Climber V groundie pay ratio????

[bob]

Interesting thread this.

 

Just to throw my ten in, what if a climber cant (or wont) do the groundies job?

 

I have two groundies(with rescue tickets) that sub to me that will turn up EVERY morning fresh, full of beans, willing to pick up any saw, any amount of kit, not ask for coffee or what time we finish and not even moan about the weather if its crap.

 

However, i had a subbie climber who thought he was worth £150 a day, would turn up half an hour late(regularly), then ask for coffee when he turned up, have a couple of smokes and seem to have all the time in the world as he was "a climber".

 

He would then eventually get to the job and proceed to build his kit, tittle with saws, drink more coffee and smoke some more, eventually get into the tree 2 hours after start of works, spend 4 hours in the tree in total for the day then think he didnt need to pick up logs and not help clear up after a "day climbing"!

 

Who is worth their money?

 

IMO, i would rather climb myself and hire a good groundy ANY day.

 

sounds like a guy i know well:confused1:

[skyhuck]

Interesting thread this.

 

Just to throw my ten in, what if a climber cant (or wont) do the groundies job?

 

I have two groundies(with rescue tickets) that sub to me that will turn up EVERY morning fresh, full of beans, willing to pick up any saw, any amount of kit, not ask for coffee or what time we finish and not even moan about the weather if its crap.

 

However, i had a subbie climber who thought he was worth £150 a day, would turn up half an hour late(regularly), then ask for coffee when he turned up, have a couple of smokes and seem to have all the time in the world as he was "a climber".

 

He would then eventually get to the job and proceed to build his kit, tittle with saws, drink more coffee and smoke some more, eventually get into the tree 2 hours after start of works, spend 4 hours in the tree in total for the day then think he didnt need to pick up logs and not help clear up after a "day climbing"!

 

Who is worth their money?

 

IMO, i would rather climb myself and hire a good groundy ANY day.

 

Groundies are well under valued im afraid and have said it before. They tend not to be premadonnas!

 

 

Why on earth did you use him regularly?????????????

 

Thats madness surely?????????

 

Again your talking about poor workers V good workers, not climbers V groundies.

[18 stoner]

:lol:

 

Nah, not the one you are thinking of, he is usually worth his money, and you do need to make allowancies for age sometimes:001_rolleyes:

[18 stoner]

 

Why on earth did you use him regularly?????????????

 

Thats madness surely?????????

 

Again your talking about poor works V good workers, not climbers V groundies.

 

Just being lazy I guess Dave.

 

My point is, sometimes groundies are very under-rated.

 

They have the ability to control whole working site, being on site supervisors. More multi skilled i guess and tend to be still willing to get the job finished with quality when its 5pm, raining and the climber is "tending his ropes"

 

Big up the groundie for a change, a site can easily be a mess without a good one!

[skyhuck]

I reckon most of you must just have really crap climbers:001_rolleyes:

 

I would never give any of the ones you describe a second day.

 

Guess thats why I do all my own climbing

[Ben Ballard]

i get what your saying skyhuck but do think there are some good groundys that are worth as much as the average climber(not a top climber),may be my view is because i enjoyed grounding more than climbing so thats what i do best

[18 stoner]

If you were to compare a tree gang to say a gang of builders, the "climber" would be the brick layer doing the technical bit, the "groundie" would be the site supervisor doing the organising and basically turn his hand to any job required, and labourers are labourers.

 

On the builders site the bricky and the supervisor would be on comparable wages, but a wide margin is in the tree gang.

 

Possibly a generalisation, but IMO some climbers need to get down a peg or two, or we should appreciate groundies more.

[Ben Ballard]

some groundies would have sklll the climber might not have eg using forestry equipment planting up large areas the list could go on ok this may no apply to the average tree surgery company but if working for a firm that caries out a variety of jobs not always climbing

[Mike Hill]

Climbers are specialists who have often gained more qualifications and experience in the job than groundies.They are also subjected to higher personal risk and responsibility than groundies.

 

It is typical to see foreign employers advertising for "experianced Climbers" at locations around the World.Not so Groundies, which indicates that its easier to source local persons for the easier jobs than train them to be Climbers.

[Taupotreeman]

I'm only a two man outfit at the best of times so I have a guy (41) who comes in and helps when I need him. I show him how to do the job once and I don't have to show him again. He works like a trojan, doesn't shirk the heavy stuff even when he can hardly walk and he's got enough of a brain to keep himself busy when I'm dumping chip, wood etc. He's also a bloody good bloke. I pay him about 90 quid for a full day which includes his travel/petrol allowance as I live about 50kms from him so he has to travel for some jobs. I've worked with and managed other guys who were on the same wage as him who didn't do half the work and had to be watched or have a rocket up their backsides every time my back was turned. Half of em expected top dollar to sit on their backsides in the truck for half the day and then bitched and moaned about the bosses fancy wheels. I more than happy to pay slightly over the odds for this guy as he'll work the whole day solid without a break or a complaint. Sometimes the groundies can be worth more than the climber in some instances, especially when you get down out of the tree and everything is done. All you have to do is get in the truck and drive home.