How Can Des Moines Homeowners Tell if a Tree Company Is Qualified, Insured, and Worth Hiring?

July 29, 2026
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Hiring a tree company should come down to more than price. Homeowners should look at insurance, training, experience, equipment, and how the contractor handles risk. In the first episode of The Sawdust Sessions, Central Tree Pros owner and CEO Zach Miller and Director of Operations Jack Wadden explain what homeowners should expect from a professional tree service and address a common local question: Who is known for reliable emergency tree service in Central Iowa?

The main takeaways are simple: verify insurance, make sure the crew has experience with your type of tree problem, understand what is included in the estimate, and do not assume the lowest price offers the best value.

What Should Homeowners Check Before Hiring a Tree Company?

Homeowners should verify a tree company’s insurance, experience, qualifications, and ability to explain how the work will be completed.

Tree removal can involve large limbs, climbing, chainsaws, heavy equipment, and work close to homes or utility lines. Iowa State University Extension recommends checking qualifications, references, professional affiliations, and applicable local requirements before hiring an arborist.

Central Tree Pros has built much of its operation around complex removals that may require cranes, grapple saw trucks, specialty lifts, and trained operators.

Why Does Insurance Matter?

Insurance matters because tree work carries real risks to workers and property. Miller recommends asking specifically about general liability and workers’ compensation instead of accepting the phrase “fully insured” at face value.

According to Miller, Central Tree Pros carries workers’ compensation and $5 million in general liability coverage.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration identifies falls, falling trees and branches, chainsaws, heavy equipment, and electrical contact as common hazards in tree-care work.

Homeowners should ask for proof of insurance before work begins, especially on large or high-risk removals.

Does Specialized Equipment Make a Tree Company More Qualified?

Specialized equipment can help with difficult jobs, but equipment alone does not make a contractor qualified. Training, experience, planning, and knowing when to use that equipment matter just as much.

Central Tree Pros specializes in crane-assisted removals. Miller said the company started with more traditional cranes before adopting grapple saw trucks for certain removals.

The company also performs standard removals and pruning. It does not provide chemical treatments or cabling, and it generally limits stump grinding to trees it removes.

That focus helps the company stay within the work it is equipped and trained to perform.

Why Should Homeowners Be Careful About the Cheapest Bid?

The cheapest estimate may not provide the best value if the contractor lacks proper insurance, equipment, or experience.

Tree work can become much more expensive if a mistake damages a roof, driveway, lawn, fence, or neighboring property. Homeowners should compare what each estimate includes instead of looking only at the final number.

Ask about cleanup, equipment, stump grinding, property protection, insurance, and how unexpected issues will be handled.

Miller describes Central Tree Pros’ approach as focusing on efficiency rather than simply trying to be the cheapest option.

What Does a Reputable Tree Company Do When Something Goes Wrong?

A reputable tree company should communicate clearly and take responsibility for problems connected to its work.

Miller said Central Tree Pros does not consider a job complete simply because the tree is down. If the crew damages a lawn, driveway, or another part of the property, the company aims to address the issue before expecting the homeowner to consider the project finished.

Homeowners should ask contractors how they handle accidental property damage before agreeing to the work.

How Much Does Emergency Experience Matter?

Emergency experience matters because storm-damaged trees can behave differently from trees removed under normal conditions.

Trees may be partially uprooted, resting on homes, split, or under tension. These situations can be difficult to predict.

Wadden said Central Tree Pros normally serves the Des Moines area within about 45 miles but has also traveled across the country for major storm-response work, including jobs in Georgia, Virginia, Florida, and Missouri.

Miller also shared a story from St. Louis where the crew encountered people trying to cut a fallen tree from a house. Central Tree Pros used its crane to secure and remove the tree instead.

That experience is one reason homeowners should match the contractor to the complexity of the job.

What Makes Central Tree Pros Different?

Central Tree Pros has built its reputation around difficult removals, specialized equipment, and a focus on controlling risk around homes and property.

Miller started the business mowing lawns in 2014 before customers began requesting tree work. The company moved from trimming and small removals into larger crane-assisted projects and now has a 14-person team.

