Dealing with a hung up tree and a broken branch

One of the most popular posts on our blog has been "What NOT to do with a hung up tree"

So, when I got a tree hung up on Thursday I thought I'd take some pictures of getting it down. Of course, it's better not to get it hung up in the first place, but sometimes it's unavoidable, and we all make mistakes from time to time as well.

Here's the hung up tree:
The first thing to do is to use the cant hook on a felling lever to roll the tree. In some cases this can bring the tree down straight away, although in this case it didn't. It did get it off the stump though, which I also wanted to do. Remember to always roll the tree away from you, and bend your legs to lift the lever - reposition the lever as required during the rolling.Once the tree is on the ground, the next thing to do is move the butt backwards. In this case the long felling lever gave enough leverage. You put it under the butt, then lift and turn to move it backwards:
In an older post I used a long pole to give more leverage, and also a winch when that wasn't sufficient.

After a couple of minutes pushing the butt back the tree was safely on the ground:
and then easily snedded and logged:
We were left with one other problem though - a branch in an oak tree that had been broken when the birch came down. As it was alongside a path I didn't want to leave it. It was too tall to reach with our pole saw, so I attached a rope to it:
Then I retreated to a safe distance with the rope, and gave it a few tugs:
bringing the branch down easily, to be left for bugs to live in:
One final thing - we try to avoid killing honeysuckle while felling, as it is a vital food plant for the White Admiral butterfly. However, sometimes I wish we got rid of it all...
This is why you have to clear an area around the base of a tree you're going to fell, and also your escape route!

Mike