Ty Korrigan

Hello, As some may have read, I'm in Bretagne, France. Normally, I'm a gardener looking after second homes and whatever comes my way. Rather than employ tree surgeons here and lose out on work, I took some time out to retrain in '08 and now offer tree services along with my 'collaborator' who acts as my bad tempered groundsman. (good cop bad cop..) I did try working for 2 French companies to gain some experience but sadly realised very fast that nothing was to be learned there. So I decided to go back to trading under my old name and also under the umbrella of my collaborator. We cut grass one week and do hedges, trees and other stuff the next. Rained hard recently so we started our winter project early. A manor house, clearing its grounds ready for the builders. All burn on site and 400euros a day for 2 men with cash paid to a U.K bank from Saudi. Some good climbing to be had and alot of felling which I love as I'm always trying for the perfect cut. With the pound falling against the euro, times are tough out here but we still get the work coming in although we have dropped our prices when dealing with retired folk as they really are feeling the pinch. I may be 40 and too old to ever be a fast climber but I'm much younger in terms of fitness levels. I feel safe in the tree and enjoy the work immensely and wish I'd done this 20years ago. However, I also wish I had done some time with a really good firm so as to build up on my experience first. Ah well... who would employ a 40 year old 10 week tree surgeon eh...? Better off going it for myself.

ISC Capstan.

Alright... I know I don't have alot of experience yet and have alot to learn blah blah blah... However, I won't stop me from asking. This flying capstan thingy that comes with my lowering kit. How 'best' to attach it by the whoopie sling? Are there any good links that I have missed in my googling or even a book about lowering and rigging that I can buy? Thanks chaps.

Now then... May I ask the learned ones of this parish the following question? How much does it cost you to earn a pound? Or... If you grossed 100 pounds, how much goes in material business costs. (ie) equipment, assurances and all the little stuff. Not included are employees costs. Thank you in advance and I hope I have expressed myself sufficiently well to be clear. Ty Korrigan

Whay hay! Well I'm nearly offically up and running here. Been working 'clandestine' for a few weeks as registering here is a long process. I must register with the Chamber of trades (Chambre de Metiers) Pay 400euros+ to attend a 5 day business course in boring business French. Possibly have my certificates officialy translated to prove my self. The government allows me as a 'micro B.I.C entreprise' an automatic allowance of 40% for costs. Then takes 48.5% of the profit in 'social charges' So... I earn 100 euros, am allowed 40 euros against costs leaving 60 euros to divided between Sarkosy (48.5%= 29.1euros) leaving me with 30.9euros to feed myself with. Therefore, I must minimise costs and take as much cash as I dare. I am only required to keep a basic accounting ledger. I have won several one and 2 day jobs, big hedges, a couple of non technical take downs and the chance to quote for what may be a 7 day stint clearing the grounds of a manoir renovation ready for the builders. Not needed a chipper yet as have burned or stacked the arisings on site or made a few trips to the local tip for very little money charged! Today, I visited the owners of a property with a mature horse chestnut that has a large cavity just below where the branches meet. It has a heavy lean towards 2 houses and a phone line. In fact a whole lot of hazards overhung by large heavy branches. I priced the take down at 1150euros as I thought a 2 day stint with climber and groundsman and a M.E.W.P to help deal with some tricky branches. I'm maxed out at 5 hours climbing a day at current fitness levels. The lowest price was 400euros but the owners didn't like the chaps attitude. Me, well I'm over priced. I know I could climb for less than the 300 euros but I cut grass for 200+ per day so why climb for that...? My grounds man WOULD work for 150 instead of 200 but he is worth his weight in gold to me. I'm not to disapointed not to get this job as there are many Brits over here very hard up since the plunge of the Sterling and fall in the value of their pensions. Still, I am going to make another offer to this client as they proposed to pay cash. I could dispense with the M.E.W.P and just grit my teeth and walk those dodgy branches I suppose... P.S... We have an amazing Indian summer here!

Thanks for all that Chaps Will post some more from La Belle France soon....

Helo there, I have a quote to put in for the felling of a mature horse chestnut, heavily weighted on one side with long branches. It has an 8ft stem with a large cavity from an old tear out wound that faces away from the direction of all the branches. Sadly, I can't see any fruiting bodies to make an I.D. Could any-one here please relate to me their experiences of working with these trees as I am aware the wood is some what fragile. Thanks in advance for your responses

Hello all, I have a job ahead where I am to fell several very skinny Sycamores leaning from a low bank hard towards a lane and over phone and electric cables. These are too thin to climb and other than hire a MEWP I am a loss how to dismantle them safely. I could get a line over into the crown and pull them back away from the lane and cables but which cut to use? I wish to avoid a barberschair situation. The stems are very small diameter indeed yet around 16m in height. Thanks in advance.

