Tree Works Oban is the name of a small but growing arboricultural business owned and operated by Liam Griffin. Liam spoke to essentialARB about the journey he’s been on since setting up his own company, recalling some of his more memorable jobs.
TREE Works Oban was set up in 2011 by Liam Griffin, offering a wide range of arboricultural services in and around Argyll. The services carried out included pruning, dismantling, felling, chipping and hedge work. At the time, Liam had been working in the utility sector while looking to establish his own company. Having worked in the sector for over a decade, he not only had good experience, but a desire to establish a company that could offer its clients a safe, trustworthy and professional service when it came to dealing with trees.
Liam came into arboriculture through a very different route to that followed by many arborists.
“I was working in the family business as a commercial diver,” he explained. “I was a diver working around the west coast, doing marine construction, rigging and mooring work for around 10 years, and one of our jobs was to dismantle an old wooden pier. The company put me through a chainsaw course so I could help cut the wooden piles on the surface once we had lifted them out.
“In 2005, I had to stop diving for medical reasons and my chainsaw qualification allowed me a way in to apply for work as a utility arborist with SSE in Oban. I worked for SSE for 12 years, and they put me through medium trees, windblow and all of my climbing tickets. I gained a lot of experience with them, got a lot of time on the saw and worked with some very experienced guys, which set me in good stead for where Tree Works Oban is today. I then started doing little jobs for friends and family at weekends and holidays, and word spread locally, and my workload increased.
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“I invested in my own saws, equipment, and a wee banger of a van, and started running Tree Works Oban, on a part-time basis, in 2011. I applied for a grant from the local authority in 2013, which funded the set up of our website, the design and production of our company paperwork, from Iain Arthur Design. That had a big impact on the number of customers I was able to attract. I continued to expand my customer base over the next few years, and went full-time in 2017.”
Returning to his time with SSE, Liam explained what the job of a utility arborist involved.
He said: “There was a lot of scrub bashing, using rods to prune for safety clearances and climbing, and siding of Sitka spruce through forestry plantations. Whenever a storm hit, the work could be very demanding, working through the night clearing windblow or cutting trees hung up on power lines. Obviously, working around live power lines, a health-and-safety culture is very important and it is something I try to carry on with Tree Works Oban.”
Like many people when they set up business for themselves, Liam’s drive was to have the real independence of working for himself and being in control of what he does. Professionalism and being a trustworthy business operator was also important to him.
“I love rigging work, while climbing, and enjoy the challenge and puzzle-solving element of certain trees,” he said. “I hope over the years we’ve proved we can tackle the most awkward and hazardous of jobs while minimising disruption to clients’ property.”
At the time of setting up Tree Works Oban, Liam was grateful to have the guidance, help and support of his parents, who ran their own commercial diving business. His mother Myra, in particular, was a big help on the administration side, as by his own admission this was not Liam’s strongest point.
Finding domestic clients locally came quite easy, especially when the website went live, but commercial clients were a bit trickier and it has taken years to build up that side of the business. Tree Works Oban now works for Argyll and Bute Council, a number of local housing associations and forestry management organisations, as well as a number of caravan and campsites, hotels and various construction companies around Argyll and the Islands.
He said: “I remember one particular week this year which stood out as being a busy one for us. It started with a huge dismantle of a roadside beech at Dunollie Castle. It was hollow inside and had to come down. It was a tricky job which required planning to achieve the result and to stay safe. We then moved on to removing a number of large trees in a community housing complex in Argyll.
“Next up was dealing with a number of storm-damaged and diseased trees at a private residence at Loch Awe. These are always tricky jobs, with the combination of working with trees that are damaged as well as being on domestic properties. Friday of that week was once again spent dealing with a risky tree, one that had been blown down and was presenting a danger to a path on an estate and wildlife reserve, near Loch Aline. The big saws were out for that one.
“We also had a big spruce job this year at Lochgilphead, another domestic situation, where the tree had to be dismantled and taken down. On the site were sheds, a fence and BT lines to be aware of in the drop zone. Therefore, everything had to be rigged down. Added to that, the property had soft ground and a well-kept lawn. It was down with the track mats to protect it from the branches, the chipper and our boots.”
The majority of the work that Tree Works Oban carries out is still domestic tree surgery, but Liam is continuing to seek out work that is more commercial, as he sees this as being steadier work with more chance of repeat business.
“In May, we had a right mess to clear up for Glencoe youth hostel,” he said. “Two big clumps of conifers had toppled over in the winter storms and had to be cleared and their root plates brought back over. Our Först TR8 and winch definitely earned their keep on that one. The Warn 10s winch has 4.5 tonnes of pulling power and was able to pull all the stems back up the hill for processing, saving us hours of back-breaking work. It then pulled the root plates back into place, leaving a far tidier job for the client. I do not know what we ever did without it.”
Liam is happy to tackle different jobs and in the past has done a bit of forestry work, doing a lot of felling of diseased larch. When required, Liam hires in a stump grinder to offer this service to his clients. He also does rope-access work and has been known to abseil into jobs mainly to cut and spray invasive species like rhododendron.
