The PTC Tree Removal Process
PTC is committed to using the most up-to-date modern methods when removing trees. We have helped pioneer many of the newest techniques in the industry for tree removal.
 

Safety First
The most important aspect of tree removal remains, as always, safety. PTC is committed to performing all aspects of tree work in the safest way possible. At our weekly company-wide safety meetings, our crews are trained in new techniques, refreshed on established methods, and have an opportunity to share their own real-world experiences.
 

Assessing a Tree Removal - Safety, Equipment, Recycling
When assessing a removal, we take into account:

1. What is the safest way to remove the tree?

2. What equipment is needed to remove the tree safely?

3. What opportunities for recycling are available?

Safe tree removal requires both the experience to determine the best options as well as access to the necessary equipment. With our extensive fleet of cranes and other heavy equipment, we can often remove a tree mechanically, which can make the tree removal process both safer and quicker.

Removal of Hard-to-Access Trees
In some cases, a tree is only accessible by foot and we find ourselves thrown back to the 'old days' of tree removal. In those days a climber and ground crew would work together to cut and lower branches. Sometimes the 'lowering rope' would be placed over some branches above the branches to be cut and sometimes a 'block' would be placed high in the tree for the rope to run on. The ground crew would then take a few 'wraps' around the base of the tree and away we would go!
 

The Hobbs Innovation
Around 1978, my friend Ed Hobbs invented the 'Hobbs device and block system'. Envied by inventors, his system revolutionized tree removals and has been endlessly copied ever since. I bought one of the very first systems Ed produced, as soon as they were available. Now, every sophisticated tree company in the world either owns one or a direct imitation. A few years ago, Ed retired and sold his B&H Tree Service to The Professional Tree Care Company.

Tree Removal with Cranes - Faster, Safer, More Ecological
Often, with the proper access, we can remove a tree with one of our hydraulic truck cranes. The Professional

Tree Care Company owns four: 12, 23, 40 and 70 ton capacity. Cranes offer many advantages over manual removal. Having cranes of different sizes allows us to access many different areas of a property, or we can simply use the street access to reach the tree and remove it piece by piece. Typically, when a tree is removed with a crane, the tree climber makes far fewer cuts, the logs are longer, and the tree is more quickly removed.

Salvaging Removed Trees as Lumber
To us, one of the most satisfying benefits of removing trees with cranes is that much of the tree trunk can be milled into dimensional lumber. Our goal is always to recycle at the highest possible level of reuse. Milling puts another step between the removal of the tree and decomposition back into carbon dioxide (or even more potent greenhouse gases). Working together with our Green Waste Recycle Yard, we are making a market for this locally-sourced recycled lumber. Some of the trees we've removed are now siding for a LEED-NC Gold rated school building in Hillsborough, outdoor structures in the Presidio, and step blocks restoring the paths in Berkeley and Mill Valley, to name just a few.
 

Crane Rental- Extending the Benefits to Others
We regularly rent our cranes to other tree companies (with our operators) in an effort to provide recycling opportunities to more of our community. This is a major focus of The Professional Tree Care Company: to include others in a comprehensive recycling effort for materials generated by our industry.
 

Forestry Tree Removals
While cranes are useful for precise removals, The Professional Tree Care is also a Licensed Timber Operator (LTO), often chosen to perform tree removal projects on large estates, parks or government properties where traditional forestry equipment is more appropriate. We have an extensive fleet of this type, including:

• heel boom loaders

• whole tree chippers

• skidders

• log trucks

We mix and match this equipment to fit the job, all with the goal of doing tree removals safely, quickly, and efficiently- always with Professional Tree Care's 100 % recycle policy.