A good Arborist

[Guest Billabong]

Hi all.

 

In the last few months I have passed my 30, 31 and 38. I am doing my 39 next week and my 41 shortly with 40 following asap.

 

I've been working in Rope Access for the last 2 years and am moving into tree surgery.

 

I want to learn all the things a good Arborist should know, not just have the tickets and call myself an Arb.

 

Obviously I need to be able to identify trees and fungus's and want to be able to advise customers on their trees not just say 'I can cut this and that ect..'

 

What can I do to really develop my knowledge and skills?

 

I am self employed so full time college isn't really an option for me as I need to work.

 

Any help/info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

[Danavan]

Try starting with a one day a week course at a collage near you. Maybe RFS cert arb to begin with to gain a basic understanding for bio,p&d ect, then AA tec & so on if you find yourself going well with it all.

 

Best of luck. A great start already buy the way you sound & are thinking:thumbup1:

[David Goss]

Lots and lots of time on the job I found to be the best teacher. You can learn a lot from the classroom but theory and practice are almost always 2 completely different things. Take your time and stay safe is the best advice I can give, wood is full of surprises and a lot of them can hurt badly. Shigo and Mattheck are 2 must reads but there are many other authors of many many books I wouldn't know where to start you off.

Good luck and enjoy the best job there is IMO

[scottythepinetree]

A mixture of class work and field experience. However, as the life of a tree and our effects on them, and our own lifespans are on vastly different time-scales, I would recommend finding a company with a good reputation and putting some time in with them. You will learn more in a year with a good tree surgeon with 20+ years experience than you will from 4 or 5 years reading, studying, and working on your own.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

A mixture of class work and field experience. However, as the life of a tree and our effects on them, and our own lifespans are on vastly different time-scales, I would recommend finding a company with a good reputation and putting some time in with them. You will learn more in a year with a good tree surgeon with 20+ years experience than you will from 4 or 5 years reading, studying, and working on your own.

 

spot on:thumbup1:

[Guest Billabong]

Will look into those courses Danavan, cheers mate!

 

Work is hard to find around here with a tree firm so working a few days with a gardener with very occasional tree work alongside my rope access so I really want to expand my knowledge so I can get my foot in the door of starting on my own/sub contracting.

 

Cheers chaps

Edited March 16, 2012 by Billabong