“One thing I’ve been busier with recently is tree surveys. I did my Lantra Professional Tree Inspection course with Chris Simpson, of Informed Tree Services, in 2019, and I have gained more experience in this area as the years have passed. I have done large-scale tree-safety surveys for Argyll and Bute Council, various estates and country hotels, as well as on the local Sustrans cycle tracks. I’m not getting any younger, so it is good to have another string to my bow which is not so physically demanding.
“After a survey of an entire hotel ground on the Isle of Eriska, which I carried out for the client, there were some trees that were identified as potential hazards. Some had to be removed, while there were others where pruning work was required. This job involved a lot of climbing for the team and many big fells. We carried this out over two weeks and on the second visit were blessed with some great weather and left behind a big stack of firewood.
“Tree Works Oban is still a small business, but our customer base and turnover continue to increase. I have an experienced team of sub-contractors I work with. The flexibility seems to work well with both parties. I have just changed to a limited company and may look at taking on full-time staff in the near future.”
When starting out back in 2011, on the equipment front Liam was guided by using what equipment he knew and was used to using from his time with SSE. So for climbing he used Prusik hitch and his two main saws were a Stihl MS201 top handle and MS362 ground saw. He also used a full rigging kit. He has subsequently switched from using Stihl saws to Husqvarna.
That said, he still uses what he describes as his trusty Stihl MS200t, having had it rebuilt and ported two years ago. The porting was a way of enlarging the exhaust, effectively giving the saw more power.
He said: “I now run mainly Husky saws. I love the new range. I find them light, powerful and easy to work on. It also helps that I have them set up to use the same chain and I buy a reel, so I can make my own chains for all the saws. I climb using single rope technique (SRT) as much as I can these days. I use a Petzl Zigzag and Chicane on 11.7 mm ropes.
“I had a problem with tennis elbow a few years ago, but since I changed to SRT and use my legs to access the tree now, instead of body thrusting, the problem has disappeared. I bought a GreenMech Arbtrak 200 in 2019, which was a good machine, but I recently traded it in for a Först TR8, with a 4.5-tonne Warn drum winch, which has been a real game changer. It has incredible chipping power, which saves us lots of time, and we use the winch most days for all sorts of things.
“I changed to Först mainly because the main dealer, ILH Groundcare, is relatively close to us, only a two-hour drive away in Cumbernauld. Darren Hastie and Daryl McCormick are always really good to deal with and their after-sales service is first class. The chipper developed a hydraulic problem in its first weeks, but they ordered parts the same day, sent an engineer to the work site and had us back working three days after the initial breakdown.”
If other kit or machinery is required for specific jobs, Liam hires it in. He is also looking to use machinery as much as possible on jobs to ensure that it is the machine doing the work – especially the heavy lifting and shifting of the timber on sites – rather than Liam and his men.
His view is that it’s better to spend the money on the hiring of machinery than end up spending time at a chiropractor.
The work carried out by Tree Works Oban is pretty varied. At the time I spoke with Liam he explained that he was dealing with the dismantling of a heavily leaning Sitka spruce at a local caravan site. He was also tidying up some windblow left over from a storm in January and he had carried out a roadside tree-safety survey for Argyll and Bute Council. Next in line was an abseiling job, cutting and chipping diseased rhododendrons for a country estate.
Variety is part of the attraction of working in the arboricultural sector. There are a few jobs that he has carried out over the years that have stuck in his mind.
“There was the removing of windblow and dismantling a spruce high above Loch Lomond, beside the pipelines that feed Sloy power station,” he said. “We were working in a remote, exposed location, with a big team and had hired in a winch and timber grab to help clear the windblown tree.
“Another job was the dismantling of a mature lime tree which was overhanging a large commercial greenhouse. Every single piece of the tree had to be safely lowered to the drop zone on a controlled speed line system. Even the smallest twig had the potential to break a pane of glass in the greenhouse.
“Finally, there was a job that involved us hiring in a local crane hire company to remove a large windblown tree which had landed on the roof of a property. It was tragic to see the damage the storm had done to a lovely little cottage, but we safely and efficiently removed the tree to our yard and we were able to mill the resulting timber and make coffee tables and work benches from it.”
While the recent Storm Gerrit did bring a bit of work to Tree Works Oban, it was nothing compared to Storm Arwen. But for Liam it is a double-edged sword.
“Storms like these create lots of work, which is great, but it can get pretty depressing dealing with devastation most of the time and seeing some really special trees having to be removed,” he said. “One client in particular, over on Mull, lost five massive grand firs, which were a real landmark for the area. It was sad to see.”
The COVID pandemic hit a few years after Liam went full-time into the business, but he came through that working as much as he could and only turning down jobs in built-up areas. This was simply to minimise the contact with the public, in keeping with his company’s COVID risk assessment.
Looking forward, Liam hopes to keep the business growing and he sees that there is the potential to start taking on staff as he gains more clients.
“Business is continuing to grow and we’re kept busy most of the time,” he said. “It has been a little quieter this year, coming out of spring into summer, but I am hoping this is just a blip rather than a trend. I want to get more commercial work, while keeping our regular domestic customers happy.
“It’s been very hard work at times, frequently stressful, and a constant learning experience, but ultimately very rewarding and I’m proud of the business that I’ve created with the help of my wife Siubhan and family, and the many people Tree Works Oban has employed over the years.”
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