How would you go about safely and quickly removing a wooden structure on four legs with a chainsaw, such as an elevated hunting blind? Here you can see a few examples of such structures.
My idea was to bring the entire thing down by cutting one leg at a time, but I'm thinking this might be unpredictable, particularly if the structure starts twisting as it falls. A second option is to actually enter the structure and work from the top, removing bits to bring the total weight down to a safe level. Does anyone have experience with this?
Before anyone asks, the removal is legal and will be supervised by the police. The person operating the chainsaw (myself) has a sawyer's licence, but I've only worked with trees up to now.
Best Answer
The typical current-era approach for "demolishing unsafe structures" of moderate size is to use an excavator, not a chainsaw.
If the thing is not accessible to an excavator:
Depending on the specifics of the construction of the actual one you need to fell, simply attaching a rope or cable to the top and pulling it over might be the easy method to make it safer to cut up. If not anchored or poorly anchored to the ground, it may pull over quite easily.
Or, you could have the local fire department use it for a training exercise (and end up with it burnt.)
Another option that comes to mind is using a "manual chainsaw" of the sort sometimes used for limbing - a couple of feet of saw-chain attached to ropes, allowing you to be well-clear of the structure while cutting it.