experiences after first 12 months in tree surgery

[bggc]

Hi all, i'm just posing the question to all the new people of late to get themselves trained up and involved in Tree Surgery, how've you found the first 12 months? I'v been trawling many old threads, some going back a few years and many people seemed to have started very enthusiastically but then dissappered off the forum. Is it that people are ill prepared for a very physically demanding trade or are the opportunities becoming more and more few? I myself am looking to make the transition from one trade to another and i don't think you can ever be over informed with enough personal experiances of others who are seeking roughly the same as yourself. I don't wish to allienate any of the 'veterans' either folks so feel free!

[felixthelogchopper]

Speaking as someone who is still trying to get into it, be prepared for a hard slog getting a break. There are some great people on here with a wealth of knowledge that they are happy to share but you still need an offer of work to get started. It's the old Catch 22 of experience & employment, one is hard to get without already having the other, but keep plugging because if people on here can help, they will. Take any work that comes along, you never know who you will meet that ends up helping you to progress.

[alex_m]

i started off just over a year ago as a (very part time) brash dragger, qualified at the start of this summer and now having more fun than ever!

i love tree work and couldn't see myself doing anything else!

 

if you are wanting to swap trades i would recommend the 10 week intensive course - that way you can get qualified, with a good understanding of the trade in a very short time. 7 out of the 10 people that were on my 10 week course came from a different career and there were 4 of them over the age of 30.

 

go for it, you won't look back.

Edited October 10, 2009 by alex_m

[Littletree]

HI there from the moment I picked up my chainsaw and made my first ever cut . I decided this is what I wanted to do for the rest of working life. I decided I would do what ever it takes .

 

. I have taken every chance to cross cut , fell trees and split firewood and everything else to be able to gain exp and do my Tickets . I have volunteered my sox off driven round the country of miles on end just to turn my saw on and gain exp without any other gain from it and at full cost to myself .

 

I have come from a care work background so this is completely different to world of Arb. I have had to start from scratch with very little

It still will take years for me to gain the working experience and the knowledge of others to get good at it but I will do it ,and in the end it will all pay off

 

If you are starting from scratch you will need these things . Shear determination and a will to succeed beyond anything else . To begin with you may be seen as a joke but keep at it and that stage soon passes .

 

You will need to be prepaid to graft till your sox fall off doing all the rubbish jobs .Do it well with a smile on your face and it will pay you dividends long term.

 

If you really want to do this Go for it with 100%

and it will be the best move you ever make .

All the best

Karen

[Andy Collins]

Blimey, the first 12months. Tbh I cannot remember what it was like, full-on graft with a decent company. Whats changed for me, not a lot..full-on graft for myself these days, probably working harder than ever, but at least the profits (haha) are mine! Many come into this with the impression they will earn top money from an early stage, and soon get fed-up when they dont. others tell tales of woe of how they are "exploited", how true this is I dont know, but it does lead to many dropping out of the tree work scene. many years on, I still love the job, meeting new clients, diversifying in various tree-related directions, but still at the coal-face. Helping moderate and being involved with this forum revitalised my enthusiasm for the job too, and meeting many of you at the various shows and sharing a few beers makes the whole thing even more fun, none of us are as isolated these days as years ago, meaning we can share tips and experiences to help one another.

[bggc]

Thanks lads (and lassies)! I'm part the way there already as i have my own part time grounds maintenance business which has been running for 3 years now, plus i picked up my CS 30/31 a couple of weeks back,but i still see myself as a novice with a lot to learn. I'v just gone 38 and have been involved in Engineering all my working life, so to make the big step into the relative unknown is something i see as a gamble so thats why i'm seeking as much advice as possible.

