Reply by Scot

From your description of the trees, they may be rotten. The tops of rotten trees sometimes break off while falling and usually fall in the opposite direction of the rest of the tree.

Be very careful and don’t do it alone.

Now, you could redneck it like we do down here in Alabama.
1) Drink lots of beer before hand
2) Just before you start yell out, Hey ya’ll, watch this !
3) Call the paramedics

-- If the old masters had power tools, they would have used them. So get off your damn High Horse.