Tree course recommendations

[Chris at eden]

On 20/04/2021 at 08:06, Retired Climber said:

You don't go into the more 'academic / theory' side of the work for th money. How much do you think an LA tree officer earns? 

That is what lecturers used to tell me.  Its nonsense though.  LA TO jobs are usually £25 - £35k - as good as most climbing jobs and you can do it when you are 60.  But you see the occasional one at £45k, usually for a county council.  TLR had one advertised a few months ago at £54k, plus free rail travel within London, and 75% discount elsewhere including the Eurostar.  That isn't bad if you ask me but the money is in the private sector.  Expert witnesses earn more.  A lot more, think £800 - £1,200 a day depending on how good you are.  You can earn really good money doing mortgage reports as well if you can stand the monotony.  

      

[Retired Climber]

10 hours ago, Chris at eden said:

That is what lecturers used to tell me.  Its nonsense though.  LA TO jobs are usually £25 - £35k - as good as most climbing jobs and you can do it when you are 60.  But you see the occasional one at £45k, usually for a county council.  TLR had one advertised a few months ago at £54k, plus free rail travel within London, and 75% discount elsewhere including the Eurostar.  That isn't bad if you ask me but the money is in the private sector.  Expert witnesses earn more.  A lot more, think £800 - £1,200 a day depending on how good you are.  You can earn really good money doing mortgage reports as well if you can stand the monotony.  

      

You've said what I wrote was nonsense, then gone on to prove my point. You could earn any of the salaries you mentioned driving a lorry or choosing other similarly unskilled jobs. You could earn the lower ones driving a bus. 

 

The expert witness rates are ok, but only if you have that work to do every day. Realistically, wouldn't they just expect to earn that money on a few days per month, with the rest of the month bringing in a more average kind of rate? 

[Chris at eden]

48 minutes ago, Retired Climber said:

You've said what I wrote was nonsense, then gone on to prove my point. You could earn any of the salaries you mentioned driving a lorry or choosing other similarly unskilled jobs. You could earn the lower ones driving a bus. 

 

The expert witness rates are ok, but only if you have that work to do every day. Realistically, wouldn't they just expect to earn that money on a few days per month, with the rest of the month bringing in a more average kind of rate? 

I didn't say what you said was nonsense to be fair.  I meant college lecturers told me that you couldn't make money in Arb which is nonsense in my opinion.  I can see how you would have taken it that way but it wasn't intended to come across as 'stop talking nonsense'.  It was more, don't let folk tell you that.  You cant convey tone in writing so stuff can come across harsh.  What the lecturers really meant was that they had taken a path that doesn't pay well which is fine, there are benefits from working in a nice college environment.  Its not all about money.

 

I'm pretty lucky in that i love doing the consultancy work and as long as you are prepared to work hard it can pay well.  If you churn out generic reports that get constant objections from the LPA TO then you will never build up a good enough client base to make a good living.  If you put the effort in then folk come back to you.  You can still make £500 a day doing 5837 work.  you can make similar money doing risk surveys and more doing mortgage reports.  Work that out over 5 days and 42 weeks a year allowing for 6 weeks holiday, bank holidays and a couple of weeks if you are ill and you are over £100k.  Your costs will be below £20k and will be offset by the higher paid works you do such as mortgage and CPR reports. 

 

You cant make that driving a lorry or a bus realistically.   You can possibly make £50k driving a continental lorry if you are prepared to sleep in the cab a few nights a week but most are less than that.  My point was made to the other chap as he was looking for advice.  It was that you can make money in Arb if you really push yourself, work hard / smart, and do the right training.  Don't get me wrong, you will spend years earning that same money that you did as a climber and wonder if you have done the right thing but it will pay off in the end if you make the right decisions.  

 

Re. The expert witness work.  I have only just started doing it and i don't advertise but i am told by those that do it that it is pretty busy.  Makes sense i suppose as people claim for everything these days.  One chap told me that his work is 50/50 BS5837 and CPR reports and he doesn't do anything else as that fills his week.  Its something that you have to build a client base for i suppose but it isn't something i push at the moment as my training is on hold due to Covid.     

 

I noticed you are a retired climber, what do you do now?  Surveying?  

 

Cheers 

 

Chris                    

[daltontrees]

On 19/04/2021 at 17:57, Retired Climber said:

If you actually want to make a career out of it do a more academic qualification. Any donkey can pass the NPTC certificates; they are pretty much un-failable in order to give those not capable of much else to get some qualifications. 

