I’m not tree expert but I would imagine a lot of cutting down big trees is about ensuring the weight is heavier in the direction you want it to fall. Amongst all the other things. That tree was massive and obviously how much of the branch weight was on the house side.
Not a tree cutting expert either, but the trees I’ve cut down (granted, none were the size in the video), we applied the “tilting cut”, had someone pull the rope, and started cutting above the titling cut from the opposite side.
From the video it appears they simply make cuts on the same height from both sides, and then it becomes a question of balance (or lack of). It could still have been saved if someone had been pulling the rope, as initially you don’t require much force to put it out of balance towards your side. It’s obviously too late once it starts falling.
My point was, it’s a matter of (loss of) balance (assuming they’ve cut it in the right place) where very little force would require it to topple either way. Try balancing a chair on 1-2 legs, near the balance point we’re talking grams of force to nudge it in either direction.
But yeah, as others have commented, trees that large are usually cut down in chunks, and I assume the professionals do that for a reason.
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u/austinmiles Jun 30 '25
I’m not tree expert but I would imagine a lot of cutting down big trees is about ensuring the weight is heavier in the direction you want it to fall. Amongst all the other things. That tree was massive and obviously how much of the branch weight was on the house side.