The Widowmaker: Cutting Down a Dangerous Leaner

In the wood patch behind our house, there are lots of trees, some of which are junk and some decent. In my dreams, it would be filled with walnut, hickory, and oak but that's not the case. Instead, there are several catalpa, some hack berry trees, and a couple small walnuts. Several years ago before we moved here, Rob came in and cleared the wood patch a little because it was overgrown and crowded with rogue weeds and junk. Even so, he wasn't able to take down any of the old, trashy trees then because we didn't live here and he didn't have the time to spend here and take care of the house we lived in. 

A recent windstorm jump started his plans for cutting down some of the old trees when it uprooted a dead catalpa, slamming and wedging it in the crotch of a much smaller walnut tree nearby. It hit the walnut so hard it made the entire tree lean and we kept an eye on it for a week before the weather was decent enough to get out there and decide how to safely remove both trees before they fell on the house or someone else. You can watch that video here and see it fall: