Pink usually isn’t the color of choice in the rugged tree care industry, but Doug Panchuk is out to change that.
And he’s not making a fashion statement.
Instead, he’s raising awareness of cancer with the recent addition to his tree service fleet of a pink-colored Vermeer BC1500 brush chipper.
Panchuk, the owner-operator of Shurwood Forest in the Canadian city of Winnipeg, dreamt up the pink paint job after turning 50 and becoming a grandfather in the same year.
“I began to reflect on my life — where I’ve been and where I am headed,” he says. “I wanted to do something special with the ‘tools’ that I had at my disposal and thought that now was the time to use those tools in a most spectacular way.”
It certainly makes an impression. Depending on the configuration, a BC1500 can be 217 inches (551.2 cm) long, 104 inches (264.2 cm) high and weigh 6,907 pounds (3,133 kg).
And Shurwood Forest’s chipper is as pink as a flower.
Panchuk approached CancerCare Manitoba, an agency that provides cancer services in the Canadian province of Manitoba, with his plan and got its blessing to move forward. Then he went to work with Vermeer and his Vermeer Canada dealership.
Vermeer is famous for its yellow color scheme, but the company and Vermeer Canada were happy to allow for the exception. The BC1500 was custom-painted pink while in production at the factory in Pella, Iowa.
Panchuk’s motivation is nothing more than to increase awareness of cancer in his home province.
“Together,” he says, “we can make a difference.”