Ballard Tree Service

BTS was in the ‘hood doing some work so I asked them to give me an estimate to take down a leaner. It was a great price. They referred my to an arborist for the low down on permits and I found out I did not need one, so saved that money. They optionally remove the trunk that is cut into short fireplace length logs. My neighbors wanted it so I saved that money. The work was done almost immediately. It was also cleaned up after and no damage to my yard. I would use them again without hesitation.

We returned home to find our tree had split down the trunk. Was referred to BTS and they came over same day to assess the situation, secured the trunk with chains, and performed the tree removal w/​in a few days. Crew was very professional, fast, thorough, and worked clean. I made a time-​lapse video of the removal:

I had 3 large trees removed from my backyard. Incredibly they did the whole job in less than a day for less money than I expected. I highly recommend them for your tree services.

Ballard Tree Service did tree work for our neighbor, who then asked Ballard Tree Service to prune a tree in the city right-​of-​way in front of OUR property without notifying us, asking our permission, or obtaining the required City permit. Ballard Tree Service also did not notify us, ask our permission, or obtain the required City permit. They then proceeded to butcher the tree; it is so mutilated we are not sure it will survive. Ballard Tree Service denied doing the work when the City Arborist contacted them. The City Arborist came out and investigated, and ended up fining Ballard Tree Service $ 1000 for the terrible pruning. Our neighbor had proof that Ballard Tree Service did this terrible pruning in front of OUR property. The City Arborist told us there had been prior complaints about the work done by Ballard Tree Service. Based on this experience, Ballard Tree Service does not appear to be ethical or competent. They advertise themselves as a «discount» tree service; you get what you pay for.

Ballard Tree Service sucks. So does Unilocal for having the last review I posted December 2014 removed. These jerks billed me for work they did not even do. I had called twice requesting a quote which I never received. The only response from this company I got was a «past due» notice for the job on a day that another company was taking care of my problem tree. What a scam! They also seem to have convinced Unilocal to remove that last review. Another scam. Don’t trust either. Ballard Tree Service is worse though if as I suspect they are fraudulently billing landlords for work they never bothered to quote on much less complete. Shame on them!

Received a fast and extremely fair bid from Greg. I wanted an old pear tree removed and decided after talking to Greg that Ballard Tree Service was the company to use. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I highly recommend them and will use then in the future for sure!

Jesse and Max did an awesome job taking out a tree and trimming back a neighbor’s tree today. Total clean-​up too. Friendly, professional and super easy to work with. Couldn’t be happier! Thanks guys!

This is the third year in a row that I’ve used Ballard Tree Service to keep my laurel hedge under control. I keep going back because the people take great pride in their work and go the extra mile to make sure clients are happy. Once I contacted them, getting on the schedule was very timely. The crew came on time and did their usual very care, very professional job. I remain extremely pleased with the service provided. Thank you so much — and I’ll see you next year!

Ballard Tree Service removed trees for us on two occasions over the last two years and each time they were professional, followed up on their work with courtesy calls and were the best value price too. Highly recommended,

We were contacted by Ballard Tree Service to see if they could get access to our property to do some tree work in a neighbor’s yard. Of course, wanting to be good neighbors and citizens, I agreed. Noticing I had some wood rounds in a pile, they kindly offered to let us borrow one of their wood splitters for our troubles.
They did the neighbor’s tree work, and duly dropped off a 21-​ton wood splitter in my yard. Unfortunately, they opened the fence between us and our neighbors and didn’t both to seal it up again.
Worse still, the wood splitter doesn’t work. It simply won’t start.
I texted them several times to ask them to fix or pick up the wood splitter. They agreed to do so, and acknowledged my requests, but weeks later, the darn thing is still sitting in my yard, unusable. I have asked multiple times to have the thing removed, but for the last four weeks, they have ignored my requests. I now have unwanted yard art.
The incident left a bad taste in my mouth. I ended up renting a log splitter for $ 130, and getting the job done.
The first thing I look for in a service provider is a company that does what they say they are going to do. Based on my experience, Ballard Tree Service is not that company.