I'm pretty sure that TNT stump removal was part of the 10week course at Merrist back in the '70's... Or was that just another joke I fell for...

Can you get a cream for that...?

Hello, I have never used this stuff but... In at our local 'Point Vert' (farm and D.I.Y supplies in France) I have seen a product for burning stumps out. It is slow and obviously smelly. I believe you drill many holes in the stump and fill them with this powder which may actually be Sodium Chlorate based now I come to think of it. Then you dose it all with diesel and light it. It burns hot and slow and takes a long time and you'll still need to give the 'ole mattock after. Rubbish really...

Related species to be looking at... Indian Horse chestnut or Buckeyes.

I was cycling around N.Z when I came across miles and miles of shelterbelt conifer hacked to bits when I rounded a bend after a long descent and there was the biggest Dalek that was every spawned! This machine looked 100% Heath Robinson or something from Robot wars 3 the movie..

Still talked about and reviewed in the current course... Very sad, you can see it in the lecturers faces when it comes up.

Now that's an interesting site!

For the interest of those wanting a little French arb' vocab... Les Bocages, tree surgery in Brittany

Please can we not let this thread descend into a rant against college education etc... There is already another thread on this subject. What I am writing about largely concerns my experiences with a 'shabby employer' than any incompetance or lack of experience on my behalf. I would also like to add that I am enjying these exchanges very much but I can't seem to add smilies to help convey that I'm not upset/getting the 'ump/seeing the good in all... How do I add smilies?

Ah! I actually have some photos of machines like this when I was cycling around N.Z. Huge Daleks and those blades throw material 100m or more. I shall try to post some later.

Oh, I realise that it is not called not a 'chainsaw license' That is called creative writing! Gives an air of comedy and danger... License to maim..?

Hello again, Thanks for all your comments and participating in this thread. Now, I'm not totally green having worked as a groundsman for a year before I started my course back in the U.K. This gave me a good grounding in what to expect from working with a small local arborist. College did indeed fill me 'ideal' scenarios and I came to imagine that chainsaws should have working chainbrakes as a standard rather than optional feature. I also would NEVER take on a job that was not within my capabilities. This is a large firm with many trucks going out, mowing grass, building swimming pools and other landscaping works. Each truck has a cheap climbing saw which is used for everything 'cutting'. The one handed cutting of planks for shuttering for example then just simply thrown back into the locker, never cleaned nor sharpened until the day they break and only then are they handed to the mechanic. There were NO saws reserved soley for arb' use and like I have said before all mechanics were in the hands of... Mechanics! I should perhaps have simply bought my own files etc but really, I got into enough trouble when I took one apart to fix the chain brake! There is also a culture of using chainsaws one handed. Climbing saws can be bought in any D.I.Y store and I have even seen them for sale in larger supermarkets. A 'machismo' (exagerated assertive manliness) culture exists were the use of PPE is seen as... soft? I was on holiday in St Omer, Pay du Calais a few weeks ago. Whilst on my way to fetch the morning baggette I stopped to watch a tree gang of 6 at work dismantling several trees in a front garden. 4 ground crew and 2 climbers. Through the zoom lens of my camera I observed that the only PPE to be used was a pair of trousers and boots on ONE of the climbers. The other climber had boots and wore jeans. No visors, helmet, glasses on any of those present and a couple were shirtless! One climber lit up, smoked away whilst his saw was being fueled below and then flicked his fag at the groundsman fueling the saw. The chipper was another without modern safety bars. I watched as the groundsmen chipped away feeding from the front without any PPE. Now, I can tell you all that I am simply not prepared to work under those conditions. I don't have to suffer incompetant co-workers, crap tools and poor working practices. So, without the experience I hoped to obtain working for a firm, I am now registering as an 'Elageur' at the Chambre de Metiers. (Arborist with the Chamber of trades) For those interested in some typical rates. I was paid 10.50E for landscaping, 12.50E for treework with a further 25% for hours over 35. Talking to a freelance climber, own van and all climbing kit but no chipper. Day rate around 300/400E Many landscaping firms here own chippers and get in a climber when required. They just supply the groundstaff. Whew! Time for a tea!

