Soldier to Tree Surgeon

[grumpydavesmith]

Cheers for the comments guys.

 

I'm under no illusion that i'd be on the bottom rung of the ladder.. so to speak and that it will take time and alot of hard work. and prob alot of knock backs. to be honest i'm proper excited at prospect of this new careerand cant wait to get started!!

to answer earlier question i got my hgv C+E and am well experienced in driving Hgv's.

 

The actual courses are being paid in full by the army so they wont cost me a bean, i also got the option of taking further paid courses!!

 

cheers Dave

[Rupe]

Thats good, so you'll have the lot!! I just think you would have a better chance of gettign a job as a groundie/driver than you would as a climber with no experience.

 

Push the HGV angle and look for companies that drive large trucks! Bartletts for example, they'll take you purely for the HGV and then your off to a good start!

[arbogrunt]

Go for it mate!. There are lots of ex-military blokes doing treework. Get as many resettlement courses as you can in. Your age is more an advantage than a handicap as an ex-squaddie, I didn't start till I was 30 and I'm still shinning up trees at 46 without too many probs.

I don't what Corps you've served with, but one thing to take into account is that this trade will make you DEAF!. If your already suffering from service-induced hearing loss, get a compensation case going with the British Legion before you start hammering what you've got left with saws and chippers. Good luck mukka!

[grumpydavesmith]

i'm Royal Artillery mate so yeah hearing is already shot!!!

[Treeworld]

Good advice from all, especially Rupe, you will only learn how to truly climb when working with an experienced climber as their groundie, there is a lack of people out there with HGV and pre 97 licence so this will give you an advantage. You can come in qualified to the hills but experience and time served with a good firm is worth its weight in gold.

 

Good luck

[Bomag]

Depending on where you want to work (town or country) you might also want to look at getting you chemical spraying licence, also dont forget 1st aid ticket, manual handling course, and possibly chipper. All good if youre looking at council or wildlife trusts for employement.

[rcarolina]

Did my CS38/39 with Kingswood before Christmas. The training is very high standard and designed for rapid assimilation - something you service guys seem to cope with really well.

 

I'm 42 and shared the course with a Para, Marine and RE all younger and fitter than me - but they ate the course up. The camaradarie was top notch and the training delivered by really competant commercially aware staff.

 

I think I have left it too late to start a commerical climbing career but it was something I wanted to do - I'm hoping that with my own horticultural experience will give me the skills to work in an arboretum or something like that so I can still climb but not necessarily against the clock.

 

I would say go for it and at the very least you'll have your ground saw, chipper and stumpginder quals as a good fall back. You can always move in different directions within the arb/hort/countryside managment industries if you decide climbing isn't for you. However, lets think of the glass as half full and best of luck to you mate in whatever you decide to do.

 

You won't find better supportand advice than from the guys here.

 

(Snowing here and so inside in a warmhut having a brew hence the longer than normal reply).

 

P.S. Richard Kingswood supplies all the kit.

[Mark Bolam]

Refreshing to read a post from someone prepared to do things the right way and learn things from the ground up.

 

Makes a change from 'starting up on your own' then proceeding to ask a load of dumb-arsed questions on here because you can't be bothered to take the time to learn properly or do any courses.

 

Excellent attitude mate. Good luck with it.

[Treewarrior]

Good luck with it mate. My son is currently serving with REME in Canada, having just done 2 tours, iraq and Afg.

 

He will probably come out next year and I hope to give him a push up the ladder if he wants to pursue this route.

[johnty]

Hi Mate i'm an ex Royal Marine PTI did 14 years and had had enough of the bull s**t. I Also went to Kingswood, great place, very good training, and lots of chance to do days work exp, while their..

Been out 3 years and jumped in at the deep end and opened my own business. I wouldn't recomend it to everyone, however it seems to have worked out for me.

My advice is allways keep learning, there is so much to learn in this industry even when you think your at the top of your game, there's always another ticket to get or course to go on.

Think long and hard before taking the plunge.

Wish you all the best