looking to get into forestry work

[ARB-MAN]

Yeah i'm 20 yrs old so going to the prince's trust sounds like the best way, £500 should get me the basic chainsaw maintenence and cross cutting course and i'll see what the job centre can offer me aswell.

 

cheers for the quick and helpfull replies.

[ARB-MAN]

get a job with the forestry commision...they will put you through training but i know they prefere a bit of experience in basic forestry before they put you through every nptc unit or forwarder and harvester training! its not well paid but after you have done a few years and get up to speed you can get a job with a contractor making better money..personaly i would get bored out of my mind driving a harvester or forwarder for the rest of my working life!

 

Find a local contractor explain your situation... i was chatting to a guy who mainly does forestry on sat and he is convinced it will make a big come back soon due to many factors....most of the people i know who do this sort of work would be willing to show you the ropes so you know what your getting your self in to!

 

 

Cheers for the reply, im in 2 minds at the minute whether to go into tree surgery or forestry work. Do you have any idea what the pay is like in forestry - ie the daily rate for someone driving harvesters or forwarders?

[MattyF]

not to sure its not bad but the hours are long especially for the harvester operators...seem to remember they where about the same for a free lance climbers though but like i say they i would be longer hours!100-150 a day???

I find arb work more interseting as every site is different and you rarely spend more than 2 days in the same place ,manual felling work in forestry is good though but its harder graft as usually you have to cut your qouta of trees although i have worked with guys who can cut a least a third more than me and not evan break a sweat!but that comes with experience also you can get sick of a site when things dont start going your way!

I did quite enjoy the very brief spell i had on a forwarder though charging around flat out through rough terrain and botom less mud and trying to keep up with or catch up with what has been felled is a challenge! ....i spose forwarding to operating harvesters is a complete different ball game,the sites i have seen the forwarders have been there for a long time after the harvesters have gone!