- 1). Study the lean and canopy (the upper branches and spread) of the tree. Remove as many branches as possible from the canopy, concentrating on its heaviest side. If the tree leans away from the home, the usual circumstance, this works to your advantage. If the tree is leaning toward the home, cutting the tree at the base may not be possible. Trees leaning toward the home may need to be cut out section by section with the cut pieces lifted away from the home by a crane or other piece of heavy equipment.
- 2). Plan the cut at the base of tree. If the tree is straight or leaning away from the home, a hinge cut should control the direction of the fall. Find a sight line on the saw. This is any straight portion of the case of the saw that is perpendicular to the saw bar. Lean against the tree and hold the saw bar against the tree on the side opposite of the house. Look down the sight line at the desired location for the tree to fall. The cut should be on the side of the tree away from the house and be perpendicular to the intended fall line.
- 3). Cut a notch in the base of the tree using the placement of the saw made by sighting down the sight line as a guide. Make a straight cut about a third of the way into the tree. Make another cut starting above the straight cut and angling downward toward the end of the straight cut to create a removable notch. The angled cut is positioned so that the removed notch results in a roughly 80 degree angle from the deepest point of the cuts.
- 4). Cut from the side of the tree closest to the house toward the notch 1 or 2 inches above the base of the earlier cuts. Remove the saw when the cut is about 75 percent of the way through the remaining portion of the tree. Use a maul to drive wedges into the gap of this cut to create pressure forcing the tree toward the notch. When the pressure is sufficient, the tree trunk will break and collapse towards the notch.