So Fed Up

[inthewoods]

& ps no I never get fed up of Tree work, it's what I love doing (unless I'm soaked through!)

[jennie]

22, spent 2 1/2 years in the tree the rest on the ground due to injury, not sure I can go back to being a climber and be able to say that my shoulders will survive it. Have most of my own gear, harness ect and ground saw ect ect. I've got all of my relevant basic groundy tickets but due to being self employed I know I should have but I never bothered getting any further tickets.

I went to being employed as I had commitments (horses) to pay for and at the time I wasn't getting quite enough work being self employed. Now I'm wondering if I should have just stuck with being self employed and diversified.

I'm stuck on what to do as I've only ever done this as a job and I do enjoy it most of the time but good days seem to be less regular.

Just wondered if there's something similar that I could do till I realised that I actually do love my job

[Mick Dempsey]

You'll never make a living as a self employed groundie.

[jomoco]

It's always wise to heed your gut instincts IME mate.

 

Best of luck whichever route you choose.

 

I found that investing your own money into what you do, soon makes you indispensable to an employer without those crucial bits of kit.

 

Jomoco

[Haironyourchest]

Hi Jennie, you've been around quite a while but don't chime in much How much income do you need to live? If you can tolerate a downturn in earnings why not just be a jobbing maintenance worker for a while, lawn mowing, hedges, cleaning gutters all that kind of thing. Plenty of tree work will come your way again once you have a few regular clients and you let them know you are an experienced arborist. Often times people forget their trees need care until they realise they're talking to a tree surgeon, then its "Oh! That branch over the conservatory! etc etc"

[jennie]

Guess you have got to look at your surrounding market, is it saturated with tree services? Is there a service that isn't being offered by them? Have you got the funds to buy a machine, stump grinder, processor, mewp etc. Find the gap in the market & fill it! Just out of interest, are you ex services? - just wondering why you started as s/e :-)

 

There's sooooo many 'tree surgeons' in this area which is why it's tricky to get work at the moment as it's an absolute nightmare trying to make any profit as they're all undercutting each other out of spite! I started as s/e as when I left college at 18 no one in my area would take on a newly qualified female basically, as I was asked numerous times if the job was for my son! Hence going s/e as it was easier for me to get work that way.

[jennie]

I seem to have lost an interest in climbing.. Not sure if it's a phase or what. I won't do anything big anymore and just use a subbie where I can. I seem to have some mental block on big stuff, not sure where it came from as I've done some pretty big trees in my time. Maybe it's laziness, maybe it's because of my 2 little babies and wife, maybe I'm just being a fanny.. Not sure. But in reference to your question, it's not the industry I've lost interest in; I've invested too much time and money into getting where I am, I love tree work and I feel I'm good at it, whether that's supervising and doing ground work, climbing (small stuff!) even stump grindings quite therapeutic!! Point is I think perhaps you're fed up with a situation as opposed to the industry itself. Perhaps try something different within the industry; surveying maybe, tree officer for council etc

 

Yeah that makes sense, I think you're right on the whole fed up of my situation. I can't honestly say that the company I work for is ideal anymore but I don't want to join another company and be in the same situation. I'm glad it's not just me who's lost interest slightly!

[jennie]

You'll never make a living as a self employed groundie.

 

Cheers for the oh so helpful input

[jennie]

Hi Jennie, you've been around quite a while but don't chime in much How much income do you need to live? If you can tolerate a downturn in earnings why not just be a jobbing maintenance worker for a while, lawn mowing, hedges, cleaning gutters all that kind of thing. Plenty of tree work will come your way again once you have a few regular clients and you let them know you are an experienced arborist. Often times people forget their trees need care until they realise they're talking to a tree surgeon, then its "Oh! That branch over the conservatory! etc etc"

 

I forgot my password 😑

That's a good shout, I'll have a look into that, cheers

[matelot]

I think everyone hates their job at times....

 

Why not look into other careers? Paramedic? Nurse?