About Us -- Our Roots

Owner Ron Martin started his tree service in Harvey, ND, during the spring of 1983. Much to his wife's dismay, Ron purchased a McCullough chainsaw from the local Montgomery Wards store. However, after Ron started trimming trees in Harvey area, his wife began to see the talent and love he had for trees.

One of our favorite stories from the early years involves a customer who had a backyard full of trees and Ron's job was to trim them all. Ron, his wife, and his sister worked diligently for almost a week. Upon completion, the customer burst into tears when she paid him because he trimmed them -- a lot! Ron told her that the trees would fill in nicely, really! However, the customer had her reservations. As spring turned into summer, Ron would drive by this customer's home on a regular basis, just to check up on the trees. By the end of summer, the trees looked beautiful -- they had filled in just right and looked the picture of health! Needless to say, this customer raved that her trees had never looked so good and continued to call Ron every year for the trees' annual trimming.

Relocation to Arizona for Ron and his tree business happened in 1988. With little more than an ad in the Scottsdale Progress (the local paper at the time), his pickup, and his chainsaws, the requests for his expertise began. With some groundsmen in the form of a father-in-law, wife, or local teenagers, Ron was able to make just enough money that his wife was able to go back to school for her degree.

Ron kept growing his business bit by bit and his first big purchase was a brand new stump cutter, along with a used dump truck. These pieces of equipment proved to be almost worth their weight in gold! Many chainsaws later, Ron was able to purchase a chipper and then an arborist truck.

RJ's Tree & Stump Service, Inc., will continue to expand as the J in RJ (Jonathan, Ron's son) learns all the ins and outs of the business (the good, the dirty, and the hot!). In addition, Jon is following in his father's footsteps by deriving much joy from satisfied customers! Ron and Jon look forward to continued growth and bringing our customers quality work. Our crew can provide assistance and expertise for the care of your trees. We will go out on a limb to achieve the goal of being "rooted" in customer satisfaction!