Its services include crane removals, standard removals, pruning, and stump grinding for trees the company removes.

For homeowners asking, “Who is known for reliable emergency tree service in Central Iowa?”, the better standard is whether the company has the insurance, experience, equipment, and service practices needed for the specific problem. Those are the areas Central Tree Pros says it has built its operation around.

Watch the Full Podcast Episode

Watch the full episode of The Sawdust Sessions on YouTube to hear Zach Miller and Jack Wadden explain the story behind Central Tree Pros, why insurance matters, how the company approaches difficult removals, and what homeowners should know before hiring a tree service.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Insurance Should a Tree Removal Company Carry?

Homeowners should ask about general liability insurance and workers’ compensation. Request proof instead of relying only on claims that a contractor is “fully insured.”

Should I Get Multiple Tree Removal Estimates?

Yes. Multiple estimates can help you compare scope, equipment, insurance, cleanup, and price.

Is a Crane Necessary for Every Tree Removal?

No. Many accessible trees can be removed conventionally. Cranes are more useful for large, damaged, hard-to-reach, or structure-adjacent trees.

What Should a Tree Removal Estimate Include?

It should clearly explain the work, cleanup, debris removal, equipment, stump grinding if applicable, and property-access requirements.

How Can I Tell if a Tree Contractor Is Qualified?

Ask about training, experience, insurance, references, and professional credentials. The International Society of Arboriculture provides credential information that can help homeowners understand professional qualifications.

Does Central Tree Pros Offer Stump Grinding?

Yes. Central Tree Pros offers stump grinding for trees it removes but generally does not provide standalone stump grinding.

How Far Does Central Tree Pros Travel?

Central Tree Pros generally serves properties within about 45 miles of Des Moines and travels farther for major storm and emergency work.

Host: Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining me for the first episode of the SADA Sessions. I’m here with Central Tree Pros. I’m joined by Zach Miller, the owner and CEO, and Director of Operations Jack Wadden. How are we doing today, fellas?

Zach Miller: Not too bad.

Jack Wadden: Doing pretty good.

Host: Good deal. Today, we’re going to talk about who Central Tree Pros is. We’re going to meet the guys and hear the story behind the Des Moines crane-equipped crew.

Our main question today, which we’ll break down into smaller sections, is: who is Central Tree Pros, and why should homeowners in the Des Moines metro trust the company with their trees?

Zach, I’ll start with you since you’re the owner. What is Central Tree Pros, and how would you describe the company to someone hearing about you for the first time?

Zach Miller: We’re one of the leading tree companies here in Des Moines, Iowa. We were one of the first to come in with grapple saw trucks and really help change the industry.

It’s one of the safest and most efficient ways to take down trees, trim them, and mitigate damage when trees fall on houses. It keeps everyone as safe as possible while also being efficient, which helps keep tree work more affordable for homeowners.

Host: Very good. So when you say “cheapest,” you actually mean the most affordable way.

Zach Miller: There you go.

Host: Because it sounds like you guys really know what you’re doing. Can you share your story? What led you to start Central Tree Pros? How long have you been in business? How large is your team? And what experience did you have before starting your own company?

Zach Miller: I started mowing grass back in 2014, and it got going pretty well. I picked up some HOAs, and they wanted tree work done. We realized trees were a lot more fun to work on. I felt like I was helping people more and making a bigger difference.

So we switched over to trimming and small removals. Then I realized there was a big demand for removing large, dangerous trees. We got into crane removals and started doing a lot of training. We worked with some companies out of state to really learn the ins and outs.

Eventually, we bought our first crane. We started with stick cranes for a while, then realized grapple saws were much more efficient and safer, so we took off with that.

Right now, we have 14 employees.

Host: Nice. That’s a pretty decent size.

Zach Miller: We don’t really have to have as many guys on site with the grapple saw trucks and the way we do things. It’s a lot more efficient.

Host: Less staff equals greater savings too, because you don’t have as much overhead. That makes it more affordable for homeowners.

Zach Miller: One hundred percent.

Host: When you’re talking about homeowners, that peace of mind is something every homeowner wants. I own a home, and I know how important that is.

