Garden makeover!

[Quiksilver]

The tricky bit doing it from the ground, especially with long-arm saws, is undercutting.

[L Austin France]

The tricky bit doing it from the ground, especially with long-arm saws, is undercutting.

I always try to first cut a fair way away from the intended final where it doesn't matter if the branch splits. This gets rid of the weight & allows a final cut to 'tidy up'.

[Hotrodder]

That's the method I normally use, but most of the branch that hangs beyond the wire is right at the edge of the tarmac with cars whizzing past at 80/90kph+. For the rest of the hedge I have been listening for oncoming traffic, then dart out into the road to see if there is anything in the distance (around the bend) coming and then scramble up the bank with the mini saw in one hand to make a cut, then slither down the bank to retrieve the branch from the road if that's where it fell. These cuts were on laurel growing mostly vertical but well beyond the height of the wire with very little actually resting on it. The bit that is going to be tricky is the last few feet where there is a large side shoot from a tall pine resting on the wire pulling it tight. If I cut near the trunk the weight on the wire will add to the downward pull on the wire so it can't be cut there. It needs to be cut as close to the wire as possible in the hopes that the bulk of the branch will lift a bit and the shorter bit will drop away. The branch at the point of cut is just over four inches thick at a height of 15 feet. Sorry about the old school units of measurement.

[Quiksilver]

Just a thought, HR, but have you got one or more 'accident triangles' kicking about? You could temporarily slow/ stop traffic to give you time to cut the branch safely. I'm sure that motorists would be understanding?
It definitely sounds like a scenario where you need to undercut, though. If the bark or outer wood peels, it's likely to damage the wire as it pulls the excess back.

[exile]

Just a thought, HR, but have you got one or more 'accident triangles' kicking about? You could temporarily slow/ stop traffic to give you time to cut the branch safely. I'm sure that motorists would be understanding?
It definitely sounds like a scenario where you need to undercut, though. If the bark or outer wood peels, it's likely to damage the wire as it pulls the excess back.

We are joking I assume. Coming to the rescue of friends who had had a contretemps with a bridge parapet, we installed triangles on the other side of the blind bends. Both were run over and broken by the understanding motorists.

[Hotrodder]

I stopped doing that a few weeks ago. Every time I finished work and walked up the road to collect the triangle it was blown over. Either the wind or the blast from the lorries on the very edge of the tarmac.
Did a little more today between showers. Almost ready to tackle the big one.

[RobertArthur]

@ Hotrodder, tricky business. For you and the telephone wiring. The weight of this thick branch is now supported by the tree, only a small part hanging on the wiring. As soon as it loses contact with the tree it is up to the wiring to carry a rather substantial load, for a brief moment. And you never know how it is going to fall down, in the past I experienced several narrow escapes. Predicting trajectory is not always precise....

[Polarengineer]

The telephone wire is not really a big problem, they do not take the strain as there is a steel cable supporting the line, this is embedded in the surrounding insulation. The foresters often take them down to work near the roadside, they are held by simple tensioning clamps. I have at one time informed orange of a tree fallen on the cable; the road was clear so they left it until someone had to work in the area. I would not worry too much if the branch snags the cable, they are very strong and it sounds like this is not a very big branch, if anything, the tensioning clamp on the pole will release the cable if it comes to that.

[Hotrodder]

@ Hotrodder, tricky business. For you and the telephone wiring. The weight of this thick branch is now supported by the tree, only a small part hanging on the wiring. As soon as it loses contact with the tree it is up to the wiring to carry a rather substantial load, for a brief moment. And you never know how it is going to fall down, in the past I experienced several narrow escapes. Predicting trajectory is not always precise....

I agree, but to answer your point. I don't intend to cut the branch near the tree, knowing this will increase the weight on the wire considerably. I will try to cut it as close to the wire as possible so only the last metre or so is on the wire. That is the bit that should (!) drop free. Then I can cut the rest of the branch back near the main trunk.
I think this saga will be boring to many here but in trying to explain the process it is causeing me to think it through even more carefully.

[Bayleaf]

It's nail biting stuff - so I for one am looking forward to a safe outcome! Be careful out there!!