Milone's Tree Solutions

Milone's Tree Solutions runs out of a factory unit on Russell Street in Werribee, in Melbourne's west, and has been at it for more than 20 years. Charlie Milone is managing director alongside Tina Milone, and he came to arboriculture from the Australian Defence Force, which shows in the way the business talks about procedure and documentation. He holds a Certificate III in Arboriculture, an ESI qualification, traffic management certification and a high risk work licence. Operations are run by Kim Macinnes, who has 25 years in the trade.

The cutting work is broken down finely. Tree removal and tree lopping at one end, then tree trimming and pruning, canopy lifting to get growth up off a roof or a driveway, crown reduction to bring a top back in, and formative pruning to set a young tree up properly. Hedge trimming, stump grinding and removal, tree chipping and mulching and land clearing fill out the rest. The gear includes a red spider lift for getting into backyards with no gate wide enough for a truck, plus elevated work platforms, commercial chippers, stump grinders and rigging systems.

Emergency tree services are advertised as running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across Melbourne and regional Victoria. The crew carries professional emergency lighting so a dangerous tree can come out at night rather than waiting until morning, and emergency jobs come with photographic documentation, a written report of the work done, and direct communication with councils and insurers to support a claim.

The consulting side is properly developed. There is a quick verbal arborist consultation if you only need an opinion, full arboricultural consultation and arborist tree assessment where a written position is needed, tree removal permit advice for councils that protect their canopy, and arboricultural expert witness work for disputes that end up in front of a tribunal. Crews hold White Cards, VESI electrical safety tickets, high risk work licences and plant and machinery tickets.

Work covers Melbourne north, south, east and west, and runs out to Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, the Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland. The site keeps a page for each council it deals with, including Wyndham, Melton, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Moonee Valley, Hume, Whittlesea, Darebin, Banyule, Nillumbik, Manningham, Boroondara, Moorabool, Surf Coast and Greater Geelong. Beyond houses, the business works for schools, hospitals and medical centres, aged care, childcare, shopping centres, golf courses, body corporates and real estate agencies.