Arborist are we skilled or semi skilled

[arbclimber]

i work locally and pretty much know everyone who calls me , i have been jobbing now myself sice i was 14, 20 years so most know me by now. there are some customers who will use diferent tradesman everytime and only want the cheapest quote and have an easy target they can take advantage of, i dont want that kind. i run my business like a good pub does, if i dont like you and you stop me looking after my good customers then you are barred. simples.

 

Sounds like you have it pretty much sorted then mate, good on ya. I think personally a lot of firms round my way are constantly needing to attract new customers though, so my point is a bit more valid here. People seem to shop around a lot here. Where I live its mainly weekend homes of people who work in the city and spend the week in their houses in Kensington. They like to keep hold of their money, unless they need a new Aston Martin that is.

[Jon Lad]

Easy if its only a semi skilled industry. I think it was Rupe who made an excellent point. If you think about all the skills in the world, and the amazing things surgeons, scientists, engineers and all sorts of others do and divide us all into 3 categories. I too think Tree work is lucky to scrape into the middle one.

 

The words: brick, wall, against, head and banging are coming to mind here. It's a real shame.

[arbclimber]

The words: brick, wall, against, head and banging are coming to mind here. It's a real shame.

 

Its only my opinion mate. I have followed this thread from the start and thought about everybodies posts and this is my opinion at the moment. Your opinion is just as right as mine. Not time to start banging your head against a wall just yet. Do you see where I am coming from with my thoughts though?

If you think i'm completely wrong tell me, I'm open to suggestions.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I have given this some thought!

 

maybe we are unskilled, maybe we are skilled, maybe we are comparing ourselves to occupations that have absolutley no relevance to this debate?

 

but thenm when you consider the levels of arboriculture, we are all as jeremy barrell put it "manual labourers, the chippies and plumbers" we are at the bottom of the food chain as loppers and toppers.

 

it is i guess a fair comment, for it is not till you try to ellevate your career that you find in actual fact your just a dumb arse labourer. i discovered that 3 years ago, and i am doing something about it. i guess it is my personal pride that took a hit and acted in a wounded way, because i take my work seriously and personaly, there is no seperation between Tony Croft and Tony croft the Arbor ecology mycology nut job!

 

So it probably is not a skilled trade, some are beter than others true, but we are all at the end of the day, just lopping a tree as stephen suggested.

 

This thread has been very influencial to me, an kick in the proverbial ego, but one thing posative I shall take from this is the renewed vigour and drive to continue in what has become a great and difficult mission to become so much more than this.

 

so for that i thank you all, cos by golly im going to work study/hard now!

 

Maybe I will bump this thread in ten to fifteen years, when i have a PHD and ask am i skilled now!

[arbclimber]

I have given this some thought!

 

maybe we are unskilled, maybe we are skilled, maybe we are comparing ourselves to occupations that have absolutley no relevance to this debate?

 

but thenm when you consider the levels of arboriculture, we are all as jeremy barrell put it "manual labourers, the chippies and plumbers" we are at the bottom of the food chain as loppers and toppers.

 

it is i guess a fair comment, for it is not till you try to ellevate your career that you find in actual fact your just a dumb arse labourer. i discovered that 3 years ago, and i am doing something about it. i guess it is my personal pride that took a hit and acted in a wounded way, because i take my work seriously and personaly, there is no seperation between Tony Croft and Tony croft the Arbor ecology mycology nut job!

 

So it probably is not a skilled trade, some are beter than others true, but we are all at the end of the day, just lopping a tree as stephen suggested.

 

This thread has been very influencial to me, an kick in the proverbial ego, but one thing posative I shall take from this is the renewed vigour and drive to continue in what has become a great and difficult mission to become so much more than this.

 

so for that i thank you all, cos by golly im going to work study/hard now!

 

Maybe I will bump this thread in ten to fifteen years, when i have a PHD and ask am i skilled now!

 

And the answer will still be no, we will just have to call you Dr Hama when we argue with you.

[Rupe]

I promise I don't mean to keep contradicting you..........but..........in the above you say "So it probably is not a skilled trade"

 

I think as trades go it is skilled, and we should take pride in the skills we have. Its just that trades in general are considered semi-skilled in the big scheme of things.

 

I'm a highly skilled tree surgoen, if I was cleverer I migh thave been a highly skilled architect or engineer and that might class me as "skilled". But I dropped out after A'levels and did what I wanted to do. Simples, and I'm happy (and skint) and don't much care what others think.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I promise I don't mean to keep contradicting you..........but..........in the above you say "So it probably is not a skilled trade"

 

I think as trades go it is skilled, and we should take pride in the skills we have. Its just that trades in general are considered semi-skilled in the big scheme of things.

 

I'm a highly skilled tree surgoen, if I was cleverer I migh thave been a highly skilled architect or engineer and that might class me as "skilled". But I dropped out after A'levels and did what I wanted to do. Simples, and I'm happy (and skint) and don't much care what others think.

 

Im never quite sure how to take you Rupe, though i do suspect your a very grounded and inteligent chap, and sure, sooner or later we will have a beer in a show tent bar somewhere and rip the mickey out of eachother, as is the way of the arbs!

[Mesterh]

Then it semi skilled work, thank you!

 

If you had said that he would need three A levels and a degree before he could begin training then I might accept that its skilled work.

 

I would say thats confusing skill with intelligence.

 

You could say Albert Einstein was a very intelligent man but was he a skilled physicist?

 

I doubt Diego Maradona had a very high IQ but no one could doubt his skill on the football field.

 

Doctors, architects, lawyers etc dont just need A levels and degrees because they need them for there job they need them so it can cut down the massive amount of people who want to do those jobs because they are highly paid. The higher a demand for a certain type of you the higher the academic results required.

[Rupe]

I mean well but I'm not sure about grounded!!

[Asplen]

The way I see it... If we're talking about rocket scientists, lawyers etc I would class that as "professional".

 

That's not to say arborists are not professional at what they do; but in my opinion an arborist is or ought to be a skilled tradesman and i'll illustrate why.

 

If you had a master craftsman stone carver, you can rely on him to not **** the job up, do it on time and on budget and manage his own team of apprentices/assistants and the work quality second to none. I think everyone would agree this man is a skilled tradesman.

 

If you're an arborist that has actually bothered to learn arboriculture in the wider context [Fungal/ecological relationships, species identification and information that can be disseminated from it i.e. soil types and condition - learning plant pathology etc] then you fall under all the same like for like qualities as a master craftsman in my view.

 

If you own a harness and a chainsaw and go to work as such, i don't see how it is not semi-skilled tradesman level. That is comparable to a painter/decorator - dry stone wall maker - gardener.

 

The thing that I find gets people riled up about arboriculture is that it is hazardous work whereas other similar jobs requiring similar competence can't really kill you. Whilst it is a valid point it doesn't mean the operator is any more or less skilled than before, just that you're in a hazardous field of work...