undeeded land

First of all I live in Madison Indiana outside of city limits. In May of 2002 I had my land surveyed and found that there was a gap where a drianage ditch is 9 feet wide between my line and the neighbors line. Now I would like to cut a dying tree down that is about a foot off of my line and extend my drive way over a couple feet to get my camper backed in my driveway further for safety reasons. However my neighbor belieives his deed even though it's much older is correct and says the tree is on his property and doesnt want it cut even if it is dead ( one branch has already took out my dish on my garage when it fell and another fell in my driveway). He told me his lawer told him he would be awarded the property because he's lived there longer, but I have been mowing and clearing the drain ditch where the gap is for 8 years. Do I have any rights to extend my drive and cut down this tree if it is on unclaimed land. I told my neighbor I did not want to make a big deal of it but only want safety back out of my drive without being struck and only want to use a couple feet of the land and cut down a tree that is dead and will eventually anyway, and maybe on my garage. Any ideas.

Thanks :x