Five stars does not do justice to this really excellent company and crew. We've had two experiences with Progressive in the past month, both dealing with two old, side-by-side, enormous cottonwoods on our property. The first experience dealt with a huge branch being blown down into our neighbor's front yard, blocking their front door and cracking their front window. I called Progressive's emergency number and Diego was at our house in an hour. The branch, 20" in diameter and 40' long was gone and cleaned up that day as Progressive elevated the job to emergency status. A month later a lightning strike hit both trees, sending cracks down their 130' high trunks. We got numerous bids. Progressive's bid was low to mid-range, and they had done such great work the first time we contracted with them again.
Progressive said they had never seen a tree get hit like that and we all agreed these majestic trees had to come down. It was a sad, but safe decision. The crew of about ten men arrived at 7:30am on a Saturday on a 90+ degree day. They brought with them one crane, one cherry-picker lift, one chipper, a ditch witch and huge chainsaws. Throughout the day they filled at least three trucks with mulch and another three truck loads filled with 12 foot logs ranging in diameter from 24-48". The crew's work was skillful, careful, exact and a thing of art to witness. Added to that was how friendly, pleasant and happy the crew was. To top it off, this whole crew really respected the age and beauty of the trees they were taking down. Owner Juan is a certified Arborist and knows what he is talking about. Even the crane operator recognized how special these trees were and told us at the end of the day that he talked to the trees before they came down, saying he was sorry but their time had come. For some people, comments like that may seem silly and overly sentimental, but for us, having lived with these trees for the past 22 years (they were probably 100 years old), having enjoyed their shimmering canopies, their leaves sounding like an ocean in the sky, the heartfelt comments of the crane operator rang true and honest and brought a rich circle-of-life meaning to our whole experience.
The crew had both trees down and all debris removed by 5:00pm, as promised, cleaned up and departed thanking for the opportunity to work for us. An expensive project, yes, but a good competitive bid. A memorable, life affirming experience? Absolutely. I give 100 stars to Progressive Tree Service of Evanston. read more