Wow, what does that say about a couple of folk I know who failed? Rhetorical question. One was a maniac, the other an imbecile.

[daltontrees]

One factor to consider. Driving a bus or a lorry? No thanks. Getting paid to look at trees? It's almost cheating. Who needs megabucks when most days are a walk in the woods and the rainy ones are snug in the office?

[Chris at eden]

1 hour ago, daltontrees said:

Wow, what does that say about a couple of folk I know who failed? Rhetorical question. One was a maniac, the other an imbecile.

I used to know a lad who failed his CS 39 as he cut through the branch he was standing on while the instructor was shouting telling him not to. He was both a maniac and an imbecile. 
 

ironically, the council he worked for put him through his class 1 HGV. He put his notice in the day he passed and he now drives lorries.  Sounds like I am making that up but it’s a true story.  He also got demoted to shrub bashing because he left a chainsaw running unattended and it kind of bounced / rattled across a school playground while the kids were out.  This was shortly after he rolled a stump grinder and then rolled it in the opposite direction trying to stand it up with the truck using his climbing rope as a tow rope.  There are some folk who can fail the CS units. 
 

[5thelement]

1 hour ago, Chris at eden said:

There are some folk who can fail the CS units.

There are lot more than you think!

[Khriss]

16 hours ago, daltontrees said:

One factor to consider. Driving a bus or a lorry? No thanks. Getting paid to look at trees? It's almost cheating. Who needs megabucks when most days are a walk in the woods and the rainy ones are snug in the office?

.... Sold it to me 😊 K

[Retired Climber]

On 27/04/2021 at 10:05, Chris at eden said:

I didn't say what you said was nonsense to be fair.  I meant college lecturers told me that you couldn't make money in Arb which is nonsense in my opinion.  I can see how you would have taken it that way but it wasn't intended to come across as 'stop talking nonsense'.  It was more, don't let folk tell you that.  You cant convey tone in writing so stuff can come across harsh.  What the lecturers really meant was that they had taken a path that doesn't pay well which is fine, there are benefits from working in a nice college environment.  Its not all about money.

 

I'm pretty lucky in that i love doing the consultancy work and as long as you are prepared to work hard it can pay well.  If you churn out generic reports that get constant objections from the LPA TO then you will never build up a good enough client base to make a good living.  If you put the effort in then folk come back to you.  You can still make £500 a day doing 5837 work.  you can make similar money doing risk surveys and more doing mortgage reports.  Work that out over 5 days and 42 weeks a year allowing for 6 weeks holiday, bank holidays and a couple of weeks if you are ill and you are over £100k.  Your costs will be below £20k and will be offset by the higher paid works you do such as mortgage and CPR reports. 

 

You cant make that driving a lorry or a bus realistically.   You can possibly make £50k driving a continental lorry if you are prepared to sleep in the cab a few nights a week but most are less than that.  My point was made to the other chap as he was looking for advice.  It was that you can make money in Arb if you really push yourself, work hard / smart, and do the right training.  Don't get me wrong, you will spend years earning that same money that you did as a climber and wonder if you have done the right thing but it will pay off in the end if you make the right decisions.  

 

Re. The expert witness work.  I have only just started doing it and i don't advertise but i am told by those that do it that it is pretty busy.  Makes sense i suppose as people claim for everything these days.  One chap told me that his work is 50/50 BS5837 and CPR reports and he doesn't do anything else as that fills his week.  Its something that you have to build a client base for i suppose but it isn't something i push at the moment as my training is on hold due to Covid.     

 

I noticed you are a retired climber, what do you do now?  Surveying?  

 

Cheers 

 

Chris                    

Do you actually know any consultants who regularly earn 100 grand a year, or are most scraping a living for 30 or 40 grand a year as I suggested? 

 

I left the industry entirely. I'm now a writer. 

[Chris at eden]

18 hours ago, 5thelement said:

There are lot more than you think!

So I have heard. When I did my tickets in the 90s there was 35 of us on the course, only one didn’t get all the tickets. But, it was part of a full time course with 2 days a week doing just the practical stuff. Then a week at Heligan Gardens doing tree work for the study tour.  That is a good pass rate but I doubt it is that high for the five day courses you can do. There is nowt like experience.