The owners had watched this tree lean further over their roof after each winter storm. There was no room to fell it, and the access lane was too narrow for a crane.
What we did
Our climber worked out along each limb and cut it into short sections. Each piece was tied off and lowered on a rope through a friction device, so it came down slowly and under control, well clear of the slates.
Once the crown was off, we took the trunk down in rings to a low stump and ground it out the next morning.
The result
Not one slate cracked. The owners kept a winter’s worth of logs, stacked by the back door, and the woodchip went on their vegetable beds.