In what way do I have no idea...? Faced with such odds how could I make any good of the job in hand. I am not offended by the comment the I have not a clue, I was there and recognise a farce when I see one. Everything I encountered was contrary to all that I had been taught at college. I am on a learning curve and have now chosen to become self employed so I don't have to suffer such employers ever again. By the way... Pirates comment was in response to the post about the 'going rate'. To add... In this company, all mechanics from changing the fuel filters of vans to sharpening chainsaws are the respondsibility of the team of mechanics. Individual employees are not allowed to look after their own machinery other than to fuel it. That is the French 'Syndicate' (union) way of things.

I'm back. I don't know how but I passed and now have a chainsaw licence to maim whilst dangling... I return to Fair France and post several applications to tree and landscape firms around the St Malo region. Within hours of landing I land my first job strimming dog shite strewn verges for the City council. THEN, I get a call from a large and prestigious landscape architect who is reading my C.V as we talk. I have an interview, in French or course. The boss wants a climber on call. For the time I am not involved in tree work I shall be landscaping. Its all very good with a fair wage, a bonus for 'airtime' and lunch is always on the company if working more than 5km from base. You start Monday he tells me and I do. I should have asked to see the equipement, saws and climbing kit. Sadly I never did nor did I get a chance to inspect the tools before hand. Well, it was a few days before I got the call to climb. I hurried to were the arborist kit was kept and was...confused. I found... a rope, obviously used for towing, frayed, stretched covered in grease, dirt and cut short. The harness I had seen in old photos from the 70's at Merrist wood. No useable kit at all. Prussiks, stiff with age and dirt, unbendable! A complete absence of PPE, in fact in looked like the leavings of a pikies jumble sale. I reported to the works manager and asked for the equivelant of the LOLA records. A sad shake of the head I was told that all the kit was approved by a respondsible person but he handed me a catalogue and told me to make a list of the kit I needed. Days later and no kit had arrived so I volunteered to use my own. An error! This first job involved the taking down of 2 giant Macrocarpas to make way for a swimming pool. That morning, I searched for the saws and was told they where already on site waiting. Strange... and my climbing saw was already on the truck. We arrived on site. I changed into my PPE, arranged my climbing kit and looked for the saws. I was presented with... a Fisher Price red piece of plastic which when tested had no functioning chain brake when eventually coaxed into starting. No bungie to attach said shite saw either. The chain was amazingly blunt and when I queried this I was told that the chain was fine and that there was no other and no way of sharpening it. I refused to climb. This caused a conference to which I was not invited. This was because I was British and although I speak good French I am automatically classed as WRONG. I was told to 'cut down' the 2 trees which stood uncomfortably close to the house. Now, these elderly Marcocarpas were about 1.5/2m in diametre. I now only had 2 ground saws with bars that prohibited such a task yet I could not make myself believed/understood. So I tried to start a saw and the starting cord came away in my hand. Meanwhile... The decision was made without me to simply pull down the trees using the large exavator on site. Imagine if you will, 2 Macrocarpas, conjoined branches, ripped to the ground like the worst storm damage possible. Then, the roots ripped up and the trunks pulled over and all rolled into one huge pile. Branches twisted, contorted, loaded with tension, trapped under others in the same condition. Then came the chipper., an elderly Greenmech which being an older model lacked the modern safety bars. I nearly puked when I saw one of the crew get inside the hopper whilst the machine was running to kick an awkward piece so it would feed into the rollers. I returned to base shaken and confused thinking that perhaps I had chosed the wrong career.

Part One: For the amusement and possible interest of my fellow 'forumites' I present to you the sorry tale of my first experience as an arborist in France. 2002, I decided to move to Brittany to do the Brit thing of buying a hovel, renovating and scratching a living doing whatever came my way. Actually, I moved for love, of a girl in fact. For a living, I started a garden maintainance company, mostly holiday homes and very few French. Things went very well for me, I cut grass the height of my waist, cut oversize hedges from tractor buckets and even had a collaborator to help with hard landscaping. However, it was trees that bothered me. I found it difficult to get an arborist to do any work for me. Those that I found in the expat community te.nded to have... their own agendas... or were just plain 'pikies' and thats not a nice word at all! The local French tended to assume that because British were involved then the price should be double the going rate. So I decided to return to the 53rd state of America (U.K) and enroll in a 10 week course at Merrist Wood College. I shall now post this before I lose it.