To be as inclusive as possible on this Dorothy and I decided to add "Lumberjacking"
I have been sharping that skill lately myself dropping some dead trees in heavy timber, dropping dead wood is often a lot more risky then live. Good skill set if anyone has a better idea for the the term then Lumberjacking, let me know.
@ModernSurvival, you might consider the name "Forestry" instead of "Lumberjacking". That's the word we use in the logging industry. Also, to keep yourself safe when bringing down trees you should use ropes (if you aren't already). By "ropes" that can be actual rope, winch cable, chain whatever. The idea is to get a "rope" on the tree (or more than one), which is used to guide it the direction you want it to fall. For safety I recommend running the "rope" through a snatchblock, and then to the tree. That allows you to keep it from falling on important objects like your truck, the poor sap holding the rope, etc. The "rope" doesn't have to be very high up either. You can get it to eye level, or you can drag a ladder over to it to get a little higher.
Chainsaws can be very dangerous, but a "wild" tree can make a chainsaw look like a toothbrush in the safety area. A tree going "wild" is more akin to a semi-truck with a drunk driver at the wheel. They can twist, get hung up on something, or just plain take a path you didn't expect. Anything you can do to put it where you want it is much more important than many people think about. That's why my first recommendation to anyone is to take 15-20 minutes to assess the tree before ANY cutting is done. Clear your escape routes, observe any possible entanglements with the tree, etc. Hope this helps!
