Actually, I think removing the nut is the way I want to do mine. Yes it can be difficult, but there are tools you don't have, and of course getting to it and applying leverage isn't so easy crawling underneath the car.
The nut is a flare nut. That makes it thin to begin with, and if you don't back up your torque holding the fitting, brute force will twist the whole thing right out of the pan.
So far I haven't needed to cut a dipstick tube. I wonder though, would my close-quarters tubing cutter swing around it or do folks saw through the tube and clean out the debris?
Last time I did it I still didn't have the proper tools either. Since then I've managed to add a 24mm tubing wrench (flare nut wrench) to my collection.

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Art Benstein near Baltimore
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
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