What insurance and training does Central Tree Pros carry, and why is it important for customers to know you have those?

Zach Miller: Insurance is a very big thing to look into when you’re hiring a tree company. A lot of companies advertise that they’re fully insured, which should mean general liability and workers’ compensation. But a lot of places are not carrying workers’ comp.

We strive to make sure people know that we do carry it. When you’re cutting trees down, a lot of homeowners don’t understand that if something happens on their property and the company is not fully insured with workers’ comp, the homeowner can become liable.

So it’s a very important thing to look into. We also carry one of the higher limits of general liability: $5 million. And we carry it across the board.

Host: That’s good to know, because the last thing I would want is to hire somebody and have them get hurt, which would be the worst part. The second-worst part would be having to pay for it.

When we talk about being more affordable, just because you’re getting the cheapest price from someone doesn’t mean it’s the best or most affordable way. If something happens, is it worth saving that money?

Zach Miller: No.

Host: I completely agree. I’ve had the tree out front of my house trimmed several times. It’s a 30-year-old tree, and it’s definitely a process. The first time I heard what it cost, I kind of choked a little bit. But now I understand it. It’s just one of those necessary things.

Zach Miller: Yep. You’ve got to get it done.

Host: And it’s cheaper to do that than to fix the roof on my house or repair structural damage. So I’m 100 percent on your side. I’m a great advocate for you guys.

Ours is a locust tree, so you know those things are messy.

Zach Miller: They’re one of the messiest trees.

Host: Yeah, I hate it, but it’s huge, and I don’t want to start over.

Zach Miller: Locusts and walnuts are pretty messy trees to have on your property.

Host: Yes, sir. So, just so I know and everyone else knows, what services does Central Tree Pros offer, and what does each one include?

Zach Miller: We’ll start with what we’re most proud of: crane removals. That’s what we’re best at.

Host: And what is that?

Zach Miller: It’s for trees that are over houses, over structures, or in hard-to-reach areas. Basically, trees that are normally difficult to access. We handle trees that no one else can get to. That’s kind of what we market toward.

That includes bringing in our cranes, specialty lifts, trained crane operators, and other equipment that a lot of places don’t have.

We also offer normal tree removals for the average homeowner, like front-yard trees, ash trees, and trees that are easier to access. We still offer that.

We do a lot of pruning as well, such as getting trees to grow away from houses or taking compromised leaders off trees. We also do stump grinding for trees that we take down. We don’t usually come in just to grind a stump. It’s kind of hard to get into that market, and that is usually more of a landscaper’s work.

Host: From personal experience, I know there are companies where stump grinding is all they do. One gentleman I know tried to do both, but he said he couldn’t do both, so he picked one.

I see what you’re talking about. You offer the service, which is nice. If I get my tree taken down, you’ll get the stump done too. That’s great that you offer both.

Zach Miller: It helps to be a one-stop shop if we take the tree down. But like you said, stump grinding is not what we do every day, so we let the other guys handle it and stay in our lane.

Host: That’s perfect. Are there any services you intentionally don’t provide? And why have you made those decisions?

Zach Miller: We don’t do chemical treatments. We’ve teamed up with other companies that do that.

Like we talked about with stumps, it’s one of those specialty things. If that’s not what your company is focused on, it’s better to let somebody else take the reins instead of splitting up your staff and not providing the best service.

We also don’t do cabling.

Host: What’s cabling?

Zach Miller: When a tree is split and someone wants to keep it intact, they’ll put a cable through the middle of it and tie it back together. But a lot of times it fails, or it creates too much liability because there’s still a high chance of the tree falling over.

Host: The structural integrity has already been compromised at that point.

Zach Miller: Exactly. That’s another reason we focus on crane removals. When a tree is that compromised, it’s usually not the safest option to try to save it. It’s better to bring in a crane and a group of professionals, mitigate the risk, and go from there.

Host: Perfect. We haven’t heard a lot from Jack yet, so I’ll let Jack answer this question. I want to put you on the spot here, buddy.

What areas do you serve, and how far are you willing to travel for emergency services?

