I winched a Juniper out (tried to anyway) from the house side of a sidewalk a few years back. I squared up to the curb and started winching away. PTO winches are pretty tough, but when the rear tires lifted off the ground I backed off.
Lately I've been pulling trees by throwing the cable around the tree at about 6 feet up. I didn't see the cable fall to the base and when the cable let loose, the Bronco shook so hard my rear view mirror hit the rear window! (still can't get the damned glue to hold it back on)