Well, I took quite the ride last week. It was about a 60' aspen with about a 10 degree lean towards the swingset and chicken coop. It looked fine, healthy canopy, no signs of decay, no red flags at all. I went up to take the top out, probably a 10-150foot top. Rigged it, notched it, and as I was making the backcut, I felt it lean, more than it should of. I crammed the saw through the hinge, braced for the rebound..... and it kept going over. My first thought was it uprooted, but as you can see, it just completely failed at the stump. Hit the swingset, broke, and ended up in the coop. I rolled right at the last instant and took the hit on my shoulder. I had surgery last friday, and am looking at 3 months of PT, with an expectation of a full recovery. All things considered, it sure could have been worse.
This has always been my biggest concern, hidden structural defect, and it came to pass. There were no external signs, and it felt fine on the way up.
