Surrey based contractors J Burch Tree Care and Grounds Maintenance have been putting their GreenMech Arborist 150 to a seemingly seasonal use with Spruce (Christmas) trees – but not felling them for sale, but to chip them! 

The company was established in Surrey a decade and a half ago and have worked on a variety of arboricultural projects in the surrounding area for a mixture of commercial and domestic customers.

After a series of breakdown issues with a previous chipper make, owner Jon Burch purchased a GreenMech Arborist 150 two years ago.  “The Arborist 150 fitted the bill,” said Jon, “we were instantly impressed during the demo and haven’t been disappointed since. It’s a really great machine, it deals with everything we put through it and it doesn’t snag. It’s been invaluable on a project of this size.”

The project in question being the clearing of a privately owned Surrey estate.  The initial job entailed 25 acres, but that has grown to be a major site clearance of 175 acres, meaning Jon and his team of three now has a rather larger job on their hands – rather different than the routine tree work and hedge cutting maintenance they are used to.  Amongst the site to be cleared is approximately eight acres of spruce trees, with the aim of replanting the area with a more native tree to tie-in with the rest of the estate woodland.       

Jon again: “We’re not sure why they were planted originally but the majority of the spruce trees that we are felling are now either dead or so tall, around 20 metres, they would not be fit for Christmas trees. However, we were able to salvage a few tops which we have donated to local rugby clubs, pubs etc. – one even went to my daughter’s school.

“The rest are being put through the Arborist 150 chipper, with the resulting wood chip going to another nearby estate where it is being used for horse bedding and plant/border material.  The Arborist 150 is working like a Trojan, producing an average of 5 or 6 truck-loads of wood chip every day.”