Decision time.

[Midge]

This may be a long and complicated post but here goes.....

 

I want to be an arborist. I have my cs 30, 31 and woodchipper licence's and booked in for the cs 38 / 39 course in April (which I'll hopefully pass!) I'm also going to do a stumpgrinder course.

 

My main question is though, what sort of college course should I be looking at doing, if any!? I don't want to become a scientist on trees but want to know about about them, and arboriculture in general, then just how to chop them down! I want to look at a tree, dead or alive, and be able to tell what the best course of action would be to take on it. I want to learn the pros and cons of pollarding, crown lifting, branch removal etc.

 

I have seen a home learning course which at the end gets you a RFS-Cert level 2 in arbs, does anybody know if this is any good? According to the website- "The RFS Certificate is widely recognised throughout the arboricultural industry as proof that the holder has both a good theoretical knowledge of arboriculture and is proficient in the practical skills needed to succeed"

Or would a City & Guilds qualification hold more weight in the arb world? Or is the basic Tree inspection course offered by TKF good enough?

 

Would I just be better off getting more tickets, such as CS 40,41,45,47...........

I know experience counts for A LOT and people with more experience would be preferred over someone who just has lots of tickets but I want to learn and progress too!

I'd love to start as an apprentice and work my way up but with a house and kids taking a big hit in wages is a definite no no!

 

I am working with the arb's team for a day at my current place of work but can't see me getting many days with them during the year

Also tried local arb's teams but none have any weekend work on and just require subby's during the week.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read, any advice given is greatly appreciated. (Apart from the gumpry or sarcastic ones )

[JaySmith]

The RFS cert ARB is a good course and can be done with the HCC college for around £350 if I remember correctly. This is home study and can be done at your own pace to fit around family life etc. It is a good entry level course and will teach some of the basics and covers a broad range of topics. Aside from this the lantra basic tree inspection course is also worthwhile and will help you with a basic understanding of id and faults. Download some of the free tree publications on tree survey and risk as they will give some good background understanding.

 

The Arb Association also run courses on pest and disease and basic tree surveying, check the AA website for details. If you can get a copy of BS3998 as well and read through that.

 

With regards to the CS units don't necessarily rush out to get all of these in one go. Chipper ticket, stump grinder, 30 and 31 will give you a head start and maybe some employment, the rest can then follow and maybe an employer will pay towards the climbing tickets if you show commitment. If you have anything extra such as machinery maintenance experience and a b+e licence then this will be advantageous

[Eddiebell123]

How come you can't get transferred to the arb team full time?

[stihlmadasever]

Its difficult to get in at the bottom when you cant afford a drastic wage drop because your competing against young lads can come in to any squad to drag brash and feed the chipper for £60 a day.

Getting experience therefore may be challenging for you.

All i can suggest is have realistic wage expectations and apply to lots of companies,be prepared to travel and do overnights to get regular work.

Good luck mate

[Mick Dempsey]

I would say the 10/12 week course would be your ideal next step.

[Midge]

Thanks for the replies guys all been read and took in. Will try and respond later when I have more time.

[Starscream]

Books are always good to help with a basic knowledge of trees etc. I've found most of my knowledge has come from a book. If you have your own climbing kit you could always go recreational climbing to help you become a more proficient climber. On the job experience always counts for more but there are small things you can do to hone your skills. Also, if you've got nothing else on on a Saturday you could always offer up a days free labour to someone? Not ideal, but if you prove yourself it could potentially lead to a job

[Midge]

So, decided im going to go for the RFS home learning course and the basic tree inspection course with TKF. May wait until after the climbing course to do these though as don't want to over do myself!

Not going to worry about getting anymore tickets (apart from stumpgrinder) just yet. Already have basics and hopefully will have cs 38 / 39 by end of April!

I have other qualifications but nothing that an arb's firm would be really interest in. They are horticultural related.

 

Got a couple of books that I've been reading but want hands on learning too. Some one with experience to show me little tips and tricks kind of thing.

 

Going to see if anything comes up at work for now, do my course in April, and keep looking for full time work with an arb's team.