Barking Mad? (another career change thread!)

[FATHER ZED]

hi everyone on arbtalk, i'm adman (dean lofthouses wee 'nephew').

hi father zed, read this post with interest and tbh i agree with the others. it's probably not a great industry to start off in 40+ trying to be a climber.

i'm 43 and would say i'm quick & efficient at tree work, but this comes from 14 years experience and being involved in rock climbing all my life. i think you'd get alot of injuries which would waste/ hold you back too much.

other important thing to consider is you need a huge amount of experience & gut feeling to see you through tight corners, and this is only got from years of time to build this up. i came from forestry before i was involved with tree surgery, so i already had good basic skills & instinct, but i'm still learning lots of things that paper qualifications won't give you...and they tend to be the more important lessons and techniques.

take care & think hard before you change your spots!!

 

Hi Adman, thanks for the above :-)

 

Yes, I think I've slowly come round to this view ....

 

So many people singing from the same hymn sheet - it's bit of a red flag isn't it!!!

 

I'd like to think I might be able to find a niche that would suit me within this industry,

outside of climbing... but as I've pointed to in my last post, I think the wisest thing for me

to do would be to approach this idea slowly, and see what I'm good at, and what's feasible etc..

 

When I do finally sell this house, I'm hoping that I'll be able to find some land to buy, as well as a

more modest home, so I might venture into firewood ... at least, maybe as an addition to

other means of incomes.......

 

I don't really want to give up on the idea completely. But I think I'll have to keep

my feet on the ground, and my dreams realistic.

 

I did some climbing at uni, but I'd be the first to admit it was at a quite basic level, and

all wall stuff. I'll have forgotten more than i can remember too!

 

Bit of a bummer really! Oh to have known then, what I now know lol

[Big T]

Any further thoughts?

[FATHER ZED]

Any further thoughts?

 

Well....

 

I think initially, I'm going to focus my attention on selling this house -

which has always been the major part of the plan. Goes on the market

next week all being well :-)

 

Later on, I think I'll reassess this idea....

 

Climbing, from a commercial perspective seems to be 99.9% a

dead duck....

 

But, as alluded to above, there's other aspects to the profession.... so perhaps all is not yet lost. Time will tell, I suppose...

[Big T]

Good on ya mate, take it one step at a time! Im kinda in the same boat, got made redundant last year so set up my own property maintenance business, its going well, I aim for the jobs that bigger firms arnt interested in but they are missing a trick as alot of "small" jobs have a higher profit margin than the big jobs! Maybe something to consider? There is also a Lantra chainsaw course for property maintenance personell, its cheaper than a CS30 and allows you to fell small trees up to 200mm in diameter, that size of tree would prob not need to be climbed and to be honest most of the trees I deal with are smaller than that anyway, also if your working on your own would you really want to deal with trees much bigger than that? Just a thought as you can make some half decent money and still get to play with the "Toys"!

 

Regards,

 

Anthony.

[FATHER ZED]

Good on ya mate, take it one step at a time! Im kinda in the same boat, got made redundant last year so set up my own property maintenance business, its going well, I aim for the jobs that bigger firms arnt interested in but they are missing a trick as alot of "small" jobs have a higher profit margin than the big jobs! Maybe something to consider? There is also a Lantra chainsaw course for property maintenance personell, its cheaper than a CS30 and allows you to fell small trees up to 200mm in diameter, that size of tree would prob not need to be climbed and to be honest most of the trees I deal with are smaller than that anyway, also if your working on your own would you really want to deal with trees much bigger than that? Just a thought as you can make some half decent money and still get to play with the "Toys"!

 

Regards,

 

Anthony.

 

Thanks for the above Anthony ...

 

Some very interesting points, and ideas!!!

 

Funnily enough, I do keep playing with the idea of getting my Sparkie Quals back up to date....

 

I'm thinking that it might be wiser in this day and age to have my eggs in a few different

baskets...

 

So, I might end up doing something similar to your good self!

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say I've ruled out studying Arb altogether, but I'm

looking at it in a wider terms now...

 

Cheers :-)

[Big T]

No worries mate, good luck!

[Billy]

I mentioned in my first post getting some useful/big kit. if you do a bit of research around your area on here and going through the yellow pages & gauge interest on a service involving bulk removal of timber or chips with a hi ab equiped truck or such like. ou'd get an idea of what required volunteering with local firms or labouring/grounding for them onthe big jobs getting rid of the sheer volume of waste eats up alot fo the time.

I'm guessing your gonna free up a bit of cash that would make the investment doable in downsizing your house. obviously if you did that and got some land you could then process the timber and sell it as firewood fencing etc. and also take on your own tree jobs using subby climbers and extra ground help if needed. Its deffinatley doable you've just got to find your way.

[FATHER ZED]

I mentioned in my first post getting some useful/big kit. if you do a bit of research around your area on here and going through the yellow pages & gauge interest on a service involving bulk removal of timber or chips with a hi ab equiped truck or such like. you'd get an idea of what required volunteering with local firms or labouring/grounding for them on the big jobs getting rid of the sheer volume of waste eats up alot fo the time.

 

I'm guessing your gonna free up a bit of cash that would make the investment doable in downsizing your house. obviously if you did that and got some land you could then process the timber and sell it as firewood fencing etc. and also take on your own tree jobs using subby climbers and extra ground help if needed. Its deffinatley doable you've just got to find your way.

 

Again, some really interesting ideas, and good points!

 

Land wise: I'm hoping to get as much as I can - I aren't going to do any concrete number crunching

yet, as it's ALL hypothetical until (i) this gaff has sold, and (ii) I know how much I have to play with

and (iii) what I can get X land for, and (iv) whether I can find it in the right place, and without any

headaches attached, crappy drainage and suchlike................................

 

But, I've liked the idea for donkey's years now....

 

The "pipe dream" is to be able to plant my own coppices, grow my own firewood, sell it, if I

have enough... {the village I'm particularly interested in moving to has no gas supply, so

was thinking of looking into solid fuel boilers}

possibly venture into a bit of roundwood joinery (purely for my own pleasure) ...

Also have a quiet liking for horses, so it's a got multiple advantages/lures ..

 

Hi-Ab/truck idea is something I'm very interested in -- especially if I could mill it myself...

 

This throws up and whole new set of questions and things to look at, in addition to

the feasibility side of things...

 

... Hi Ab course --- I'd think you'd need a ticket for insurance, wouldn't you? etc

 

Then, which truck, and how much, fuel costs, .... something with a measure of

off road agility .......... Maybe an old MOD Bedford ... or a Mog... Mmmmmmmm

 

{Wonder if you can run any of them on veggie oil, or chip fat

 

Well... I am a Yorkshireman... always say, we make the Scots look positively generous }

 

 

Well .. thanks Billy, I've gone from having a lot to think about, to a LOT to think about

 

Hope this blooming house sells quickly!

[Billy]

Mog with trailer, 4x4 truck. if your good on the hi ab, which probably isn't hard, no one will care if you got a ticket, you'll be self employed so no one to answer to, other than insurers if something goes badly wrong. I reckon if your not climbing and pricing will be tricky with no experience getting te kit and working the waste removal/conversion to manufactured product and firewood is a good angle to go at.

[FATHER ZED]

Mog with trailer, 4x4 truck. if your good on the hi ab, which probably isn't hard, no one will care if you got a ticket, you'll be self employed so no one to answer to, other than insurers if something goes badly wrong. I reckon if your not climbing and pricing will be tricky with no experience getting te kit and working the waste removal/conversion to manufactured product and firewood is a good angle to go at.

 

Thanks very much Billy

 

You've given me a lot to think about !!!