Leo Ault has been cutting down wild pine trees since he was 16 years old. Sixty years later, he is still going strong and has one of the biggest tree lots in Utah County. “I guess I’ve just been doing it all my life,” Ault said.

Ault’s Christmas Trees has been located in the same place for the past 30 years, on State Street between American Fork and Pleasant Grove.

Most of Ault’s customers are families that have been visiting for years.

“The kids love it because they can just run around,” Ault said.

Ault started cutting trees near Cedar Fort as a way to make money for his family during the tough economic times of the 1930s and ’40s.

“That’s the only money back then we had, there just wasn’t a lot of money back in the ’30s,” he said.

At the time he would spend an entire day cutting the trees and then bringing them down the mountain by the dozen with his horse.

As he expanded the business, he became a wholesaler for many of the local businesses in Utah County. This changed when he later realized that he would be more successful selling directly to the public.

In past years Ault has harvested trees from all over the western United States , including Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona and Utah.

The trees he harvests now are from the mountains near Bozeman, Mont. “It’s a yearlong occupation, not just now,” his wife Virginia said.

Ault goes to Bozeman every summer to check on potential trees, trim them and spend quality time with his family. His grandchildren accompany him to Montana in the summer where they help with the family business and enjoy the outdoors.

“They love coming to Montana with me because we always get to fish,” Ault said.

When November approaches, Ault and about 15 others go out after the first snow storm and spend three weeks harvesting trees, filling up several semitrailers with the freshly cut pines.

The tree business is family-run. Originally it started out just with Leo, but soon his brothers joined in running the business for a time. Now Ault’s two sons run tree lots in Provo and Spanish Fork, supplied by the trees Ault cuts.

“It’s been good for my family because my family all works together with it,” Ault said.

Ault’s Christmas Trees is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Monday nights are the busiest times for the lot.

The trees size ranges from only a few feet up to 25 feet. Prices vary, but start out at $15.