MILDURA arborist Peter Luke has taken his business to new heights, writes TERRY GANGE

When Mildura arborist Peter Luke borrowed his dad's old Homelite chainsaw nearly 30 years ago, little did he realise it would set him on a path to a new career.Peter and his wife, Janet, are now the owners of Mildura Tree Services, one of northwest Victoria's biggest tree service companies, but Peter's the first to admit the business had humble beginnings.

Working on a research project on hardhead thistle for the Lands Department at Swan Hill, Peter started looking at gardening and odd-jobs to cover his bases because of the temporary nature of the contract.

"I was doing it after hours and at weekends - mowing lawns and doing clean-up jobs and using my ute to take rubbish to the tip," he said.

"At the time, I was still really thinking seriously about professional fishing and had even made some inquiries up around Balranald.

"But one day I was asked to cut down a small tree, so I borrowed an old Homelite chainsaw from my dad, Leslie, and away I went.

"It was a pretty rugged old chainsaw - it was a devil of a thing, really - but it did the job.

"It sparked something, though - I really just loved the work from the outset and I thought I may as well try to build it up.

"I advertised gardening and tree trimming services in the local newspaper, but, after having not one reply at the first few attempts, it eventually brought a reasonable amount of work.

"I picked up some more work trimming trees at schools for the Public Works Department and decided I'd better go out and buy a ladder!"

Janet was working at a stock and station office and they decided to take a chance on their own business.

The business grew, but so did the demands and challenges of the tasks it presented.

"We decided to take the plunge in 1982 and spend $23,000 on a cherry-picker," Peter said."I wasn't really worried because I thought if things didn't work out, I could sell it.

"Three years later, we bought a bigger cherry picker that was mounted on a truck and I started travelling to places such as Robinvale, Balranald, Murrayville, Ouyen and Cohuna.

"We also started taking on work in Mildura - at first, I was coming up for a week at a time, then two weeks and in the end I was doing three weeks in Mildura and one week back in Swan Hill.

"We had three young children so, in 1990, we took the plunge and moved to Mildura to start Mildura Tree Services."

Peter flew to Melbourne for a day a week for two years to complete his formal qualifications as an arborist.

"We were lucky to pick up good jobs in the early days with the local councils and some small government departments," he said.

"I still thank my lucky stars that the council work, particularly, helped keep us going.

"We hired occasional help and, in 1992, bought out another local contractor who had three staff to work on a contract for tree clearing work around electricity lines.

"Soon after, we bought our first wood chipper - $3000 and in a million pieces, but thankfully a mechanically-minded mate offered to help me put it back together.

"It wasn't long before we needed stump grinders.

"By the mid-90s, we had six trucks, two chippers, two travel towers and 18 workers looking after the powerline work in the Swan Hill region as well as around Mildura."

However, the loss of that contract to an American company was a huge blow to the developing business.

"We were stuck with over quarter of a million dollars worth of equipment and couldn't do anything but fire-sale it," Peter said.

"We then just concentrated on private and council work."

Mildura Tree Services won back a good share of the powerline contracts 10 years ago, working as far away as Mortlake and Bendigo.

"We've also been working in the Kinglake bushfire areas since soon after Black Saturday," Peter said.

"Initially, we went down for a week's work, but it's still going on now."

Careful planning goes into all the company's jobs, but Peter said problems did sometimes crop up unexpectedly.

"One of the most painful memories is the time I was cutting down a big tree on the river near Red Cliffs, 30 feet up, and safety harness on.

"I noticed a beehive above me, but, by the time I realised they weren't happy, I couldn't get out of my harness and down the tree in time.

"Hundreds of bees took to me and I ended up going to hospital over that one."