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Am I to fat and old?


DaveJL
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Plenty heavy climbers out there! Bigtreedon on here is huge and kills trees no bother, he is more muscle than fat tho. Think you should get someone on here to let you try a climb at the weekend to see if you like it before spending any cash tho. As others have said, I think it would be a good idea to get a grab wagon or hiab truck because they are well handy on big jobs.

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Another vote for the grab truck with chainsaw operator.

There's no shortage of climbers with a van and ropes, not so many with heavy lift capabilities! you could fill a nice niche market with basic climbing abilities coming later on and progressing as the business develops

Hope it works out for you, whatever you choose!

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I think the grab truck is a bad idea.Its not hard to find a haulier that will take away a load of logs or branches,who cares if the  driver can use a saw?The tree is already down.You would have to be the only grab truck amongst 50 tree crews to even stay half busy,and every big company has a grab truck of their own.

 

You come across as a intelligent guy and I admire your foresight and hard work to date.But at your age you will be better off looking at doing a trade such as Bricky,Plumber or sparks as they are much less physical,require far less capital investment as well as paying much,much better when qualified.

 

Not every House has a garden,but every House has pipes,wires and bricks.

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Dave, I started climbing at 45, that said I was a paramedic and reasonably fit, its a really hard physical job and eventually takes it toll on your body as you get older,so it’s doable but you need focus and drive. Ground work is also hard work but you’ll soon get fitter doing it. Its a fantastic job to get into and can earn you a good living and life style, you also get to play with some great boys toys. Good luck.

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I would give it a go mate. Bucks is rammed with tree companies so money won't be great. However take it steady cos easy to overdo it. I'm still climbing at over 50 but have done this job most of my life. But what you are bringing to the job is yr mature mind-set which often trumps haste  n speed. K

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Another 40s starter here, it can be done but again was very fit and strong earlier in life. My take is that there are actually lot of different jobs in arb, realistically I ache too much after a few full days climbing to be up all day every day. I wouldn't go for a job pollarding street trees in London but currently do mainly domestic arb, which is more of a mixture so I get along just fine.

I think you have to find your niche, I've seen a lot of adverts from bigger firms where HGV experience is an advantage, maybe you could also get 360 driving tickets? That way you're not trying to compete outright with younger fitter blokes.

I would say go for it, start somewhere and build up experience. Contacts, friends, get on the blower to local firms, somebody will be looking for men at some point.

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10 hours ago, Mike Hill said:

I think the grab truck is a bad idea.Its not hard to find a haulier that will take away a load of logs or branches,who cares if the  driver can use a saw?The tree is already down.You would have to be the only grab truck amongst 50 tree crews to even stay half busy,and every big company has a grab truck of their own.

 

You come across as a intelligent guy and I admire your foresight and hard work to date.But at your age you will be better off looking at doing a trade such as Bricky,Plumber or sparks as they are much less physical,require far less capital investment as well as paying much,much better when qualified.

 

Not every House has a garden,but every House has pipes,wires and bricks.

i am 62,just done 5, 80ft larchs last week,but have years of physical fitness behind me,army,rigs,groundwork,etc,mind you knees starting to play up now,the first 60ft was a b........d,the other 10 or so were a pure pig,lol,stick at it mate,get your physical fitness up to par, oh i, be like a spounge,sook up all the tips n info you can,best of luck man.

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15 hours ago, DaveJL said:

Thank you all for the words of wisdom.

 

The truck/company has only started to turn a profit in the past 2-3 years, and with that I'm only paying myself £250pw, it's a good crack and its easy but there's just no money in it now, had an accident that put me off the road last September for 5 weeks, it almost broke me, and that's where the thoughts of a change really kicked in.

 

Getting my hands on a grab truck won't be a problem, but I'll definitely get the training done first. After I've sold all my assets I'll have enough to comfortably live and train for a couple of months, Treehouse/Kingswood do a 5 day course I'm interested in, that'll get me started and I can go from there.

 

Problem for me at the moment is I'm away all week and I want to spend time with my missus and boy at the weekends (my truck life has taken a toll on them), so getting out with some guys or a firm proves somewhat difficult, that said I've got a week or two free in May I can ask about for.

 

I'm in Milton Keynes, however travelling for me is no problem.

 

Once again thank you.

So youve been trucking 15 years own your own rig and can only pay yourself 250 a week? With a family too - you must be kept from starvation by tax credits. Anyone can cut lawns, almost anyone can cut most hedges. If youre in all the local papers and magazines and cant make more than 250 on grounds maintenance you need a PAYE  job working for someone else. 

Hedges arent as seasonal as mowing. With trees unless its ground felling or small bits off a ladder, it will be a long road. But tree climbing is the most excitement Ive had working in gardens. Its not just buying vehicles, machinery and doing courses, the best workers have bothered to read a bit about trees and plants in general. If you only want to be a climbing chainsaw operative then dont bother to learn about trees, just learn how to safely get rid of them.

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Been big and climbing trees possible I've done it for over 20 years I was tubby farm lad when I started now I'm a heavy tree man but but been bigger is definitely not a advantage 6ft and over 20st then adding all the ppe and climbing kit and saw it's a lot to haul round a tree day after day I have always loved lifting weights the two things lifting and climbing just dont go together cardio would be my best advice to anyone whatever age u get into climbing build your endurance and weight related strength up as much as u can

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