I’ve used Greg and Ballard Tree Service («BTS») for years, nearly 20 years. No job was too small or too large, and always competitive and fair with pricing. They were always prompt with quotes, punctual in arrival, and quick in the getting the work done. The last work was as recent as last spring, 2013.
That’s past tense. Fast forward to now. I had someone new to the BTS office come out and give me a quote for some work, and it was crazy expensive — something wasn’t right. I contacted the person with whom I’ve interacted over the years to come out and take a look; we spoke directly, he was in the middle of something, and would get right back to me. A couple of days later after not hearing from him, I call and leave a voice mail. I call a day or two later, and the voice mail is full. I follow up a couple of days later, reach him this time, and he’ll get right out to the property to work up a bid. I get a call a couple of hours later from the main office to put the visit on the schedule. A few days later, nothing. I follow-​up and call again, and leave another voice mail. A couple of days later, I call and the voice mail is full. Again, two days later, I get voice mail. Two days later, goes this time directly to voice mail (I leave no message — I’ve left plenty). Next day, again directly to voice mail (I leave no message — again, I’ve left plenty). Two days later, I get voice mail again. Hmmm, I’m guessing caller ID. I now call from my work phone, and bingo, maybe coincidence, but the phone gets answered. He’s in the middle of a big job involving a crane, and will get back to me. I’m not holding my breath…
This is tremendously disappointing. I work peripherally in the construction/​trade business, so I get it. I’m definitely the kind of person who takes the patient/​nice approach with folks rather than the opposite, so it’s not that I’m being rude or contentious. Maybe I need to be. I understand that BTS might be busy; but, in July and August?. You know how you find a good company with whom you become friends, and you use them exclusively for certain work and send work their way? That favorite restaurant, that great auto mechanic, that friendly doctor or dentist with whom you become friends? That’s been my experience over the years with BTS, up to now. I get the sense that all of a sudden they’ve hit the big-​time and don’t have time for the little folks any more.
Until I see things turn around, based on what’s happened over the last 6 weeks, I’m sorry but I can’t recommend Greg and BTS.
UPDATE 8÷28÷14. A week ago I tried one last time to contact Greg, and got through! I asked to the extent he seems too busy for us, if he could recommend someone else. He said he’s been busy clearing lots for builders. He assured me (several times) he’d get out to the property the next day. Giving him some time, I didn’t call to follow up until yesterday; had to leave a voice mail. I’ve gotten no response. We have since contacted another firm, who came out when they said they would, gave us a reasonable bid, we added more work, and they are scheduled to come out this Saturday to do the work.
Ballard Tree: 5 stars up until recently, but it has to be 1 star that it’s taken nearly 2 months and many promises to even get them out to the property to provide an estimate for the work. I was hopeful after last week’s call, but it seems to be more of the same.

I read some of the reviews and was looking forward to hiring Ballard tree to cut down some trees. I know it is busy season in the spring and summer so I figured I would attempt to do it in February. Unfortunately, I called/​emailed multiple times with no response back from the owner. I did received multiple messages from the secretary saying that my inquiry was received and the owner was contacted however I never heard from him.
I would suggest using a different tree company if you are interested in hearing back.

We hired Ballard Tree service to take down two trees and grind the stumps. We asked how thoroughly they would grind the stumps, their answer was «generally 12 — 15 inches below grade». We didn’t monitor the stump grinding, our mistake. We just bought new trees and tried to install them where the old trees had been — we found that the old stumps had been ground to just several (5 – 6) inches below grade, making it impossible to plant the new trees.
We called Ballard Tree Service and thought it would be straightforward to resolve. Instead of a «sorry, we’ll take a look and try to make it right» we were immediately told that another trip out would cost us (due to a setup fee).
We’re not satisfied with either their service or their response to our dissatisfaction.
I’m in the architecture field, and unfortunately I’ve already recommended Ballard Tree Service to clients — I won’t make that mistake going forward. If you do hire this company, pay attention to their work and don’t pay until you’ve inspected what they delivered.

Great value, did a great job and clean up… Will use again.

I don’t understand people who give them less than 5 stars!
You have to be very persistent getting quote from Ballard Tree as they are very very busy.
However, they deliver quality service.
The reason I like this small company is because they never turn away a yard project no matter how small or large.
I’ve used Ballard Tree for removing shrubs, ground covers and piles of dirt/​old sods.
They deliver quality service.
I will call them again and again for my future yard work.

This company was very painful to deal with, because they were never on time, and to make things worse they had very poor communication in the office to the teams and all involved in the process. Once the different crews were onsite, they did amazing work.
Thank you all for doing a nice job and getting it done!

Five Stars for this outstanding service provider! I had a huge 40-​ft Quaking Aspen that just looked «sick». Normally, I trim my own trees, but this one had grown so large there was no way I could handle it. I google «tree pruners» then followed the results to the outstanding reviews here and called.
Within in 24 hours, an estimator came out, the tree was diagnosed as «dying» and also it was pointed out to me that the tree had grown so far into the overhead wires that it was potential liability. During the estimate, Greg the owner popped by and answered a few important questions, then zoomed off (this guy is busy, and it is clear why: he is running a great business!!!) The next morning, on time and on track, a two-​man crew came out, removed the tree quickly, cleanly, efficiently while I was at work. That evening I received a follow-​up call asking how everything went, and I replied very, very well. It is so refreshing to call a service company out of the blue, then, within 36 hours have your problem solved. Great job Ballard Tree Service, thank you!!!

Called Ballard Tree Service and asked for a quote on the removal of two declining cherry trees. They came out the same day, took photos, and e-​mailed me a very reasonable bid, along with instructions for the permit process (since the trees were actually in the parking strip /​on City property). Once I acquired the permit, they were able to remove the trees immediately, have the underground utilities marked, grind the stumps, and remove the debris. At every step, their office called to make arrangements or report on progress. The attention they paid to cleanup — including raking, sweeping, and leveling the ground — was a very pleasant surprise. I just don’t run into this level of professionalism often. I’d give them six stars, if I could.

Called at 8am and they had someone at my door at 10:00am. Work on my tree by 10:30am.
So far I’m pretty happy. I called other places and they didn’t bother calling me back or showing up.

A+++++ These guys are great! Greg and his crew really care and it shows in the service they provide — from estimate all the way through cleanup. They always answer the phone and show up when they say they will, which is better than almost every other tree service I’ve used. They brought a bucket truck which was handy for my tall trees and a dumpster to put all the trimmings in so they don’t have to pile them in the yard — came in real handy to help complete a whole yard cleanup.
They did everything I asked for and even some things I didn’t, and recommended a few more which only made the finished job that much better. They cleaned up everything! I won’t hesitate to recommend Ballard Tree Service and will definitely be using them again.