About us
We climb for a living.
SGD Professional Tree Felling works the length of the Garden Route, from Mossel Bay through George and Knysna to Plettenberg Bay.
Our approach
Most of the work is in awkward places.
Felling is the bulk of what we do. The pruning and trimming matter just as much, and they are usually what saves a tree from having to come down later.
Very few of the trees we get called out to are standing somewhere convenient. There is a thatched roof under one side, or a pool, or a boundary wall with the neighbour's carport just behind it. Those trees do not come down in one piece. A climber goes up, ties the limbs off and lowers them one at a time, and the ground crew clears each piece as it comes down.
It is slower than the alternative. If a limb needs a rope on it then it gets a rope, including on the days it would probably have been fine without one. Working that way is also why we can put a price on a job before we start and still be on that price at the end.
Chipping, raking and loading are part of the same job. The chipper and the truck come with the crew, so the brush goes through as we cut and the timber leaves when we do. Nobody is left phoning around afterwards to get the rest of it taken away.
Safety & cover
None of this is optional on our jobs.
Tree work has one of the worst injury records of any trade. Everything below happens on every SGD job, and it is already in the price.
- Certified arborists. The people in the tree are trained climbers, not general labourers with a saw.
- Full public liability cover. In place before we start, and we are happy to send you the certificate with the quote.
- Complete PPE. Helmets with visor and ear defence, cut-resistant chaps and boots, gloves and eye protection.
- Inspected climbing gear. Ropes, harnesses, karabiners and friction devices checked and retired on schedule.
- A drop zone that is actually controlled. Ground crew on cones and ropes, with nobody standing where a limb can reach.
- Maintained saws and machinery. Sharp chains, working brakes and a chipper that gets serviced.
Ask us for the paperwork. If you are a body corporate, estate manager or landlord and you need proof of cover before we come on site, say so when you call and it will be attached to your quote.
How a job runs
What actually happens, from your call to the last rake.
No mystery, no revised invoice at the end. This is the sequence for every job, whether it is one branch or a whole plot.
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You call or message
Phone or WhatsApp 064 129 4129. A photo of the tree and your suburb is usually enough for us to know what we are dealing with.
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We come and look
A free site visit. We check the lean, the drop zone, the access for the chipper and whether anything overhead is in the way.
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Written quote
A fixed price covering the cut, the rigging, the chipping and the clean-up, plus a date. Proof of insurance on request.
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Job day
Crew, ropes, saws and chipper on site. Work area cordoned, tree taken down in the planned order, brush chipped as it comes.
And then we tidy up.
Chips blown into the beds or loaded out, timber cut to firewood length or taken away, and the ground raked and swept. You walk the site with us before the truck leaves, and if something is not right we sort it out then.
Where we work
The whole Garden Route, and the farms behind it.
We are on the road most weeks between Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay, which means we can usually fit a site visit in around work we are already doing nearby. Smallholdings, estates, body corporates, guest houses and private gardens all get the same crew and the same standard.
- Mossel Bay
- Hartenbos
- Great Brak
- George
- Wilderness
- Sedgefield
- Knysna
- Plettenberg Bay
- & surrounds
Talk to us about your tree.
Free site visit, fixed written quote, no obligation.