Hi Sue and welcome to the site.
If you do decide to do this for yourself make sure that when you coppice the tree you cut it above the basal wood, which is the swollen areas around the base of the trunk. Once you have done this the new shoots should grow fairly quickly and once they reach the size you are after and as long as you are in the trees dormant period, you can again cut each of the shoots above their swollen sections. New shoots will continue to grow after each cut, so the process can be repeated and eventually you will end up with a large stump that is known as the stool.
The best thing for you to do is fell the tree above the stump height you wish to keep and then cut the stump down to the size, making sure to always stay above the swollen section at the base. This way you will reduce the chance of damaging the stump section when the main body of the tree falls.
The tree size will make a difference to how easy you find the process, so you might want to consider getting someone in to do at least the first cut for you, especially if the tree is larger than you feel comfortable with or is in a location that makes the first cut difficult or dangerous.
Hope this helps a bit.
David
