Seaside Tree Service Clears Spaces in Unique Places

Right about now, there’s a Virginia homeowner who’s happy he called a local tree removal company to reclaim 15 feet of beachfront along his property.

Now, we know what you’re thinking — why is a tree company doing a beach restoration?

If you knew Adam Simpson at Simpson’s Tree and Bobcat Services, whose list of satisfied customers includes NASA (yes, that NASA — more on that later), you’d know he and his crew are up for anything. And that we’ve got this mentality is largely attributable to his Bobcat® machines.

“We’ll take the Bobcat excavator out on a barge, and another barge will have the boulders to line up and build a rock wall about 30 feet out into the water,” says Adam, owner of the tree removal company that bears his name. “It’s kinda cool that our Bobcat machines help us do different types of work.”

Finding a Pot of Gold on the Side of the Road

The roots of Simpson’s Tree and Bobcat Services date back to 1998 when Adam and a former partner did small lawn and landscaping jobs. As fate would have it, a chance encounter with a stranger would help launch Adam’s fledgling company to new heights.

“We were on the way to a job when I saw a bucket truck sitting along the road for sale,” recalls Adam. “We went and looked at the job, which was too big for us. So we went to the bank and bought that truck.”

Besides adding a new (used) tool to help them work more effectively, Adam and his partner gained something much more valuable in the transaction. “The gentleman we bought the truck from happened to own a tree business,” says Adam. “So he was actually giving us on-the-job training. I learned quickly that I had to get great equipment to start doing the type of work I wanted to do long-term.”

Two-Man Show Becomes Bobcat and a Band of Brothers

“My first unit was a Bobcat 863 skid-steer loader,” says Adam. The machine served as his workhorse unit for about five years before his booming business required Adam to build up his small but mighty fleet.

His now robust tree removal, pruning and trimming company employs three Bobcat T180 compact track loaders, a Bobcat T770 compact track loader and a Bobcat E60 excavator. “Our equipment has to be built well,” says Adam. “The ruggedness and integrity of the Bobcat equipment lets us take down trees that are four feet in diameter. The machines grab them, pick them up and put it all in the truck.” Adam even half-jokingly offers that “The dump trucks and trailers take more abuse than the loaders.”

Over the years, Adam’s growing fleet required additional manpower. Luckily, he didn’t have to look far to fill out his crew.

“Business picked up, so I hired both of my brothers,” says Adam. Working with two blood relatives ended up being a sound business decision for Simpson’s Tree Services. “It’s good because everybody knows where we stand,” states Adam, who thrives as the self-proclaimed face of the now 12-person company that serves a 70-mile peninsula. His brothers are more comfortable operating inside the comfortable cabins of their Bobcat machines.

Clearing the Way for NASA

Adam recently put his fleet of Bobcat compact track loaders to work for none other than NASA.

“It was an open site, about three to four acres to clear,” recalls Adam. His Bobcat machines helped his crew make quick work amidst a rough terrain. One compact track loader was equipped with a stump grinder, and another featured a three-tine grapple. Removing mature trees as thick as 40 inches in diameter required tough-as-nails equipment. “Bobcat machines are the workhorses and backbone of our operations.”

Four days after his crew first landed on site, they finished the job to NASA’s high standards. Adam quickly discovered that when your hard work pays off, especially for one of the most recognizable names in the galaxy, word gets around.

“We’re the only tree service in the area that does work with municipalities,” says Adam. Simpson Tree Services has a standing contract with Accomack County, where Adam’s crew — which includes certified arborists with over a decade of experience — uses the Bobcat excavator and compact track loaders to contain stream and creek overflow into roadside and woodland ditches.

In his line of work, Adam proclaims “Reputation is everything.” That’s why he includes the Bobcat name in his business. “I want my name on my company because we stand behind everything we do. And the equipment we use helps us get there,” says Adam.

And whenever he gets a sales pitch from another equipment dealer? “I stop them mid-sentence,” states Adam. “I don’t use anything but Bobcat machines.”