nealtw

If you use a chainsaw, just measure the width of the bar and judge the depth.

Wuzzat?

That will work with some bars and some trees but the videos I saw didn't mention it.

I've noticed that when I do freehand cutting for woodworking, the workpiece ends up looking pretty lousy, so. . .
in order to improve my tree-cutting technique I'm going to put targets in the distance and see if I can drop those muvvas right on top of the targets, and to do this I'm going to need marks.
After that comes varying the width of the hinge to steer the tree. More marks.

nealtw

Make sure you get the angle of the wedge right.

Wuzzat?

70 to 45 degrees, I've heard.

And I've seen wedge cuts that went halfway through the tree.
Maybe everybody has their own preferences and they swear it works for them. And it has but maybe not for the reasons they think.

I got a $49 elec. chain saw and this allows me to cut branches with one hand while harnessed onto the tree or ladder. I wouldn't do that with my gas saw - too heavy, too dangerous.

BridgeMan

So now the only danger is hanging yourself with multiple extension cords snaking all around, or electrocuting yourself when a live cord gets nicked and comes in contact with your aluminum ladder frame.

Good thing you're young and immortal.

Wuzzat?

I've already figured the paths the current would take in the situations you describe and I think falling is way more likely. There is exposure to risk which is present here, and the chance that I will be harmed by that risk, which I think is small compared to the other hazards of tree cutting.
http://www.amazon.com/Risk-Practical-Deciding-Really-Dangerous/dp/0618143726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360611382&sr=8-1&keywords=risk+ropeik

BTW, here's something I've heard about that I never would have thought of.
A kid in a tree is cutting branches and one of them falls on a power line [probably in the kV range] and the kid dies.

-a dead tree doesn't conduct electricity very well so it must have live
-I can imagine this if he was the bridge between the end of the branch and the tree trunk or grounded ladder
-if he was just touching the branch his body would have needed to be more conductive than the branch and tree

BTW, one time we came home from the beach only to have the neighbors tell us that our tree had been on fire because a branch was touching a nearby 7200v line, so the people at the other end of the 911 service came out and put it out.
Sorry I missed that spectacle!

nealtw

You missed your chance to talk to a burning bush.

Wuzzat?

I didn't see that one coming!

nealtw

Back to the first post, there would be know accidents if things didn't appear safe.

Wuzzat?

Not exactly.

Selma Fraiburg talks about normal infants who are compelled to climb on things even while they are afraid to do so.
It's their drive to master their environment. They have to tip over chairs and whatnot to learn about the world they were born into.

And I guess some grown men have to tip over forklifts and ladders to learn physics. Some get Darwin Awards for their efforts.
And countless women & girls on YouTube learn about momentum and recoil while firing high-powered weapons.