Another 40 year old just starting

[forestboy1978]

1 minute ago, Haironyourchest said:

And also, don't be ashamed to use a polesaw in the canopy. It's considered bad form, but sometimes it's the only safe way, for me, at any rate. I used mine yesterday, made an hour job into a ten minute job. 

Hear you. Probably will in the future but only when I need the saved calories more than the experience if you know what I mean!

[Haironyourchest]

No worries, I just finally set up my harness properly this afternoon, I keep forgetting to and then I'm in the tree and cursing because I can't get my lanyard through an ivy infested union or whatever. Come across good ideas then forget to implement them. No longer!

[forestboy1978]

1 minute ago, Haironyourchest said:

No worries, I just finally set up my harness properly this afternoon, I keep forgetting to and then I'm in the tree and cursing because I can't get my lanyard through an ivy infested union or whatever. Come across good ideas then forget to implement them. No longer!

Yeah thanks Hairy. All brilliant info. 

 

I'll be slowly getting my gear together over the next couple of months and going back over this thread for exactly info like this. 

[Dbikeguy]

It’s amazing, some people help nurture new blood coming into the industry, others just make life difficult.
Everyone started at day 1 once upon a time. There are several routes to becoming good at something, not everyone goes via college, gets into a crew and becomes a hero climber.

Where are you based forestboy1978? i am just starting out, have saws, climbing kit and have done a few jobs, mostly dismantles ( reading tons about pruning as that’s a whole separate thing to master) removals from my limited experience are mostly physics and common sense with a healthy dose of go smaller and lighter than you think when rigging bits down!
i climb SRT using a rope wrench, VT knot and a hitch climber, then DDRT with the same setup minus the R-Wrench. get out and practice all you can bud, try and find other rec climbers to practice with too, if you are anywhere near Derby let me know

[john p]

Don’t turn jobs down, say yes of course I can, then sub it out, spend the day helping/watching.

[forestboy1978]

8 hours ago, john p said:

Don’t turn jobs down, say yes of course I can, then sub it out, spend the day helping/watching.

Yeah maybe. I'll go climbing with that dude and chat to him about occasionally doing big quotes together perhaps for big stuff. I convert about 75% of quotes but obv minimal portfolio for trees so will be lower but he'll only have to come to quote and advise me on durations etc. I'll all the actual admin. 

 

I'll be able to offer him an extremely good day rate and take a bit of  loss. No doubt he'll want it though as it'll have to be a weekend. 

[Rough Hewn]

You'll have difficulty quoting if you haven't done a similar job a hundred times before.
Remember dragging brash takes longer than cutting it.
Set up time on the job, tidy up, chip run, log run, workshop time at end of day.
All adds up.
Can turn a one day job into two easily.
Get it in writing from the client preferably in an email.
Job spec, price, extras etc
Then add 25% contingency.
[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[forestboy1978]

OK so here is  job that I did this morning. Personally I would have like to have shaped it better but the birch had been brutalised previously and getting symmetry while following pruning points was near on impossible as there were multiple severed branches that had nothing left on then so they just shot up long branches with no side growth. I toyed with the idea of narrowing it but I decided it'd be better to let it recover and go for a more uniform look in a year or 2 times. 

 

Flame on....

 

 

[forestboy1978]

Got a bunch of 50 ft oaks to be reduced by 1/3 later this week. TPO granted. Not sleeping well at the prospect....

[Mick Dempsey]

Bit too “flattopped” for my tastes.

 

Nibble the sides a bit.