How to choose a tree company in SEQ (and the red flags that predict a bad job)

Here's the uncomfortable truth about our industry: in Queensland, anyone can buy a chainsaw on Saturday and call themselves a tree lopper on Monday. There's no licence required for general tree work. That makes choosing a company genuinely hard, because the difference between a professional crew and a cowboy isn't visible in a Facebook ad. Here's what to actually check.

The non-negotiables

• Public liability insurance: ask for the certificate of currency, not just a yes. Ten to twenty million dollars is standard for tree work. If a limb goes through your roof, or the neighbour's, this is what stands between you and the bill
• A written, fixed quote: exactly what's being removed or pruned, whether the stump, timber and green waste are included, and the total price. Verbal numbers grow on the day
• Qualifications: formal arboriculture training (Certificate II or III in Arboriculture is the common standard) for the people making the cuts, especially on climbing jobs
• Council awareness: a pro asks about protected vegetation before quoting. Anyone happy to drop a tree with no questions asked is happy for you to wear the fine

The red flags

Some warning signs show up before a single branch is cut:

• Door-knockers who are 'doing a job up the street' and can do yours cheap today
• Cash-only pricing, no paperwork, no ABN on anything
• Quotes wildly below everyone else. Insurance, training and equipment cost real money, so a price that ignores them means the job will too
• Anyone recommending topping a healthy tree flat, or spiking up a tree that isn't being removed (climbing spikes wound trees that are staying)
• Pressure to decide on the spot

One more subtle one: watch how they talk about your trees. Someone who only ever recommends removal is selling chainsaw hours. A genuine arborist will sometimes talk you out of work, tell you a tree is fine, or suggest a cheaper prune where you expected a removal.

Why the cheap quote often costs more

We regularly quote jobs that are really two jobs: the original one, and fixing what the first crew did. Topped trees that regrew dangerously, stumps left to sprout, fences dropped and never mentioned, green waste abandoned in a pile. The gap between the cheapest quote and a proper one is usually a few hundred dollars. The gap between a proper job and a cleanup job is a few thousand.

That's not an argument for the dearest quote either. It's an argument for comparing like with like: same scope, same inclusions, insurance sighted, in writing.

Questions worth asking every quoter

• Can I see your insurance certificate?
• Who exactly will be on site, and who's climbing?
• What does this tree need approval-wise, and who checks?
• What's included: stump, timber, mulch, cleanup?
• What will this tree look like in three years? (for pruning jobs)

A good operator answers all five without blinking. We built our whole business on being the outfit that does, and our quotes are free, written and fixed across the Redlands and Greater Brisbane. Get one from us and measure everyone else against it.