The business is operated by Chris St. Vincent, with help from his daughter, Tayler, as secretary, and support from his wife, Danielle.

“I think you (Chris) were referred by somebody for doing a small job, and it kind of grew by word of mouth,” Tayler said of how the business began. “It kind of grew into something that took over.”

St. Vincent said he used to work as a logger. “I’ve been out in the woods since I was a kid. My dad was a logger. That’s all I ever did, just cut trees,” he said.

St. Vincent said learning how to climb trees takes patience. Climbers use harnesses, climbing spikes and ropes.

Chris St. Vincent of St. Vincent Tree Service holds some of the equipment he uses for climbing trees to remove limbs and cut down trees. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News)

“It took me a long time to learn how to do it, because it doesn’t happen overnight, so I’ve been doing it 30 years. I was logging, climbing trees part-time, and when I got better at climbing, I started doing it full time. I climb every tree,” he said. “I don’t have a bucket truck.”

“I think that’s another reason why, too, he’s gained such a customer base because of his climbing skills, compared to having big equipment in your yard,” Tayler said.

The business has received several Daily News Best of the Best awards for tree service, including in 2025.

“I can get to any tree. Sometimes you can’t get equipment to a tree and that’s where I come in. Sometimes people don’t like big heavy trucks in their yards,” he said.

His two employees — Dominic Rossato and Jeffrey Maracini, who has been with the business four years and two years, respectively — are learning to climb as well. Maracini is already a climber, and Rossato has been practicing on easier jobs.

The logo for St. Vincent Tree Service in Niagara, Wis.

“And he’s getting better and better at it. A couple more years I can see he’s going to be really good at it,” St. Vincent said of Maracini. “It takes a special kind of person. You can’t be afraid of heights. It’s a dangerous job, one of the most dangerous jobs out there.”

The three are usually on the job together so they can help with safety, lowering limbs and getting equipment in the air.

St. Vincent enjoys many aspects of the job, which involves trimming and removing trees of all different sizes, plus clean up.

“I like the challenge. It’s very rewarding work. It’s a lot of problem solving, a lot of thinking about ‘how are you going to get this down without damaging anything?’ I love working outdoors. I love being outside. I just love working with trees, cutting trees,” he said.

St. Vincent finds the weather to be the most difficult aspect of the job because of the various conditions in the area. They operate year round, but the winter is the slowest time of year.

He has a chipper, and a couple of dump trailers, along with climbing gear, chainsaws and ropes. Richard Victorson serves as his stump grinder.

In the future, St. Vincent expects to add more equipment.

“I’m going to have to. Every year we get more and more work. In the summer we can barely keep up. I’m going to have to get a little bigger, and maybe get a lift,” he said. “There’s no shortage of work.”

The business is fully licensed and insured and has a Department of Transportation number. They are at 483 E. Fisher Lake Parkway in Niagara and have also opened an office at 300 S. Stephenson in the lower level of the Franklin Square building in Iron Mountain. They can be reached at 906-221-6025 and offer free estimates.

More information can also be found on Facebook and the St. Vincent Tree Service website at https://stvincenttreeservice.pro/. Hours vary, but they operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. most days.

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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.