This is why I don't own a chain saw. I think I could handle the pre-planning part, but not the physical part. I'd rather leave the whole thing to the experts, especially since the houses here are so close together. I can't believe people can be so stupid. I guess they assume things will go their way .
During my misspent life, I worked for a tree trimmer. The worst we did was wipe the front porch off a house.
The science behind getting a tree to fall in the desired place makes perfect sense to me but the skill involved in bringing that about eludes me sometimes. I have cut several trees down in the woods, where its eventual landing place wasn't crucial, as long as it didn't decide to land on my head. Still, I would try to get it to fall in a particular place, and could often accomplish that, but from time to time it would do something else entirely.
I have use the chainsaw but mostly just for branches on trees etc. I have never done anything heavy duty and I'm very handy with tools. In my early life I was a tool and die maker and as time went on I was promoted to senior manufacturing engineer at IBM Corporation where I no longer use tools. I still work with my hands on hobbies such as woodworking and oil painting.
One of my favorite subjects is what some people will do with a perfectly good tool. In the case of this "Darwin Award" recipient I feel that indeed the gentleman did use the right tool in order to prove his manhood. Some might say that he went a bit overboard but I, on the otherhand, believe that the human species is well protected by the acts of those who are less likely to successfully to pass down a genetic normal human being. http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1996-07.html
No, but we got some extra unpaid work to do. The porch was a small one, easily rebuilt. We cracked the sidewalk too, and had to fix that. That same week the tractor broke down and the brakes on the truck went bye-bye. It wasn't a very profitable week.
I guess that leaves out the idea that the lady of the house made apple pie and served it with lemon aide at lunch.
Probably the scariest thing that I still do is use a chainsaw. I'm not a logger but I've cut down my share of trees. If I could more accurately predict where they'd fall, I might call myself a logger but that's not the case. Usually, I can get them to fall the way I want them to but not always. Anyhow, while I am using a chainsaw, I am very much aware that I could kill myself. I am not so much afraid of a tree landing on me, although I am aware of that possibility, but I am acutely aware of the danger of cutting myself, particularly since any cut is unlikely to be a minor wound. Oddly enough, this sort of adds a thrill to it and makes it fun, particularly at the moment that the tree falls without incident. The closer I can get to having it land where I want it to land, the greater the thrill. It's been a while since I've driven a motorcycle, but the thrill is kind of like that. On a motorcycle, you know that something as simple as a rock in the road could kill you, yet I really enjoyed having a motorcycle and wouldn't mind having another one. If I could afford a motorcycle, I might get one. Meanwhile, I'll just cut things down. One of the nice things about a chainsaw is that it's something that I can still do. I can still cut trees down with an axe, since I have a good axe, but it's a lot easier with a chainsaw. It doesn't take a great deal of strength to use a chainsaw, and it doesn't tire me out like it does with an axe.
I am of course too old to use one of those things because I have no need for one. I once worked for a manufacturing company that had several saws and saw operators. Often when I'd tell someone where I worked, they would say, "Let me see your hands." After hearing that for about the third time I took a walk back through the plant and took a look-see at all the saw operators. To a man they all had fingers missing.