career change-ish, what course to do?

[joshhsoj111]

Hi, im looking for some advice from people in the trade. I'm self employed doing property maintenance and its going really well and i'm stacked for work at the moment. i get alot of jobs for large tree felling/crown reduction... which i sub out to a trained surgeon locally to me. i was just wondering if you can get your tickets to be able to climb and fell trees without doing the courses on diseases and pests...

my other option is to take 10 weeks off to do an intensive course for £4425 which is a lot but all courses seem to have shot up in price.

any advice from people who have done this course or have just got their climbing ticket etc would be great, cheers

[treequip]

You don't need any qualifications as such, if you operate commercially there is an entire suite of competencies' that you ought to hold, under penalty of HSE enforcement. See this for more https://www.nptc.org.uk/

 

Some training is advisable, compare the chainsaw ticket to a driving test and imagine trying that without some pointers.

 

Some knowledge of pruning cuts will (ought to) be beneficial but I don't know how far a 10 week course will take you on that score.

[joshhsoj111]

yeah, i mainly wanted the certificate for insurance purposes as a lot of them are void if they deem you not competent e.g. no qualifications

[joshhsoj111]

i would ideally like to faze out the property maintenance if i can get enough work and go full time tree surgeon so doing the course would be beneficial but i recon i coud save a bit if i didn't do all the tickets

[treequip]

Don't underestimate the ability or willingness of an insurer to drop you like a hot spud if their risk mechanics get even a whiff of the chance.

 

Dot your "I"s and cross your "T"s

[Mick Dempsey]

Ime, the ten week course will give you a good idea of the job, 6 months to a year working for a firm is probably needed to get you anywhere near safe or competent.

I'm sure some people are super talented and can do the big jobs proficiently after a 10 weeker, but I've never met or heard of one.

[eggsarascal]

Ime, the ten week course will give you a good idea of the job, 6 months to a year working for a firm is probably needed to get you anywhere near safe or competent.

I'm sure some people are super talented and can do the big jobs proficiently after a 10 weeker, but I've never met or heard of one.

 

Three to five years to learn any trade IMO.

[Mick Dempsey]

Three to five years to learn any trade IMO.

 

No, a year's enough in this game, not that complex really.

[eggsarascal]

No, a year's enough in this game, not that complex really.

 

Is that why some Tree Surgeons are earning tuppence ha'penny?

 

Or is that because they're daft?

[Mick Dempsey]

Is that why some Tree Surgeons are earning tuppence ha'penny?

 

Or is that because they're daft?

 

I'm struggling to work out exactly what you're getting at. Maybe I'm daft.