Technological advancement makes tree cutting safer
Jun. 9—Titan Tree Service is using technology to better serve its customers and employees.
The company recently put a new, custom-made grapplesaw truck into operation, allowing workers to more safely remove trees by using a remote control.
Alec Senofonte, owner of the Olyphant-based company formed in 2001, has run the business for about five years and has been thrilled with its expansion.
"We've grown 410% in that time," he said.
He purchased the truck from the Toronto, Canada-based BIK Hydraulics for $430,000.
"We're innovators and we're not afraid to spend money on safe and proper equipment which helps us retain very good, very technical employees," Senofonte said. "They're all very excited about it ... it's going to make their lives much easier."
Senofonte said the company started using the new truck this week after two weeks of training.
He added the crane has 104 feet of reach and a 58 1/2 -ton weight capacity.
"You can sit in a driveway and reach up and over a home and remove a tree in a backyard without having to drive a truck onto the lawn or actually be in the backyard," Senofonte said. "We can safely remove tress from the ground via remote control which is super safe and efficient."
While the new equipment also cuts the time of jobs in at least half, Senofonte noted improved safety was the main reason for making the purchase.
"We've been dealing with a lot of really bad, brittle, dangerous ash trees," he said. "The emerald ash borer has been decimating all of them in our area, so it's been really dangerous for our climbers. With this truck, we really don't have to climb anything at all."
Senofonte is always looking for the next big advancement to move his company forward.
"I watch the industry closely, especially with newer implementations," he said. "I've been watching this one the past few years and trying to figure out how we could make it work in residential settings."
Senofonte needed to have adjustments made to the truck to make it a viable option in the community.
"We were able to shorten it to 26 feet, so the turning radius is very tight," he said. "We can get it into pretty much any residential neighborhood."
Dr. Harry Schmaltz of Waverly used Titan Tree in the past and was excited to see the new equipment in action.
"I have a bunch of dead ash trees on my property and there was one huge tree very close to the road that was going to be a big issue," Schmaltz said. "They took the tree apart limb by limb. It was really cool to watch the guy on the ground, well out of harm's way, manipulate this big arm that barely had to come on my property."
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