Its a job my friend has, customer estimates tree at 8 metres tall and wants it cut to half current height (will look horrible but that's what they want..).
Unless you have a fair amount of time of practice in climbing alone you have no business trying to remove a tree. Don't mean to be harsh, but this business can get you or others around you seriously hurt or even killed. You don't want to be learning basic climbing principles for the first time when you are trying to remove a tree at the same time.
My advice would be if you want to get into tree climbing or tree work start practicing out small stuff and go from there. It's much different in the real world than simply talking about it on a forum. What are you going to do if you are cutting a top or a large chunk and it sits back on your bar, do you know how to recover from the situation?
When I started I bought some basic climbing equipment and just kept climbing in my backyard. Each time I'd go a little higher. Then try out new stuff such as limb walking, etc.
I still remember when I first started climbing I decided I would start doing tree work. Put an ad out, got some calls. Went to one job, went up the tree and kind of froze because I was unsure of what to do. How to get out to the branches I needed to cut, etc. Used the excuse that I needed spurs and left and came back another day. Still wasn't able to get it. It wasn't that it was impossible it was that I didn't have the experience. So that was the end of that. Wasted my time and didn't make anything and I dropped my chainsaw and broke the bar.
After that, I just continued to rec climb in my yard. Maybe do a few small trim jobs or something for neighbors or people that I know, but nothing too advanced that was beyond my capabilities.
And now I've been climbing for a while, have taken down trees with with a crane, remove stuff over a house, the usual deal. And guess what? I still have lots to learn. This business is a never ending process of constant learning. Doesn't matter if you've been climbing for one year or ten years, there is always new stuff to learn.
It takes time. But don't rush the process or be ignorant of the dangers with tree work. Too often people nowadays don't want to pay a qualified pro to perform tree work so they decide they are gonna do it themselves or they look for someone who calls themselves a "tree guy" and doesn't even check their insurance and then an accident or catastrophe happens.
It's not just about climbing the tree and cutting, it's also about having the knowledge you get from experience to be able to handle yourself in the event things don't go as planned or takes a turn for the worst. And that holds true whether it's a hundred foot pine or a 30 ft maple. Don't think for one second that just because a tree is smaller it is any less dangerous. When you think like that you get complacent and accidents happen. Tree work / logging is considered the most dangerous job there is I believe. You gotta use your head and know what you can and can't do, and when more experience is required.
