I am not going to abandon a teacher just because a technique he has explained to me a couple times didn't work on my tree. I have looked into other techniques used to accomplish similar goals. An example is notching a tree. I tried that with a larger pine and had good success with that. One thing I have learned is be patient! I have learned a lot from him. I don't post every single success or great think that that does work out on here. I usually post when I have a problem or struggle with something. so others can learn or I can learn. I still think the decision to not purchase this tree or trunk chop it would have been the route I should have gone.