Editor’s note: Two readers contacted TCI Magazine last winter suggesting we do a story about Floyd Taylor. The first was Nathan J. Wright, CTSP, ISA Certified Arborist and manager distribution forestry with National Grid Western Division in Fredonia, N.Y. “There is a gentleman who works for one of my contractors who is about to turn 86 and, while slowing down, is still actively engaged in performing tree work as a crane operator. His career spans more than 50 years,” said Wright. The second was the subcontractor Wright mentioned, Scott Beicke, owner of Tree Care of New York LLC, a 26-year TCIA member company based in Alden, N.Y. “I would be happy to get any info or get a conversation going to discuss the potential of an article,” said Beicke. “What a great way to honor a lifetime dedicated to our tree care industry.” It took us a while to get around to talking to Taylor, and he has since retired. But here you go.

What inspired you to enter the tree care industry?
It was a fateful day in 1956, Taylor says. “I was 17, and it was kind of a rainy day, and some guys came up the old dirt road past our house and went down into the field, trimming trees in the power lines. I didn’t have anything to do that day, so I followed them along and watched them, and the (lead) guy told me, ‘If you want a job when you’re 18, I’ll give you a job,’ and he did, and that’s the way I started.”

Can you briefly describe your journey to becoming CEO/owner?
Taylor worked with The Davey Tree Expert Company for several years. “In about 1975, I went into business for myself and bought a crane, and then a few years later, I bought a grapple truck. With those two trucks, a stump grinder, a chipper and some chain saws, I was set. I sold that business in 2000, but then I actually started up another tree business, Maranatha, shortly after.”

What is the best part of your job?
Matter-of-factly, Taylor quips, “I liked removing trees. My business specialized in tree removal and mostly around power lines. I went into business with my brother, and it was just the two of us. Not the larger five- or six-person crews that work on trees today. Between us we took down thousands of trees.”

What does a perfect day at work look like?
“The perfect workdays were the ones with all the trees hitting where they’re supposed to hit – when the weather was good, with little wind. And, most important, because the job was more dangerous when I started, when everyone went home at night, you knew you had a good day.”

What do you think people misunderstand most about tree care or arborists?
Today’s arborists really do care and are conscientious, he says. “A lot of times people don’t want you trimming the trees around power lines because of how the tree needs to be shaped around them. But that is usually until a storm comes, and then they see the necessity of having the trees trimmed back from the wires to keep the electricity on.”

What trends or challenges are currently shaping the tree care industry?
Taylor says the loss of trees through natural occurrences bothers him today. “I’m old enough to have seen the chestnut trees die with a disease,” he says, and the loss of elm trees from Dutch elm disease, spread by elm bark beetle. “Ninety-eight percent of the elms in this area died. And now the emerald ash borer has killed probably the same number of ash trees,” he says.

“Years ago, nearly all the cuts to fell a tree were made in the air with a handsaw,” says Taylor. “Today, a large truck pulls up, a man steps out with a computer hanging on his belt, a boom raises up nearly 100 feet, the man never leaves the ground and a chain saw cuts the limb off. Today’s machines eliminate the three big hazards I dealt with in the early 1960s: falling from the tree, coming in contact with an electrical wire and getting hit with a large section of the tree that was being lowered to the ground.”

How do you use your platform or influence to shape the industry or educate others?
Taylor, who will turn 87 next February, retired earlier in 2025. For this answer, we went to Scott Beicke, owner of Tree Care of New York. Beicke has used Taylor as a contractor for crane work for the last several years. “Floyd spent a lot of years working with us at Tree Care Of New York. I had the privilege of working with him day in and day out for around 10 years straight,” says Beicke. “Floyd, in his career, has mentored many young – and not so young – people to grow career paths in the tree care industry.”

What’s one project or moment in your career that you’re especially proud of?
The work around power lines, Taylor says. “I did a lot of work for utility companies, a lot of power-line work. I was fortunate enough to get hooked up with Tree Care of New York, and I did a lot of work with them. They actually purchased my crane to allow me to realize my second, and final, retirement.”

What guidance would you give to someone just starting a tree care business?
“It’s a healthy profession to be in,” says Taylor. “You’re outside all the time; it can be a lot of hard work, but hard work is good for everybody. There’s also a lot of rewards, plus an opportunity to work for yourself; you don’t have to work for big companies.”

What’s something we missed, or something fun that people should know about you?
Tree care has been a family affair, Taylor says. “My brother is 10 years younger than I am, and when he got old enough to climb, he started working with me. My son has worked in tree care, and I have three grandsons who have all been involved with trees.”

Tim Bartelt is a freelance writer based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and has more than 20 years of work experience in the
outdoor-power-equipment industry.