A few notes as well are that I am in Tucson AZ and we experience fairly mild winters with our first frost not occurring until late November/early December, so fall/late summer potting does tend to work well here.
I was told by Walter Pall to hard prune now and then repot the following April, so I am timid to do both now, but if I were able to repot into something more manageable it would be easier for me down the road (I’m moving and will have to setup shop again in the next month or two), and with the tree currently weighing around 200lb it is difficult to move even with two people.
Regarding a chop: my first thoughts were to chop about where my hand is in the 1st pic, and just assume the very slight taper and work with it (as certain angles show more taper than others due to the amount of old wounds from branches removed).
I personally am not the biggest fan of drastic taper as many bonsai tend to be, from more drastic trunk chopping, but I am also not really a fan of very minimal taper on such a large trunk as well (literati is great when done well but on smaller trees, I feel), so I’m trying to find a balance there.
I like a trees natural form in nature and so don’t mind some “flaws” here and there, or a section of trunk that is straight, as it’s all subjective really.
Question: If I were to cut about where my hand is or lower (maybe half way between the two lower branches and my hand), i would want the next section of trunk to be proportional to the lower section, so that it’s not thick to thin, by comparison.
How long might this take to develop? And would it basically be a sacrifice leader that grows to 6-10ft before I can cut it, so that it thickens proportionally?
Regarding the nebari: I am somewhat fond of the current nebari, but I I would like to build on it.
I read the post you mentioned about screwing the board to base of the tree and may give this a shot, as it can see how it may work well. However would not a shallow grow box made of cedar also suffice in forcing the roots to grow outward as it is tied to the box? or would it just do so less efficiently?
Thank you both for the help/advice thus far.