Originally Posted by Therrin

Mmmm... well it was slighly slack before it started to fall, then went taut when the tree wanted to fall just slightly towards its direction of lean. The sideline enabled it to swing around to the left in a more controlled manner.

Otherwise I suppose i could have put tension on the pull line, notched it, begun the back cut, had it start to give way, then as gravity took effect, it could have fallen over along the fenceline, lateral to the direction of the lean. The side line was intended to, and did, allow it to slew sideways before it finished falling.