Willow tree cutting, second branch

I successfully cut the second willow tree branch.

Another view...

I sawed on that branch for hours and hours and hours over two days.  It was hard to bear down on a pole saw when it is fully extended and against a branch way above my head.  I even took a file to the saw's teeth to sharpen them up a couple times to get a better bite into the tree.

Finally late Wednesday the branch started to crack a little.  While I was confident the branch would miss the pickup when it fell, still I drove the pickup away several feet.  Then I resumed sawing on the branch.  Five to ten minutes later a few more - and louder - cracks.  Still the branch remained attached.

Then I got the idea of tossing a rope over the branch to pull it down.  That way I could guide the branch to miss the pickup, garage, electrical lines, and the concrete hole in the ground.  And I wouldn't be high on a ladder on pallets on a pickup with no place to go in case the branch came my way.

I attached a small weight to a rope and tossed it up.  After a dozen tries I finally got the rope over the branch.  I didn't have to pull too hard and the branch broke off and fell. It fell perfectly as it missed everything.  You can see I had some extra wooden pallets on top of the concrete hole so the branch wouldn't break it in case it fell on the concrete.

Here is the branch after it was cut.  On the initial photos when it was high up on the tree it didn't look that big, but it was.  The bottom of the cut shows where I pulled the branch from the tree.

I would like to cut the top of the tree down some more but to do that I would have to get higher up.  It looks like I will have to wait until I get another method of getting on high as I am not too keen on stacking more pallets to get higher.