Ben10

5 hours ago, 5thelement said:

Morning Ben. 
45 is not too late to start in Arb, especially if it is something you have wanted to do since your 20’s and are determined, I have trained lots of people a lot older than you.

Stumpgrinding is a tedious job on a permanent basis, the machines take a beating so you would need to have a good knowledge on the tools to keep maintenance costs down. A decent machine will be a large investment too. Many Arb guys have their own machines or use Stumpbusters, so hard to maintain continuous work. 
Basis NPTC ticket for Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross cutting, two days training and one day assessment would cover you for using the saw on the ground and preparing for the chipper, this could get your foot in the door with local Arb guys,which will give you a taste of the job, allow you to earn some money why you develop an idea of where you want to go with it.

If I was determined to go for it I would buy a used transit tipper and a Timberwolf 150, if you can’t make money and get into the job with that, your never going anywhere. You could cut up small trees/clearance/ hedges and gardens, get a climber in as required until you develop a customer base and see which direction the business is taking you. 
Very little money to invest with a mortgage and family will be the hardest obstacle starting off, good luck.

Thanks for the practical advice 👍 I think all things considered I’m going to start a grass cutting round and try get hedge work as well. This will hopefully pay for my basic ticket and some equipment (as suggested) to progress from there. 🤞

12 hours ago, woody paul said:

With stump grinding you have got to be good on spanners if you want to keep running costs down.

And is there much work for them as most tree surgeons my way have there own or just get stump busters in.

Were are you based.

North Yorkshire 

12 hours ago, dan blocker said:

Have you got any tickets yet? If your thinking of stump grinding it’s useful to have a saw to reduce stumps where you can to minimise grinding. Same with a mewp - ideally you need the necessary saw tickets to provide a full service. The advantage of a mewp is you can provide a service to others - gutter cleaning, chimneys, roof inspections etc, but you’ll need a 3.5 ton tow vehicle ideally if going for a 18 mtr tracked mewp. Have you spoken to any local arbs? What about finding out if your cut out for it before you jump🤔 and try a few weekends/ hols.

No tickets yet, but I’m used to using a saw and logging/splitting, using chippers on a friends farm so got a small glimpse into it.

8 hours ago, john87 said:

Ok, if it were me, i would forget all about working on trees. Get yourself the licences to inspect for bats and then you will be able to rob people blind to inform them nope, not a bat in sight, never saw one, but this is the sort of tree/building/etc they like, so you can kiss your planning bye bye unless you pay me to come here every few months for years on end when i "might" say it is ok..

 

john..

👍these are the slightly left field replies that I would never have thought of on my own

Thanks for the responses….

Not sure I’ve got the kind of cash needed for cherry pickers etc, but what I have got is time. I thought about starting something alongside my other job. I do 5 on, 5 off so hopefully it would fit in. 
With stump grinding would you go for a tracked one and bigger jobs or something a lot smaller?

Evening all, in my 20’s I got talked out of getting into the arb business and have regretted it ever since, but now I’m 45 with mortgage, wife, kids etc and have financial responsibilities. I can’t decide if at 45 I’m over the hill for starting as a newbie or a good way into the business (not necessarily climbing work, maybe something auxiliary like stump grinding?) Basically if you were me where would you start? Thanks for any replies guys😁👍