No Room for Luck

How Bill Burley Built a Career on Safety and Strategy

Este es nuestro intento de convertir las historias en audio español usando Inteligencia Artificial. Aún así le recomendamos que reconfirme ciertas palabras clave y temas. ArborTIMES no garantiza ni se responsabiliza de la conversión del inglés al español de los relatos.

When a storm-damaged redwood threatened the heart of the University of California Berkeley Botanical Garden, there was only one way to get it out: by air. The 175-foot giant loomed over a collection of rare and endangered trees, making traditional crane access impossible. That is where Bill Burley came in — hovering in a helicopter.

As founder of Heli-Ax, North America’s only helicopter tree removal company, Burley is redefining what it means to do the impossible in tree care. From railways and backyards to densely packed urban corridors, his team tackles the kinds of jobs most crews would consider unreachable — both physically and logistically.

But Burley’s journey to the sky began on solid ground. He was just 14 when he started dragging brush for a local tree crew on the East Coast, a teenager already enamored with the power and pace of arboriculture. Over the next three decades, he climbed, cut, and trained his way through the ranks, eventually landing in Southern California in 2017 as general manager and lead trainer for Mowbray’s Tree Service.

Seven years later, with a reputation for safety leadership and a drive for innovation, Burley launched Heli-Ax. Today, the company is pushing boundaries not only in aerial extraction, but in technology—integrating light detection and ranging (LIDAR) for hyper-accurate project planning and refined cost estimates. It is precision tree care at a scale few have attempted.

“There’s no industry like this anywhere on the planet,” Burley shared. “This industry offers endless opportunities for anyone who wants them. Anyone. There’s no industry like ours.”

After more than 30 years in the field, Burley has stories to tell — and lessons to share.

Here are the core lessons Burley carried with him into every job site — and every lift.

Get a Safety and Efficiency Audit

Burley believed the first step in building a high-functioning tree care company was to seek outside insight.

“Safety is the thing we need to improve on,” he explained. “The numbers are just too high.”

He encourages companies to invite a third-party expert to assess operations — not just for compliance, but for performance and culture. Even companies that believed they were running tight ships could benefit from fresh eyes.

“If you think that your company’s operating really well, call someone who knows what they’re doing better than you do,” he said.

A good audit could help reveal hidden patterns — like a drop in struck-by incidents but a rise in electrical contact injuries. Without broad systems thinking, Burley warned, “We aren’t making any gains, we’re just shifting around the injuries.”

Build Your Foundation with Z133

Any respectable safety program begins with the ANSI Z133 Safety Standard — a voluntary but essential guide developed specifically for arboriculture. Burley even considers it the bedrock of responsible operations.

“You need to understand it,” he said. “And if you don’t, you need to ask someone who could tell you.”

According to the Heli-Ax founder, too few companies even know it exists, let alone train their workers on it. Burley believes that ignorance is dangerous — and potentially costly. Without widespread adoption of the Z133, he fears external regulation will be imposed to force safer practices.

“You have to get in compliance,” he said. “Then you can build your own program. But without that, you’re shooting in the dark.”

Stay Within Your Skill Set

In a high-hazard trade, Burley stressed that no job was worth rushing into before the training, repetition, and judgment were in place.

“Know where you fit, and do not go outside your skill set,” he advised. “Take your time and learn everything you possibly can before starting something new.”

Workers often came to a job with some technical know-how but lack the real-world experience to make safe decisions in unpredictable environments. Burley placed the responsibility on both workers and foremen to recognize that gap.

“If you don’t do your time,” he warned, “you don’t get the same experience level. You can’t just jump into the top spot and expect to be successful.”

Surround Yourself With Experts

One of the best ways to build those skills, Burley believes, is to work shoulder-to-shoulder with people who perhaps have an extra few years in and a bit more knowledge of the industry.

“I might work with someone with the same skill level, same ability level, but he approaches things differently than I do,” he said.

While structured training programs are essential, Burley emphasized the power of practice — and not just practice alone, but alongside seasoned professionals.

“That’s the best thing,” he said. “Learning how he approaches things makes me a better climber. We have different skill sets for the same thing, and it just makes you better.”

Leverage the Right Tools and Tech

For Burley, improving job site safety is not just about what people do — it’s about how machines can help mitigate the everyday risks that arborists face.

“The more manpower you had on a project,” he noted, “the higher the potential for incident there was.”

Investing in mechanical support — like mini skid steers, grapple trucks, or articulated loaders — is not a luxury. It is a necessity for safe scaling. He pointed out that dragging brush and hauling wood remains the most common source of injuries like strains and sprains. Meanwhile, a mini skid steer, for example, could move five times more material than a person with far less risk, freeing the manpower for more complex, risk-adverse tasks.

Of course, mechanization can come with a hefty price tag — which can end up being upwards of $1,000 a month. But Burley reminds company leaders that this averages $50 per working day — a very reasonable outlay for equipment that boosts production and increases safety.

“That’s not a lot of money, and if it is a lot of money, they need to think about how they’re bidding their jobs out,” he stated.

Beyond large equipment, Burley championed innovation in rigging and climbing materials for improving worksite safety. He stressed the importance of staying current on emerging tools and techniques, as these could drastically improve job efficiency and further reduce danger.

“Don’t Go Chasing Pennies”

Of all the lessons Burley shared, the one he returned to most often was also the simplest — and most sobering.

“Don’t go chasing pennies,” he warned.

When companies or arborists cut corners or push outside the limits of skillsets for a quick buck, dangerous mistakes are made.

“It’s a desperation move,” Burley noted, adding that this way of thinking can have deadly results.

By contrast, responsible arborists are those that take their time to assess the specifics of a job, come up with a plan, put safety measures in place, and bid it out at a level that takes all that necessary prep work into account. For Burley, intensive preparation can never be overstated.

“Our industry needs to take a step back and be more prepared,” he said. “That’s the biggest safety issue: People aren’t prepared, whether it be with skills, whether it be with training, whether it be with knowledge — they’re just not prepared.”

Take Advantage of Industry Conferences

For those wanting to level up without risking their safety, Burley strongly recommended tree care conferences like ArborEXPO™.

“They are the best bang for the buck when it comes to training and knowledge,” he said. “You can buy a ticket for the whole event and have access to all the classes you ever want to take.”

Beyond training, expos are places to meet mentors, forge partnerships, and become part of the tight-knit community that defines the industry.

“The tree care industry is very large, but very small in some respects. Everyone knows each other,” he shared. “There’s always someone there to help you; there’s always someone there to give you advice.”

And Bill Burley — whether dropping in by helicopter or offering advice from decades of experience — is one of those people.