[Mozza]

Blimey, the first 12months. Tbh I cannot remember what it was like, full-on graft with a decent company. Whats changed for me, not a lot..full-on graft for myself these days, probably working harder than ever, but at least the profits (haha) are mine! Many come into this with the impression they will earn top money from an early stage, and soon get fed-up when they dont. others tell tales of woe of how they are "exploited", how true this is I dont know, but it does lead to many dropping out of the tree work scene. many years on, I still love the job, meeting new clients, diversifying in various tree-related directions, but still at the coal-face. Helping moderate and being involved with this forum revitalised my enthusiasm for the job too, and meeting many of you at the various shows and sharing a few beers makes the whole thing even more fun, none of us are as isolated these days as years ago, meaning we can share tips and experiences to help one another.

 

 

 

 

All very good points there Andy , when i first started i dragged brash on £2.50 an hour my wage hardly changed in the first 4 years, I think after 3 years it got put up to £3.50 but i didnt mind back then, i didnt really have many bills and i loved the fact that i found a job i enjoyed and all my mates hated theirs haha, My first week i wonderd what the hell id got into, it was sooooooooo hard, After 3 months of just dragging and watching i was aloud my first go of a chainsaw and i was hooked, As i got more and more involved/experienced i fell more and more in love with this job, The first place i worked was a very small outfit and they did as many reapirs and stuff as they could possibly do themselves to keep costs down, Which for me as a then 18 year old was great, i got to learn how to maintain all the machinery very quickly AND they even had a mog

 

I remember getting home absolutely shatterd every single day for the first 6 months until my body got used to doing tree work, Ive had some nasty injurys, done some horrible jobs BUT i honestly dont see my self doing anything else. After 10 years i still love it, I do earn considerably more now than i did when i started BUT the money side of things only comes with the experience side of things.

 

 

As Andy has said, Arbtalk has give tree work a new lease of life for me aswell, I learn new things almost every week, Ive been to a couple of shows and at the last one met quite a few faces off here, talked tree work and get very drunk, which was awesome, I came back from the show grinning like a cheshire cat and i my love for this job was fully revitalised

[Stephen Blair]

Forget the term tree surgeon, i did the minute i started doing the job for real, i had been studying a honey brothers magazine for a couple of years, cover to cover. Looking at every detail of the climber on the front cover. thats how i learnt how to climb. from a single picture. A friend gave me the magazine, it was a picture of a guy dismantling a huge pine, he was stropped on, had his top line set and was knocking out monster lumps that were getting pulled over. From the second i saw that pic i wanted to be him, the glory of the big wood i thought. I hace tried the edition on the web but i cant. I always wanted to be a tree surgeon but has never seen one except once on the telly, but i had the vision of me being the guy up the tree on day one, then i realised being up a tree on a rope and harness was terrifying and as hard as hell. but i knocked my pan in with graft and lived and breathed the job. turn your brain off and monkey monkey, thats what i was told from the guys that taught me, and its true. if you are wearing a jumper or jacket then you arent working hard enough imo when you first start out on this job. it will ust all of a sudden come together, it is second nature to me now and i love it, i lost interest in the job a few years back but finding arbtalk and meeting the members has rekindled my love for the job. good luck new guys:thumbup:

[felixthelogchopper]

Blimey, the first 12months. Tbh I cannot remember what it was like, full-on graft with a decent company. Whats changed for me, not a lot..full-on graft for myself these days, probably working harder than ever, but at least the profits (haha) are mine! Many come into this with the impression they will earn top money from an early stage, and soon get fed-up when they dont. others tell tales of woe of how they are "exploited", how true this is I dont know, but it does lead to many dropping out of the tree work scene. many years on, I still love the job, meeting new clients, diversifying in various tree-related directions, but still at the coal-face. Helping moderate and being involved with this forum revitalised my enthusiasm for the job too, and meeting many of you at the various shows and sharing a few beers makes the whole thing even more fun, none of us are as isolated these days as years ago, meaning we can share tips and experiences to help one another.

 

Andy, I lay awake at night dreaming of being given a chance to be exploited

[skyhuck]

Andy, I lay awake at night dreaming of being given a chance to be exploited

 

:ohmy:Can we please stick to tree work!!!:ohmy: