firefighterjake said:I will also admit that I am sometimes leery of cutting down some standing dead trees . . . to me cutting standing dead wood is a bit more dangerous than cutting a live tree as there is a greater possibility of large, dead branches or the top snapping off and falling.
I spite of the fact that my BIL spent his high school years living on a neighbor's farm because the father (a very experienced woodcutter) lost his life to a widow maker, I continued to cut them down because of the bounty of dry wood they offered. Then one day a top just came off. They're falling straight down, so they fall very fast. I barely got away, only because I was young and agile as a cat, and because I happened to see it go. That was all it took to cure me of the habit.