it down, but this tree is leaning way, way over and AWAY from the house. A plumb line dropped from the vertical portion of the trunk would hit the ground six feet from the base. There's absolutely no question that even the most incompetent person could bring it down without it falling onto the house. However, what gives me pause is the possibility of the trunk kicking back into the house. This tree is 32" diameter at the base and is only eight feet from the corner of the house, and only 6 feet from the corner of the eave. When it comes down, it will go wherever it dang well pleases to go.

My plan would be to start with a substantial fore cut, taking out a big wedge underneath it. Then I'd make the back cut with the aim of getting the hinge right at the center of the tree. I'd make the cuts at the point However, my chain saw has only a 20" bar, which means I'll be cutting in from all angles--never a good strategy.

Here's a link to a page showing photos of the situation:

{I've been warned that posting links to other pages is a no-no, so I have removed the link to the photos.}

I intend to make the cut at about the point where the two white lines converge on the tree.

So, what would you guys recommend? Should I play it safe and hire a professional? Or should I save myself some money by doing it myself? To put it another way, is the risk that it will do major damage to the house less than the cost of hiring a professional?

[Andries]

Whether a pro arborist drops the tree, or you take it on, it looks like a prime candidate for the very exciting 'barber chair' split.
That's when the trunk develops a fast moving split, due to the release of internal stresses. That split races up, fast as a scalded cat, as the felling cut is being made.
As the split moves up, the weight of the tree pushes downward, kicking the upper portion of the trunk toward the house. Youtube 'tree felling barber chair' to see some educational OMG footage. 
The answer to that nasty scenario is a beefy loading strap. 
Not a 3/4" inch - "strap the baby mattress to the roof of my SmartCar" variety. 
A wide 10,000+ rated, testosterone loaded highway-rig load strap. 
Ratcheted tight about three feet off the ground, it'll prevent the split from cancelling your dinner plans. 
Others may render advice about opening cuts, bore cutting and the use of wedges. 
Whichever way, and who-ever - bind up that trunk!
Looks like nice and easy drop - have fun and come home happy.

[Oregon40Acres]

Thanks for that tip. I was aware of barber chair problems but the strap solution you describe is new to me. Being an overly cautious guy, I'll probably use three big straps. And these don't sound like things I want to buy at Harbor Freight Tools. I did a quick search and the strapping that I can get at Home Depot or Lowe's is all rated too low. How about chain? I've got plenty of 3/8" chain. I don't think that a single loop of 3/8" chain would be sufficient, but what if I wrapped around maybe five loops?

[lxskllr]

Andries' advice is pretty good. What would /I/ do? I'd climb it, and take it down from the top. I don't necessarily recommend it if you don't have climbing experience, or even if you do really. It's the harder way to go, but less chance of barberchair, and I'm always looking for an excuse to put on spurs  :shrugs:

I would also consider taking it from the bottom, but I'd be where you are; asking questions here. I'd study it in person, formalize a plan, then ask here to get feedback from the more experienced members. I'm even less qualified to give advice based on photos than I am in person.

[hedgerow]

Years ago I wouldn't even gave it a thought. I hooked a chain,rope,cable and a tractor,pickup or what ever and put a little pressure on it and cut it down. Not today. If you don't have the means to pay the the damage to your house if it all goes wrong you better check with your insurance company and make sure your covered if it all goes wrong. Just hire someone with the proper insurance. Whats some money for piece of mind. 

[Southside]

Gentlemen,  not to dismiss any suggestions here but the safest way to address a barber chair is by using a bore cut.  In a situation like you describe I would use an open face cut to reduce the chance for the stem to bounce up and back when it hits the ground, as it will not break the hinge until it is on the ground.  Couple that with a bore cut so you can set the hinge to exactly what you want it to be, then you back cut to remove the tension wood leaving a "trigger" at the far back of the cut, that is now all the holding wood and you don't have to try and chase the tension in with the back cut to eliminate the chair.  A quick cut on the trigger and it's gone.  

I would not suggest this you do this however as it sounds like your bar is a bit on the small side to get a good bore cut given the size of the stick and it's close to the house so if something goes wrong it's going to be expensive.  

Pay a professional service to drop the tree and do the clean up yourself to save money and "dog house time".  

[BLink]

If it is leaning as far as you state, It will be tough to cut the bird's mouth without pinching your bar with all of that pressure on it!
Then you are REALLY up a creek!

[Oregon40Acres]

Thanks everybody for all the good advice. You have reminded me of a personal rule: "It's always more complicated than you think." I'll hire a professional to handle this tree. In the meantime, I think I'll go cut down a nice, simple, vertical tree far from anything else.

[Old Greenhorn]

Here's my rule: If I can walk up to a tree and say to myself "yup, I can do this, no problem" then I go ahead. If I can't say that to myself, I ask for help. I have yet to meet a tree that was worth getting hurt for, not have I met one that was worth risking mine or somebody else's home. Jobs with risks are not the ones you should be learning new stuff on.
 I did see your photos but did not see the top so not sure what was overhead. The photos didn't show anything that would concern me except it appeared there might be a lot of weight on that lean making it tough to get a good notch on the front. Also, a tree like that should never be back cut, it should be bore cut to from the notch then cut back out. A little tricky for sure. Your confidence and experience play a key role here. Ask for help, get a pro.

[Hooterspfld]

I'm in a similar situation with a big pin oak that didn't come back over the winter. Too close to the house and power lines for my comfort. Got a guy who climbs coming over to drop it for me, when I told him he didn't have to haul or cut anything on the ground, he grinned and said, "well the price just dropped a whole lot!" Hes gonna cut it from the top down and then drop the last 15' in one piece, which I'll then mill with my chainsaw mill. All said he's charging $500, well worth the piece of mind!

[Ianab]

I'm with Southside on the bore cutting method being the best way to handle that tree. With a heavy forward lean I only cut the notch (open face) deep enough to create a hinge. Going deeper serves no purpose, and gives you less room to work behind the hinge. 

BUT, I wouldn't make this your first practice at bore cutting. With that size tree you need to bore in from both sides and have the cuts close to meeting in the middle. 

I chickened out on dropping a big ugly cedar for a friend the other day, power lines, main road and dead tops just made me nervous. She got a mutual friend (professional logger) to bring it down. Long cable, tractor, strapping the 2 main leaders together and bore cutting them both (from both sides). His plan worked perfectly and I'm still cleaning up the mess in the driveway. 

Getting someone experienced to lay the tree on the ground shouldn't cost much, then you can clean up the mess, which is actually the hard work and time consuming part. 

[philipxxx]

get a person who knows  /  and cut from the top/  when down you take over and cut it up for firewood/  then every ones safe.

[celliott]

If you have to ask...

I get people asking me to take down yard trees all the time. Yeah I have experience behind a saw and felling trees, but I don't carry insurance like a tree service. My rule is, if it can hit something valuable, I stay away.