Hi GJames
I'm a self employed groundie (with delusions of climbing) with CS30, 31 and 38. I would have taken 39 by now but Covid has gotten in the way.
I have my own PPE, climbing kit and transport. I show up on time with lunch, my own raincoat and generally prepared to do the job self sufficiently. Basically I follow the advice on here for how to be a good groundie. In return for this I make at the most £120 a day (based in the south east) and I have been offered significantly less.
To give you an idea of costings I calculate that it's cost me about £3,500 to get to this point. As I have nothing better to do today I shall break this all down for you.
=========Training=========
My Cs30&31 cost a little under a grand I've added on £100 to cover equipment rental and misc costs so £1,100
My Cs 38 cost about £930 assessed but I had to rent equipment for this as well and travel I think all in it was about £1,200
=========Equipement=========
PPE
Trousers cheap class A type 2 were approx £90. N.B. I will probably have to get some Type C's soon (+£150)
Helmet with chin strap, visors, ear defenders approx £80 (I actually got a cheap ground helmet to begin with but someone did me an amazing deal on a climbing helmet)
Chainsaw boots: I bought a cheap pair of chainsaw boots for about £90 and they're pretty good but I sort of regret not spending more money here.
Climbing kit
I won't go into the details of what I bought because there is no way I'm opening that can of worms but all the bits and pieces for a BASIC two rope climbing system (we'll also leave that can of worms firmly shut) cost about £600 quid without a harness.
Harness is about £300. I got very lucky and someone gave me a harness with a year's worth of life left in it for £0. This is because arb people can be amazing sometimes.
If we add all this up we get a sunk cost estimate of £3,460.
However. It is worth mentioning that you can start working for tree companies for significantly less than this. Basic PPE is essentially all you need to get started. You don't have to have all your tickets straight away and there was a significant gap between me doing my 30+31 and my Cs38.
It is also worth mentioning that spending all the money does not immediately entitle you to a higher day rate. So I would advise taking it slow. Only spend the minimum you need to get to the next step in your tree career. You could probably get away with spending £0 to begin with.