tree service in Lake Orion, MI

Clearing Things Up

Trends in land clearing and ROW work
By Patrick White

Land clearing, tree removal
Owen Tree Service handles smaller land clearing jobs. "We're more effective on smaller, more challenging jobs on difficult sites," says owner Randy Owen. The company uses smaller tracked machinery to minimize ground disturbance.
In many cases, land clearing and right-of-way (ROW) work is done by companies that specialize in these niche areas. However, there are many general tree care companies that also handle these jobs, along with providing services to residential and other commercial customers. We talked to a few such tree care professionals to find out what trends and developments they're seeing in the land clearing and ROW segments of the industry.
Randy Owen, owner of Owen Tree Service in Michigan (www.owentree.com) says the economic downturn had a huge impact on companies that specialized only in land clearing. "There was zero activity around here. It forced some companies, some very good companies, out of business," he says. "They weren't diversified enough to do other types of work, and they had to compete with competitors who were just trying to keep their guys working."
The obvious result was lower prices for everyone working in land clearing and ROW work. "The downturn made everyone aware that they really had to sharpen their pencils," states Owen. However, customers who selected bids based only on the bottom line price were often disappointed. "They got a lot of poor service and poor performance, because the good companies couldn't lower their prices that much," he adds.
Fortunately, Owen says he now sees the trend going in the other direction. "We're starting to see more work coming back, and we're seeing customers who had to deal with lower quality work now be more aware and quite a bit more selective in who they hire," he explains. "We've won a lot more jobs this year, and I'm not sure why. But I think it might be because we're doing a little bit better job."
Land clearing is viewed by some as work that doesn't require the skill or precision of, say, a climber pruning a prized tree in a residential yard. However, Owen says that developers' experiences with poor-performing companies has shown them that it does take skill and the right approach to handle land clearing jobs effectively. "There's a big difference in the equipment people use and the quality of the final product," he explains. "Typically, the land clearing is a minor part of a big commercial development job, and all of the other stuff is much more expensive. But if the clearing and tree cutting is delayed and causes problems for the project, all of a sudden the cost becomes much higher."
Owen Tree Service handles only smaller land clearing jobs. "We would not be effective on real large projects," notes Owen. "The bigger the land clearing, the more mechanical it becomes - fewer men but more [and] bigger equipment. We're more effective on smaller, more challenging jobs on difficult sites."
Accordingly, the company uses slightly smaller machinery that's suited for the size of the jobs it takes on. For example, they use tracked Mustang (Takeuchi) skid steers. "They're expensive, but very heavy duty," notes Owen. "We're putting a little bit lighter footprint on the ground, which helps prevent ground degradation and compaction." He notes that this is especially important on some ROW clearing jobs. "We've always used them, but I'm seeing more and more companies using similar equipment now - that's definitely a trend. There's less ground impact than when you use big wheeled machines."
Owen says that his company's ROW clearing work has been more consistent, even during the slow economy. He notes that the power grid is a critical component of Homeland Security, and regulations designed to prevent a power grid failure might be compelling some utility companies to do more ROW work. "I think there may be a little bit more accountability required," says Owen. He feels that might be driving more early management of right-of-ways. "But, generally, the companies we work for are pretty consistent in their management plans," Owen adds.
This article is an excerpt from the May 2013 issue of Tree Services Magazine
CONTACT OWEN TREE AT:
(800)724-6680
Owen Tree Service provides tree, lawn, and landscape services to the following cities and towns:
Genesee County, Michigan:
Burton
Davison
Flushing
Goodrich
Linden
Otisville
Clio
Fenton
Gaines
Grand Blanc
Montrose
Otter Lake
Flint
Genesee
Lennon
Mt Morris
Swartz Creek
Lapeer County, Michigan:
Almont
Brown City
Columbiaville
Imlay City
Metamora
Peck
Attica
Clifford
Dryden
Lapeer
North Branch
Sandusky
Hadley
Mayville
Otter Lake
Silverwood
Macomb County, Michigan:
Armada
Clinton Twp
Grosse Pointe
Macomb
New Haven
St Clair Shores
Centerline
Detroit
Grosse Pointe Farms
Ray
Sterling Heights
Chesterfield
Eastpointe
Grosse Pointe Shores
Memphis
Romeo
Utica
Clinton
Fraser
Grosse Pointe Woods
Mt Clemens
Roseville
Warren
Harrison Twp
New Baltimore
Shelby Twp
Washington
Oakland County, Michigan:
Auburn Hills
Bloomfield Village
Ferndale
Leonard
Orion
South Lyon
Berkley
Clarkston
Franklin
Madison Heights
Ortonville
Southfield
Beverly Hills
Clawson
Hazel Park
Milford
Oxford
Troy
Bingham Farms
Commerce Twp
Highland
Novi
Pleasant Ridge
Walled Lake
Birmingham
Davisburg
Holly
Oak Park
Pontiac
Waterford
Bloomfield
Detroit
Huntington Woods
Oakland
Rochester
West Bloomfield
Bloomfield Hills
Farmington
Lake Orion
Oakland Twp
Rochester Hills
White Lake
Farmington Hills
Lathrup Village
Orchard Lake
Royal Oak
Wixom
St. Clair County, Michigan:
Algonac
Casco
East China
Harbor Beach
Lexington
Peck
Allenton
Clay
Emmett
Harsens Island
Marine City
Port Huron
Berlin
Clyde
Fair Haven
Jeddo
Marysville
Richmond
Brockway
Columbus
Fort Gratiot
Kimball
Memphis
Sandusky
Capac
Cottrellville
Goodells
Lakeport
North Street
St Clair
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