experiences after first 12 months in tree surgery

[Nick B]

Hi the best thing you can do is work hard do a nice tidy job

and always leave the site spotless, be fair with the customers

If you do all of this they will have you back next time and also word of mouth is the best advert in the world.

 

If you are doing tree work never take on trees that you are unsure of

Try and team up with a local firm or get a contract climber in to help

People work together all the time there is nothing wrong with that

 

There may be people on here that will help out on big jobs

 

Good luck with what you are doing I went from part time to Full time 2 years ago and have not looked back since. It is hard work but it is worth it

I do the same as Ty Lawns one week and trees and hedges the other

In the winter we do trees, hedges & fire wood

[bggc]

Yes i have Jon, i'v recently passed my CS30/31 and i'm also booked in for my CS38 in November, i'm also in the throws of trying to sort out the best way to study for the RFS Level 2 Cert, i'm wondering if i can study it at home if there's nothing doing locally in the way of a college etc. I'v been looking in on various threads on here and a few of the experienced guys seem to think that this particular course is a pretty good intro into Arboriculture.

[bggc]

Hi the best thing you can do is work hard do a nice tidy job

and always leave the site spotless, be fair with the customers

If you do all of this they will have you back next time and also word of mouth is the best advert in the world.

 

If you are doing tree work never take on trees that you are unsure of

Try and team up with a local firm or get a contract climber in to help

People work together all the time there is nothing wrong with that

 

There may be people on here that will help out on big jobs

 

Good luck with what you are doing I went from part time to Full time 2 years ago and have not looked back since. It is hard work but it is worth it

I do the same as Ty Lawns one week and trees and hedges the other

In the winter we do trees, hedges & fire wood

 

I agree entirely Nick, do a good job, leave the site nice and tidy, don't take the michael with your costing and work hard at it! Thats interesting that you've gone full time after just 2 years, were you forced or did you make the jump? I'm still working full time, we've had redundancies but i managed to survive them, not sure if it's holding me back though, sometimes you need to be pushed i think.

[Jon Lad]

Myerscough College run distance learning courses I think, or get in touch with the RFS direct at Tring they would be able to tell you of any organizations running that course as home study. There is Dave Dowson at Tree Life Consultancy who run courses, but I think they may just be for the Tech.Cert. and the Prof.Dip.

The alternative would be to do a short course somewhere but this would be expensive as it might not be feasible to commute. I started the Part time degree course at Myerscough about 5 years back, one day a week. I thought I could do it but the travelling, the coursework and running my own business was just too much.

[bggc]

Myerscough College run distance learning courses I think, or get in touch with the RFS direct at Tring they would be able to tell you of any organizations running that course as home study. There is Dave Dowson at Tree Life Consultancy who run courses, but I think they may just be for the Tech.Cert. and the Prof.Dip.

The alternative would be to do a short course somewhere but this would be expensive as it might not be feasible to commute. I started the Part time degree course at Myerscough about 5 years back, one day a week. I thought I could do it but the travelling, the coursework and running my own business was just too much.

 

Cheers for that, i'll keep that info to hand. So what do you do then Jon?

[Jon Lad]

I run my own small business based in Wetherby, I have been since '01. Before that I worked for other firms here and abroad, I did a NCH at Merrist Wood in '96 and the Tech. Cert. via Askham Bryan in 2000.

I generally cover a 15 mile radius of Wetherby, I only travel further if I have to.

[Dionysus]

i have just completed my first 12 months in the industry recently, i entered with no background in treework or forestry and enrolled on an apprenticeship scheme, it wasn't easy to get on i had to work hard to get a company to take me on even though they didn't have to pay any fees because i was government funded. luckily i found someone to take me on, a guy with a small company of 3 teams and its been great from there, i've learnt the safe side of the industry and new techniques at college and the realworld experience that is so important at work.

 

In 12 months i have gained my CS30 CS38 PA1 PA6 and doing my CS31 this month, i will also gain an NVQ level 2 award and have gained 3 key skills level 1 qualifications.

[bggc]

Sounds good mate, have you got much competition locally? You sound well established.

[Jon Lad]

There is loads of competition. Wetherby is between Leeds, York and Harrogate so all the firms from those places and everywhere in between are in the catchement area for work.

I think though that if you do a good job and don't bull people with prices, word gets around. People like to use local tradesmen, I know that I do myself.

[bggc]

There is loads of competition. Wetherby is between Leeds, York and Harrogate so all the firms from those places and everywhere in between are in the catchement area for work.

I think though that if you do a good job and don't bull people with prices, word gets around. People like to use local tradesmen, I know that I do myself.

 

I agree, people around by me tend to use local tradesmen too, with every year that passes i see them come and go, some grow some don't. There are loads my way all competing for the work, even more are setting up because of all the local job losses. Are you finding the same sort of thing?