I want to be an arborist but..

shanewolf

Hi I’m from Dunedin New Zealand and need some help regarding an arborist’s duties.
I really want to be an arborist and will hopefully be doing the course at the polytechnic next year but my folks don’t think I should.
You see my dad tells me that the “arborist’s” at his work do nothing but put stuff through the chipper and only 10% of the work is the actual climbing and cutting.
Is this in fact true? or is it fair to say that there is a lot more to it than just cutting then a heap load of cleaning? What is a typical day at work for an arborist?
Any answers would be greatly appreciated

Eric Frei

In a traditional crew unless you are the climber the rest is all cleaning up pretty much. You might run the lowering ropes, but once the piece is lowered .... clean up until the next piece is ready to come down.

Rake up, blow down, grind stump etc.

As a climber you'll probably do less groundwork but as soon as you are out of that tree you better help the groundies or there will be division in the team.

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Garry Brockley

Becoming and Arborist is one thing useing your skills within a business is another, you will have times that require your knowledge especially when dealing with customer requests to lop a tree, but generally you will only use it 50% of the time the rest is general tree work but you have the ability to go as far as you need/want.
be aware some people get thier arb qualififation and become real princesses,i.e. climb up, shout alot, drop copious amounts of limbs without allowing them the time to clear the area!
be clear about your way of working and listen to advice none of us know everything.
TIP. you come out of the tree get a drink sort your gear out and help with the clear up. your groundies are a huge part of the team and this fact should never be teken lightly they are the ones who will get you out of the crap if it all goes wrong, look after them and they will look after you.

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Brent Ferris

Well put, Gary !!

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Rob Chace

^^^^thats all i have to say (well Garry said it first....)

MrDiesel

Not all arb work involves big take downs and feeding chippers. There are a fair few markets for arborists. Im a sole trader and work with 4 or 5 other sole traders and we mainly do small detail work such as pruning etc. We have an small area of Sydney where we have an establish client base. We all get around with trailers and utes. I have gone a week at a time where i dont use a chainsaw at all in favour of a hand saw.

Branching Out TreeCare

Hmmmmm, I can only guess what your Dad thinks....but I think it would be fair to say that he may be fearfull of his loved son becoming a cropper and getting really badly hurt.
I can only speak from my experience but most of the time the parents of the arborist are more concerned about a secure risk free future for their offspring.
A certain future as opposed to an uncertain future.
It's important that a practitioner of arboriculture be fully conversant with the revenue generating side of being and arborist. ie turning work into money.
The coal face of tree work often involves being in the hot seat and feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
Accurate risk and hazard management is imperative to doing the job and enjoying reaping the benefits of your hard work.
Crickey you need to be carefull and not hurt yourself or you will certainly learn the hard way and no one wants to see a keen young man ruin himself and in doing so limit his life options.
Dad is probably coming from this point of view since he's spent a lot of his life managing your welfare and now he's having to cut you loose to look after your self.
I'd thoroughly reccommend the trade but if you cant climb to make money then think seriously about expecting others to do the work for you. Be carefull about the level of expectation you put on other people if you are going to be a manager of other people.
This trade is hard work and the frontliners need to be well rewarded for their toil or they will not be around long and quickly lose respect for their manager/boss.
I pay my guys about $50 p/h and no less.... yes they work for their dosh but gee they enjoy the benefits of being respected , valued and well paid.
Consultanting arborists need to have a practical understanding of the practitional side .
One thing that arborists seldom learn at tree-school is the money side of business, quoting , accurate communication and people management and being a character who has good morals and good business ethics.
Also they seldom leave colledge with a practical know how of how to prune fruit trees...even though fruit trees are small and appear safe thay carry with them risk...that is the risk of not putting enough money on them....ie underquoting. A good way of going down the gurgler is to underquote and underestimate the intensive work required to do a good job. You'll soon learn if you are not going to make money stay in bed...its cheeper.

The business equation is two thirds against you( 2/3 ). ie you are going to 1. loose, 2. brake even or 3. win and by win I mean actually make a good / reasonable profit. The first two you may as well stay in bed ...number 3 takes dedication , time , commitment and passion.

I think you should first do a night class to learn about small business management and then learn about managing money.
Remember you are 100% in controll of the money you spend but have little controll over the money you earn( ie you cant , magically make the phone go and have people pushing work/$ your way.

lastly it's a young mans game....you have to have common sense and energy and then set your self up to do something else when your body wears out....charge out accordingly such that you know that your climbing life has a limited time frame...if you dont believe me you find out.

Hope this helps a bit...Id say feal the fear and do it any way.

Kind Regards Paul T Gosling- Ambassador for Trees - NZ.

Drouin Tree Service

Well said Paul

Man it takes time and some hard knocks,Ive heard people say its silly to start up undercapitalized and i agree and disagree if you had $100k to "start up" its easily lost and the lessons of hiring in contractors,quote managment can be lost.

The most predictable thing in tree work is the "unpredictable" Yep you wear out quick.

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