How's your insurance? From a pure ethics standpoint, you should reccomend to your customer that they hire a professional that knows what they're doing.
Jack is not gonna work. I think this is a better job for a climber or bucket truck/lift. If i was gonna be cutting them from the ground (I'd climber them), I would drop them away from the house if possible, drop towards the side that the ladder is on. You will need the tie a pull line in them, atleast a 1/2" line that is designed for tree work. Because your saying they're limb-locked, I'd notch all 3 of them, cut to hinge thickness then pull them over, make sure to tie them together.
I’ve decided to pass on cutting them down. It’s beyond what I can do. I’ve cut down dozens of trees of this size and bigger but not in this situation. I will see if a climber can come and cut the tops off. Then I can just cut the lower parts. That part I’m very well rehearsed in.
From the start, I figured my best chance was jacking it over. I do not believe that would work. Your idea of falling it towards the ladder won’t work because of power lines. I thought of that too. I will pass on the job. If they get topped where the limbs shoot out I can easily take it from there.
My friend, you just learned the most important lesson in this business... don't let your reach exceed your grasp...
It's far better to recognize the feeling of, "I may be getting in over my head, here", than "I'm in over my head, here" and dealing with the results.
