Female's on the tools?

[arbogrunt]

ha ha!, one sugar and milk please..and mind your f###### language in front of the blokes!

[easy-lift guy]

oldugly we have the same bias here in the Sunshine State AKA Florida. I have seen men and women together working hard and accomplishing their task at hand and I have had the customers complain and complement the jobs as well. I t really depends on how well you train your customers IMO. Like trees some need more training than others.

elg

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Linda

 

The point of my post was to ask opinions and show my experiances of working with female climbers,nothing more.I showed my experiance's and others have given their opinions.I run an open and inclusive crew,I try and foster a family attitiude amongst my staff and knee jerk reactions like your post only serve to divert the discussion from the original topic.[/quote

 

Use the words "Blacks" and "the black guy" instead of "female" and "her" in your original post and you can see where my "knee jerk reaction" was partly coming from.

 

I see your point but would not feel a fair comparison.

 

I haven't read every post on this thread, but I think there are a few things that need clearing up.

With regard to strength and to the size of the saw, I am 9st 8lbs and 5ft 7in, I happily use my 660 with a 25" bar when chogging a whopper. Its not down to strength (though admittedly my strength has got hugely better for my size in the last 4 years!) its down to skill and experience, I couldn't start the thing without ripping my arms off to begin with but now I have knowledge of how she works and can keep her tip top and sharp we have a fantactic felling relationship! I have to use her sparingly, a saw that size would even take it out of a 6ft3 14st bloke(I know, he works with me!).

With regard to speed, I am pretty quick up there, its my business and I'm not paying the grounders to sit about and drink tea. This again has come with experience and training, I listen to those big burly lovely blokes who have taken the time to advise me, I've taken their advice and with reading around the subject I've managed to find a climbing style that works for me. I continue to improve, there is still scope there, I'm not as good as I could be and four years isn't that much experience!

With regard to stamina - this is the sticky one. I can do three days hard section felling, 8am start 6pm finish, and survive. This is down to bloody determination - or bloody mindedness. When I say hard section felling, the last two hours of the day I get on the ground and shift timber, throwing rings on the van and dragging limbs to the chipper and raking up. This is the way of things. If a climber worked for me and thought they were to good to ground I would be livid. They'd get a piece of my mind. No one should be like that. You're part of a TEAM!!! You're grounders help you all day (if they're any good), give them a hand! But day four is my sticking point, even small pruning becomes a bit sad and slow. My limbs get tired and I have to do 'office' stuff. I am knackered. But thats ok coz its my business and I can organise it as so, and work weekends to make up for it.

So speed, stamina and strength are achievable as a female climber. I think its difficult as there are so few of us. I don't know another working female climber. I wish I had someone to give me hope on those days when I felt like giving up to begin with. I have a work experience lass with me at the moment. I tell her she has to find another way if she can't do it the traditional 'Ugg' way. Some IDIOT told her she would be useless and wouldn't give her the experience, what a ****. Without the patience of my male mentor (LEGEND!) and my own business as the environment to learn in I would have really struggled!

If you know any females within the industry - point them towards LANTRA, they're giving us girls another crack at some funding at the moment to continue training (Women and Work its called).

Give us girls a chance - just like you would a lad. Tell them to get down the gym in between climbs, to do yoga (we are more likely to suffer injury and this helps defend against that a little) and have a physio on speed dial.

I will admit, I have had my days when, to be honest, I've just wanted to cry, or the shakes have got that bad because I'm scared of what I'm doing that the tree has been obviously shaking to the naked eye. But then I think all climbers have to beat their natural fears at some point.

Us girlies do have attention to detail, an eye for pruning, we're careful and have a brilliant manner with customers - so while you're waiting for us to get stronger, fitter and quicker we can be an assett to the team! EMPLOY WOMEN!!!! NOW!!!!

 

Do I talk too much? Maybe its just coz I can type fast! hee hee

 

great little post

 

interesting thread, just read the lot:thumbup:

 

Im all for women in the industry, the more the merrier, would be great to meet a lass that has the guts to climb, would be my kind of girl.

[felixthelogchopper]

Spike, that's a bit harsh!

 

Paul, anyone makes better tea than Spike. I think it's just that he needs more practice

[Paul Smith]

if you can get a brew out of him your doing well!

[Taupotreeman]

Ginja, if that post and, more to the point, way of thinking, doesn't inspire more women to get into the industry I don't know what will. Nice to see someone with the balls, gumption and attitude to just go and do it.

[Ginja]

Ginja, if that post and, more to the point, way of thinking, doesn't inspire more women to get into the industry I don't know what will. Nice to see someone with the balls, gumption and attitude to just go and do it.

 

Tah very much. I keep them in a box.

I'll be your poster campaign Lantra! Women in Work!! We rock!

[MOG]

men or women, its the person that makes it counts ay!

 

cheers MOG

[janey]

men or women, its the person that makes it counts ay!

 

cheers MOG

 

Thank god for a bit of, gasp!, common sense .

 

Man, woman, straight, gay, bi, black, white, Asian, Christian, Jedi.... Does it really matter?

 

Attitude and physical and mental ability are the important issues, not someone's gender. I've worked with lazey women and lazey men. I've also worked with hugely talented and inspiring women and again, men.

 

Yes, there are very few women in arb' and forestry (3% according to LANTRA). I don't think this is an issue unless we make it an issue. With so much positive discrimination towards women (which I don't agree with, btw), we, as a gender, have far more opportunities and funding available than any man coming into the idustry. Is this fair? Is this equality? Does this mean that women are somehow more suitable to work with trees? No, it doesn't. It just means that someone in a position of power has deemed that that there needs to be a more even proportion of men to women, regardless of an individual's apptitude towards the job.

 

I've worked bloody hard to get taken seriously as a professional arboriculturalist, not a female arboriculturalist, please note. I am an individual, with my own strengths and weaknesses and my gender is totally and utterly irrelevant. Which is how it should be for anyone.

[Khriss]

OH MY more women here - that is great -

 

Hey Guys, is Kathy Holtzer on here yet.

 

I am sure she will also advise you that gender is not an issues. I am sure you have had male workers that also did not workout.

 

maybe you need to bring more women into the profession.

 

my 2 cent

 

jz

 

I only ever worked with one female arb worker, she was strong an pulled her weight, never got to climb cos the company was full of chauvinist's that never gave her a chance, It was shameful rely but there yoo go, wishe there were more havin a go, like her Kx

Edited July 18, 2011 by skyhuck