What got you OUT of tree work?

[janey]

There have been many posts about what got people into tree work, but I have been wondering what makes other people stop the "on the tools" part of the job and move on to something less physical. Was it a conscious decision? Was it forced on you by circumstance? Do you regret the move?

 

I'd been a climber / arborist for only about five years when the bloke that I was working for totally fubar'd the felling of a 20m cherry and ended up dropping it on me and his truck! Luckily, the truck took most of the impact and I got away with only a badly sprained ankle and the Mother of all headaches. However, it seriously affected me mentally and I'm not ashamed to say it scared the cr*p out of me - to the extent that I had to rethink what I was doing in my career. To be fair, I was never that great at climbing and this was the impetus to move on to doing something more office based.

 

I don't regret the move, but I really miss the physical work and being part of a close team.

[David Humphries]

You could always work for the City of London as a hobby.

 

 

That's what I do

 

 

 

For me it was just circumstance, my boss moved on to something else, we kept the replacing of the post inhouse, & although less experienced than a couple of my colleagues, i was probably the most commited.

 

So after a trial period I got the Supervisory position full time & the climbing just slowly faded away.

 

Looking back, I do wish I'd had longer as a climber, (was probably only about seven years) but I don't think I could really have kept both aspects of the job going.

 

Rock climbing around the time of the change over kept up my climbing interest outside of work.

 

But that's now faded also, along with the increase of an ever expanding non climbing frame

 

 

So here we are a dozen years on, & I find myself becoming a green eyed ex climbing monster everytime i see the likes of Rich, Reg, Gibbon, (et al) doing what I used to love doing and never quite had the time & oportunity to fully acheive.

 

 

boo hoo

 

 

 

But it has to be said......................I love my job

 

.

Edited January 23, 2011 by Monkey-D

[Stephen Blair]

I don't do that much anymore, i want to work very local so i can spend as much time with my wife and kids. So i don't get the oppertunity to have the crack at bigger jobs, if i want to go climbing i can do that anytime, i live beside a wood and my yard is on a farm BUT tbh i got bored of it, fed up with being sore and achey, cold and wet.

I can cherry pick my work for great customers. A lot of lads that worked with me and for me have started up them selves, are younger, fitter and keen as mustard and do all the big ones for peanuts for the thrill of it, like i used to lol.

 

ps i do enjoy being able to put my socks on standing up, before i would have to do it on the floor in a lasoo type way ha ha

[janey]

So here we are a dozen years on, & I find myself becoming a green eyed ex climbing monster everytime i see the likes of Rich, Reg, Gibbon, (et al) doing what I used to love doing and never quite had the time & oportunity to fully acheive.

 

.

 

That's a very familiar feeling!

 

I've found a similar story amongst a lot of LA types (yes, I know that's not the same as you Higher Beings at The Corp' ): The original post had been withdrawn and the only option was to accept the more supervisory role or face redundancy.

[Mick Stockbridge]

Still at it although sometimes I hanker to be off the tools. Last week a young fella (32) drove past that used to work for me. He went on the buildings 15yr ago and now he's driving around checking other peoples work and not doing anything physical.

 

Looked a bit chubby though and that made me realise how glad I am to still be on the tools.

[windfall]

ps i do enjoy being able to put my socks on standing up

 

Just noticed that i have been doing this again in the last week!

 

Its taken 4 months of cross cutting and log making keep asking my wife if she wants to feel my guns.... ill stop now.

[LincolnSteve]

Waking up in the morning with an aching back was the que for me, elspecially as I was only 28 at the time, I was also wanted to learn something new in the industry. My days of climbing trees was long over (popped my kneecaps out of their sockets while climbing on spikes, ouch) and 5 years as a groundie lost it's appeal. Yes I miss being on the tools, but seeing my contractors out on rainy or ice cold mornings makes me glad of the office job, and on real sunny days I can go out surveying meaning I'm still outside.

 

Local Government is no fun though, aside of the current cuts the pace is so slow, everything has to go via a committee or another and you are constantly having to apease the public - ignorant, arogant and insulting people who love to say "I love trees ... but..."

[Cracker]

I don't know what I'm gonna do when I break. I hate indoors.

[Paul Barton]

I made a conscious decision to move away from being on the tools. This decision was based on two things: money and wanting a long-lasting career.

 

I could have actually climbed for quite a few more years and earnt more money as I became a better subbie, but I am too impatient and was ready for a change. I only climbed for about 5 years and loved it. Like others, there are many days when I wish I was up a tree.

 

It seemed that the choice ahead of me was either

a) stick with the status quo and keep earning not very much money but do what I enjoyed

b) start my own business and hope to make more money - this did not seem like a good option given the number of people I worked for that assured me they weren't earning much given the hours they worked.

c) do some more training and get in to the surveying side of the work.

 

Sometimes I laugh at myself and the irony of my career: I got in to tree work because I realised that the office wasn't for me....and now I am back in an office! At least I get out of it a lot though.

 

I have no regrets - I enjoy my work and earn more than I used to. And importantly, I can see myself doing this long term whereas the climbing work always felt like it could disappear if I slipped a disc or had an accident. I'm obviously just a great big wuss!

[butler]

Ive just turned 30 and was pleased to see that a 32 year old is called a young un.....the wife is a nurse so as long as the strong painkillers keep coming i will keep working...