Another 40 year old just starting

[Mike Hill]

As do plenty of people with all the tickets.

 

How effort and understanding you put into this trade is entirely individual,there are thousands of hours of self directed learning available online. 

 

Its not hard to learn the basics of Pruning,I have taught it to plenty of Children and Home owners.

 

Most of the largest and difficult Trees in the World were tackled by people with no Tickets,PPE or Training.Are we more stupid now than before?

[wjotner]

23 minutes ago, Mike Hill said:

As do plenty of people with all the tickets.

 

How effort and understanding you put into this trade is entirely individual,there are thousands of hours of self directed learning available online. 

 

Its not hard to learn the basics of Pruning,I have taught it to plenty of Children and Home owners.

 

Most of the largest and difficult Trees in the World were tackled by people with no Tickets,PPE or Training.Are we more stupid now than before?

I totally agree that tickets alone don't make a decent arborist. But they should be a starting point. Plus, I'm not sure if you can get insured these days without the right tickets.

[Mike Hill]

1 minute ago, wjotner said:

I totally agree that tickets alone don't make a decent arborist. But they should be a starting point. Plus, I'm not sure if you can get insured these days without the right tickets.

You could well be right about insurance and no tickets.

 

Its going to be a large waste of time and money if the original poster invests in all the tickets,only to find the job is not for him.

 

You can be fully qualified and entirely incompetent these days.

[Mick Dempsey]

9 hours ago, onetruth said:

My only suggestion would be to not go too far out of your comfort zone with the work you undertake.  You don't want to be losing sleep worrying about the big dismantle the next day.  This is easily solved by subbing in someone you are confident can deal with the really scarey jobs.  Those jobs are worth enough money that you will still earn what you need at the end of the day, even after paying a generous day-rate on top of your day-to-day costs.  

 

I haven't owned a chipper in years - on the occasions I need one, I'll hire it in.  The rest of the time I'll make do without. 

 

Sounds like you have the attitude needed and the vast majority of equipment to make it work.  I'm 38 and can feel my body is declining, I wont be able to do this in 10 years time, but if you're still fit and strong there's no reason why you shouldn't.

Some points to consider.

 

I think that as a general rule losing sleep because of the big dismantle the next day is necessary,   obviously not if you are completely inexperienced but pushing beyond your comfort zone is what will make you better.

 

You’ve been operating for years yet don’t own a chipper? You make do without? Are you stacking brush in a trailer/truck?

  If so you’ve  been doing it wrong, no other way of putting it.

 

This might explain why at 38 you feel in decline (chortle)

[wjotner]

Just now, Mike Hill said:

You could well be right about insurance and no tickets.

 

Its going to be a large waste of time and money if the original poster invests in all the tickets,only to find the job is not for him.

 

You can be fully qualified and entirely incompetent these days.

Yeah totally. I've worked with plenty of guys who don't know the difference between lopping and topping and proper reductions.

 

That's why I suggested he should work with some experienced guys first. Thats where you do all your learning really, watching other peoples methods and techniques. Or even go work for someone else first and see how he finds it.

[onetruth]

2 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Some points to consider.

 

I think that as a general rule losing sleep because of the big dismantle the next day is necessary,   obviously not if you are completely inexperienced but pushing beyond your comfort zone is what will make you better.

 

You’ve been operating for years yet don’t own a chipper? You make do without? Are you stacking brush in a trailer/truck?

  If so you’ve  been doing it wrong, no other way of putting it.

 

This might explain why at 38 you feel in decline (chortle)

Haha, perhaps.  But... when I fill up with conny brash I'm at my 3.5T limit.  I don't have to chip it, don't have to mess about with a chipper, don't have the maintenance expense, and don't have to worry about it disappearing.

 

Lose sleep because of work?  No way.  Much better things out there to lose sleep over.  

[forestboy1978]

Cheers for all the imput lads. 

 

Right... so... I've climbed 30 or 40 trees myself already with no training. I've dismantled 20 or so ranging from small to 10 maybe at about 30 ft. I did all that with no training and harness and lanyard and NO top handled chainsaw. Obviously it was hairy to say the least. 

 

I work for myself doing fences. I work all year with no downtime. I DO NOT need the tree work but I quite like it and I want to learn (for the first time in my life) the text book stuff. Rigging, feeding, different cut, techniques etc. I am a self teacher. Never been taught anything in my life so this will be a first but cos it's practical I think I will be OK. 

 

Do I like heights - Not particularly! I'm not comfortable on cliff edges etc. I wont be comfortable 60 ft up a tree and that's a fact. That said I've always had massive balls and I know I'll get used to it. 

 

Bottom line.. trees fit well with my fencing work which is 90% of what I do. Trees require minimum materials so contribute less to VAT threshold. Trees pay better. A lot better. Certainly so when you are in my position in that you just don't "need" to win the work. And  finally trees offer more potential for growing a business than fencing alone. I could expand now if I took on landscaping but I hate it. Sky opens up and you're doing nothing until it stops or you're wallowing around covered in shit making a total mess. A lot of people don't want to pay for it either and quoting complex landscaping projects is massive admin and massive rapport is needed cos there is always a hidden x, y or Z in the job that needs addressing.  

 

I intend to basically take on smaller stuff to begin with and sub contract for the bigger stuff. I have good contacts with a couple of guys who are practically legends in my area at what they do. 

 

Re the chipper. Surely a small chipper I can winch into my van that'll chip to 5 inches is better than chipperless? I mean, I can't afford another vehicle yet and my van is absolutely essential as it's rigged for fencing. My trailer is 6 1/2ft x 11ft caged 3 way tipper so it's useful but obviously I can't tow a trailer and a chipper. 

 

I'll post a pic of my setup.  

 

[mitchel]

57 minutes ago, wjotner said:

Disagree. Self taught tree surgeons produce stuff like this. 

dont like you like my work jotner haha

[Mick Dempsey]

To the OP.

 

Sounds like you’ve already got a lot of the practical skills needed.

 

And yes, a chipper is the key to making money.

 

 

[forestboy1978]

6 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

To the OP.

 

Sounds like you’ve already got a lot of the practical skills needed.

 

And yes, a chipper is the key to making money.

 

 

Cheers mate. :-)

 

Do you think something like this would be better than a slap round the face with a wet fish for about a year?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bear-Cat-5-SC5614-Gravity-Fed-Wood-Chipper-Shredder-timberwolf-greenmech-jensen/322887247775?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649