Big tree fall hard

Todd took down a massive poplar tree next to our house last weekend. We left the tree standing when we built our house because we wanted to keep as many trees around as possible, but we've since realized that it was too risky. The roots on one side of it were stressed when we dug out the foundation and it just made us nervous on those gusty nights when the west wind blows up the hill. The tree would do serious damage to the house (and us) if it were to fall. So Todd put on his climbing gear and ascended up the poplar to cut off the high branches. He uses a $9 plastic bow and arrow to shoot heavy-duty fishing line up over a high branch, then attaches the climbing rope to the line and sets up an anchor on a tree at ground level. Not exactly what a professional tree service company would do. We were hoping to just top the tree and leave it standing like a totem pole but Todd got a bit nervous with some of the branches so he decided it would be best to cut it down. He has an arborist chainsaw that he uses so it's not as heavy as a regular chainsaw to carry up the tree. It's hard to really get a sense of the enormity of this tree from the photos, but it's a tank.Todd hasn't been rock climbing in a long time so I guess this is second best. He loves climbing up in the trees. He has ropes up in a number of them on our property. Maybe one of these days I'll get the nerve to climb one.In the shot below you can see how close the tree is to the house and that it's leaning.It's tricky (and risky) trying to figure out where to position yourself to take off the branches. Yes, he makes me nervous but he knows what he's doing.He took the camera with him to take some birds eye view shots. Here's what it looks like around our house from about 80 feet up:I decided to stick around when it came time to cut the tree down. Todd got the tractor from the farm and tensioned the tree. The tree is notch cut in the direction of the fall to help things along. Here's the happy notch...An old rope from the farm, that used to have something to do with hauling hay in and out of the loft in the barn, was hauled up the tree to help direct the fall as well. The rope looked pretty suspect, but so does the tractor we were using. Once everything is set and ready to go Todd cuts from the backside towards the notch until gravity (with a little help from the tractor) takes over. Soon enough the tree is down, everyone can breathe easy again and we can now see where the trim for our guest house will come from. It fell exactly where we wanted it to without hurting any other trees. Todd counted the rings and it was 90 years old. We got six 10 ft. lengths of logs that will be perfect for the sawmill and are planning on cutting it all for future trim use. We need plenty for our basement finishing project and will need more for the guest house.