Taupotreeman

Looking forward to watching this because it looks a choice film. The wife is looking forward to it because she fancies Mr swoony pants. Will Mr. Firth get an Oscar for it though?

Ooooohhhh crappy!

After the floods and fires all the kiwis are coming back from Oz now Northland is always dead; they always reckon that the number one earner in Northland is dope growing followed by tourism. That's why it's always dead. You just have to head to where the big logging industry is and that would be Central North Island mainly. The Kaimanawa forest is huge as are several of the other commercial forests around Rotorua. There's always adverts in the local paper here.

Try climbing Honey locust, and not those wimpy thornless ones either. Had to deal with one recently and some of the spines were over 6 inches long and in big clumps. Chainsaw pants and boots are no defence.

Some of the logging operations have become a little easier to get onboard with these days due to there being less guys willing to do the hard graft and random drug testing weeding out a lot of guys. Some will now provide on the job training and ticketing so there's still opportunites but as I said before, it's going to be hard work.

Wind? Wind? That's what us normal people get. You fellas in Welly get an almost constant howling bleedin gale. You'd have to be mad to work down there.

Same same. Lived in the Uk for 25 years but only went to London twice. Never seen the capital from this point of view, pretty cool really. The hustle and bustle suddenly seems so far away.

Ask him if he'd like a closer inspection of the chipper. REALLY close.

If you want somewhere with plenty of outdoorsy stuff to do rather than being stuck in a city, PKV in Taupo are looking for a climber. May pay to give the boss, Paul, a buzz or email. It's advertized on trademe I believe.

Give em an inch and they'll take a mile. All you need is one rogue traffic warden......

Just been watching the news here and it looks like NZ is trialling a world first tidal turbine. Anybody interested can look it up on crestenergy.com.

A second hand saw will cost you about $1400 for an 046 and a bit more for 660. Ther's usually plenty about because so many people start the chainsaw course thinking the work is for them and then give up when they realise it's hard graft. The going rate for a climber depends on where you're based and your capabilities. Some outfits will pay up to $25 an hour (gross) for a good climber but I imagine the average would be between $18 and $21. A groundy will obviously earn less. It will also depend if you can do power line clearance, what driving licence classes you have etc; basically it's all about how valuable you are to the company. As per traditional loggers; if you can stop off for a few days in somewhere like singapore it will definately make the trip over more bearable. 24hrs on a plane is not fun.

Have a browse under jobs/arborist on trademe.co.nz. Heaps of jobs last night for arborists all over the country, from utility through to consultancy. Like silverback said, treescape, you just become a number. I worked for them for several years and it's a case of all take and no give but it is a job and like anywhere, some managers are better to work for than others.

Had a quick yak with the local Stihl dealer this morning. Feller loggers earn about $700 per week. Safety gear usually provided but you use your own saw. A chainsaw allowance is given along with new chains. H&S is high and a clean drug test required. If you can graft and you have chainsaw tickets you should be just fine.

Yep, that's Ruapehu in my avatar. It's about a half hour drive from where I live. Godd skiing in winter apparently but it's not my cup of tea. Plenty of logging jobs around these parts but you have to supply your own gear in most places. There's not much in common with the axe men as most of it is plantation forest and just straight felling with machinery used for felling assistance and extraction. There seems to be a heap of guys start up each year but never go on with it because it's hard work. The local chainsaw shops always have their second hand saws on sale after the guys have done the course and then spent a week in the forests and realised it's not for them. Most of the guys I've seen in the bush are pretty rough and ready but I might have the odd contact here and there if you're really keen though I would advise against it. I reckon you'd get bored pretty quick. As for back packer jobs; there's usually heaps. The Hawkes Bay has plenty of fruit picking jobs though obviously not in winter but there always seems to be something about. Just don't forget that with the rugby world cup coming up everything is going to get really expensive.

One other thing; you can apply for a work visa for up to 3 years.

Best place is probably NZimmigration website. Failing that you could ring a UK branch of NZimmigration. With the bigger companies, depending who you work for, you run the risk of becoming just a number. You have to remember that they employ upwards of 100 people so it's not quite the same as a smaller outfit. Plus you might end up doing the same kind of work day in and day out if you're unlucky. The big outfits have big contracts so you might end up on one of those. They do have pros though such as more job security, better gear etc. Best thing to do is have a look at a couple of websites. Treescape and asplundh both have websites. There's often jobs advertised on trademe under arborists. Also with the bigger outfits you'll be able to move around the country a bit but you might also end up working with guys that are not much short of butchers. I doubt you'll struggle for work though if you know your stuff and are willing to work. You could also just apply directly for a work permit and solve the problem. You might have to t up a job first but it shouldn't be an issue. Once you are here you can always look for another job and reapply for a new permit if things don't work out with the first outfit. Sorry for the long reply.

Didn't you know your average saw can be used for ploughing?

Think I'd prefer to be using a saw one handed in a tree rather than using a saw two handed at face level. I've had enough chainbrakes failing to come on to not want to have a saw that close to my face.

Not sure if I have my facts right but I think if you have a work visa you should be OK though I don't know if there is a difference between a working holiday and a work visa/permit. The bigger outfits here have a pretty good deal with immigration and should be able to help you circumnavigate any potential issues but don't expect the same kind of working enviroment as at one of the small companies. For work, try Asplundh, Treescape, trademe, seek or just try a few places out of the yellow pages. Oh, and don't expect to email and get a reply. Better off ringing up and speaking to someone direct.

I'll admit mine then. Dismantling a tree one limb dropped foliage first into the ground with the butt end jammed against the trunk. Rather than lower myself a little further, take my time and do the job properly I reached down with the saw in one hand and undercut the limb about 3 feet out from where it was jammed against the trunk. There was more weight and tension in the limb than I thought and it flicked the saw down into my leg. It cut straight through the protective material and made quite a nasty cut in my lower leg. So now I either keep all my bits and bobs well out of the way, weigh up the situation properly before using the saw one handed or just don't.

If I ever had to come back from NZ I could live there. Isolation to the max....NICE!

Maybe a follow up to this would be to find out how many are willing to admit cutting themselves or having a close shave while using a MS200 one handed as opposed to those that have accidents using ground saws with both hands.

Timbercutter; that sounds like the one. It was here in NZ and he had the plans drawn up to put a facility just out of Auckland I think but couldn't raise the funds. Talk about short sighted. There were murmerings the idea was being discussed again but as per usualy, nothing happened.