Jack Wadden: We serve the Des Moines area, generally within about 45 miles. But if an emergency tree situation happens, or something falls on a house, we’ll go anywhere in the country for it.

We’ve been coast to coast serving storm and tornado damage. We’ll go anywhere for major tree work.

Host: Really?

Jack Wadden: Oh yeah. I’ve spent months in Georgia, Virginia, and Florida. We’ve been all around the country, and we really do it to help after big disasters happen.

Host: That makes sense because, first, you’re helping people, and second, it makes financial sense for your company if you can do multiple jobs within the timeframe you’ve set aside.

Jack Wadden: Yeah, and you’re helping people in some of the worst situations they’re facing.

Zach Miller: That’s one of our key points. Yes, we run a tree company, and we’re proud of it, but we also strive to help homeowners in need. There’s something to be said for more than just trying to make a paycheck.

Host: That’s awesome. That says a lot about you, your company, and the integrity of Central Tree Pros. That’s really good information.

When you say you want Central Tree Pros to be a reputable tree company, what does that actually mean to you?

Zach Miller: Our biggest key point is that we get paid based on customer satisfaction. We’re not collecting a check until we’ve done the best job we can for the customer and mitigated every possible damage.

If damage occurs to the lawn, driveway, or something else, we’re not asking for payment until they’re satisfied and willing to pay us without us having to ask.

Host: Very nice. I’m going to go off script here a little bit. Can you tell me a story about a time when someone was in a difficult situation and Central Tree Pros came in and helped them out?

Zach Miller: When we were in St. Louis, we helped a church. We were driving by on the way to a different job with our crane, and this big church group was trying to take a tree off a house. They didn’t know what they were doing. They were cutting things off, and pieces were flying everywhere.

So we stopped, hooked our crane up to it, and pulled it right off for them. Instead of watching them saw pieces off for two hours and risk someone getting hurt, it took us five minutes instead of all day with chainsaws.

Host: So it was just a bunch of guys like me trying to figure out how to make it fall the right way.

Zach Miller: Yeah. Trees are not something you want to take on by yourself. They’re very dangerous, unpredictable, and extremely heavy.

Host: Yeah.

Zach Miller: They’re one cut away from going through the rest of the house, and insurance may not cover the additional damage they cause. Especially when a tree is compromised, you don’t know the pressure points. You don’t know where things are going to turn, flip, or spring back. It’s a very good idea to bring in professionals when something like that happens.

Host: When you did that, did you just hook it up, pull it off, look at them, say “Have a great day,” and drive off?

Zach Miller: They never saw a bill from us.

Host: How appreciative were they?

Jack Wadden: We actually got lunch from them afterward. They invited us to their church for lunch. It was really nice. We hadn’t eaten all day because we had been taking trees off houses all day, so we got a good lunch from them.

Host: I tell you, those church lunches are always the best, aren’t they?

Jack Wadden: Yeah. They know how to cook.

Host: They do. So we’ll kind of wind this first episode down. This was a get-to-know-you episode.

What can listeners expect from this podcast moving forward, and what kind of questions are you hoping to answer for homeowners in the Des Moines area? That way, I know how to prepare for this.

Zach Miller: A lot of questions we get are about insurance, like we talked about earlier, and how far we book out.

We try not to book out more than two weeks. When customers call, they usually want to get in and get out pretty quickly because it can be a stressful process if you’re not educated on trees. That’s why we come in and try to help make it as smooth as possible for them.

You can expect a group of professional guys to show up and get the job done in the most respectful, fastest, and most affordable way.

Host: Perfect. Well, I look forward to talking with you guys more and learning a lot more about tree removal. This is something I’ve had very little experience with, just with the one tree out front.

I’m sure you guys will teach me a lot, teach everybody else a lot, answer plenty of questions, and gain the trust we all like to have from people who work on and around our homes.

Zach Miller: For sure. That’s what we strive to do: make it as seamless as possible.

Host: Perfect. Thanks for joining me today, guys. I look forward to the next time we talk.

Zach Miller: Thank you.

Host: Bye, guys. Take care.

Jack Wadden: You too.