anyone out there an aborist?

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christoph benells

Trad climber
Tahoma, Ca
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 18, 2015 - 11:12am PT
thinking of a career switch,

anyone out there an aborist?

seems like a good job for a climber...apparently the 2nd deadliest job in US though...
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Aug 18, 2015 - 11:18am PT
Not currently, but was. A lot safer now that there are chain brakes. Still, it's a precision business and bad things can happen to you, others and property if things go wrong.
Killer K

Boulder climber
Sacramento, CA
Aug 18, 2015 - 11:22am PT
Yes. For 16 years.

"Good job" kinda depends where you work.

Don't expect to become a millionaire :)

May leave you too tired to rock climb. Climbing trees for 8-10 hrs daily for years keeps you in good shape though
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Aug 18, 2015 - 11:27am PT
My friend just made the switch from carpenter to arborist. Broke his leg promptly. He got married using crutches. Best of luck!?
Dropline

Mountain climber
Somewhere Up There
Aug 18, 2015 - 12:01pm PT
Leading causes of death in arboriculture:

1) electrocution
2) bleeding to death, usually while up in a tree where no one, other than another experienced and rescue trained tree climber, can get to you in a reasonable period of time
3) getting crushed

I know people who have died all three ways, one guy who died in a fall (landed on his head in the driveway in front of his boss and the client), and a couple guys who were nearly dead after cutting themselves out of the trees they were tied into.

Still, if you're a rock climber, you already have a pretty high tolerance for risk so you'll fit right in, feel right at home, and will probably love it.

Don't worry about the naysayers who say you will be broke. If you love it, you love it, and the money won't matter. Whether or not you make any real money will be much more a function of your business skills than your tree climbing skills.

I say give it a go. I've loved my life as an arborist.

Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Aug 18, 2015 - 12:10pm PT
Suffocating under an avalanche of palm fronds is another way arborists get it in SoCal. Be careful.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Aug 18, 2015 - 12:16pm PT
I'm not naysaying, I'm just saying it's a precise and deliberate business and you have to have the right nature for the job.
Killer K

Boulder climber
Sacramento, CA
Aug 18, 2015 - 12:46pm PT
I will more than likely be an arborist till the day I die. I wouldn't trade any of the experiences I've had for another path.

I've seen many people get injured and have known people who have died. That being said I have been able to get away with minor injuries. Never fell out of a tree or cut myself with a chainsaw or got sucked in to a chipper. I once had a first climber who's groundman accidentally got the climbers rope entangled in a branch while he was chipping brush and inadvertently chipped the climbers rope. The rope didn't get cut but got wound up in the drum. The climbers own rope tightened up so much that it crushed his rib cage against the trunk. As one of my old bosses used to say "Keep your head on a swivel."

Working for high end private tree company will be the most fun. Line clearance sucks, commercial arboriculture is mindless and unrewarding IMO. Municipal arboriculture is a good steady job. Low-end private can be a little shady (no pun intended) and going in to buisness for yourself is asking for it.

Get as many certifications/qualifications through the industry that you can. It will help pad your pocketbook and give you a option to get out of climbing and into consulting when you see fit.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Aug 18, 2015 - 02:43pm PT
Big removals are an engineering challenge if you're into that.

Big equipment is costly and difficult / expensive to maintain and store.

Tree branches are heavy.

These three sort of go together. Big, complex downtown removals where everything had to be lined down is what I did and loved. Maybe my favorite job ever, but I walked away due to the company not maintaining their equipment nearly well enough.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Aug 18, 2015 - 03:03pm PT
I liked Ian's joke. I got it, let's say.

I've been harboring the intent to make a pun on arborist but I abhor waiting so here you are.

I expect Dr. Weej is out on his rounds.

In many of these outdoorsy service jobs--I was a pump installer for a couple of years (best job I ever had)--the main reward is seeing a different place every day. I worked in & around Ventura County.

Malibu one day, Ojai the next, Santa Paula the day after, and so on. And each job is the same but differs in many respects. It is hard to be bored.

Likewise, there is risk and things need to be done in a pre-planned way for safety's sake. My employer was my brother-in-law and climbing partner at the time. He was nailed by an overhead electrical wire while standing on a flatbed loading pipe and ended up in the hospital with allll of his hairs burnt off and was lucky to be alive, having been tossed off the truck by the force, ending up many yards away.

Best of luck.
Guernica

climber
dark places
Aug 18, 2015 - 03:26pm PT
Not a pro, but I own and maintain property in oregon where I frequently use my climbing experience to limb-up/take care of big trees. It's a bit of a hobby and I really enjoy it. I have a Stihl MS 192 T C-E which I can recommend for in-tree work- decent power and designed to be used one-handed. As everyone else has mentioned, it's potentially very dangerous, so don't get too confident since even expert climbing/ropework skills don't translate to the actual cutting aspect of the job. Limbs as they are cut can have all sorts of weird forces acting on them- and you're roped in right next to them so you don't want anything twisting around and fvckin' with you. Another hidden hazard: bee/wasp/etc hives up in trees- this can be a bigger problem than you'd think, esp. if you're allergic.

I grew up around big trees and chainsaws and still have come close to getting hurt once or twice.

Still, it's fun in its own way. Good luck!
Bushman

Social climber
Elk Grove, California
Aug 18, 2015 - 03:56pm PT
I've been in tree work in one capacity or another for 43 years. I worked logging as a teenager, worked in forestry for several years, and began climbing for a commercial tree service in Sacramento in 1981. With the help of my I wife started my own business in 1983. Still have the wife and the business after all these years, but she got sick of working around me after a couple years and got a state job. I'm not an arborist but have a state contractors license and plenty of insurance. I run the crew four days weekly and sell work in between and on Fridays. I still climb trees with the crew part time and I run the stump grinder (not fun). I employ an excellent journeyman tree climber, and usually only employ two to three well vetted employees total because my workers comp premiums are a bitch to pay and our safety program is tedious. I stick with private residential work, it's my nitch, and I love all my old retired customers. I'm not getting rich, but I might be able to afford to retire in ten more years. I sleep good most nights because no one has been maimed or died on my watch, knock on wood.

Sometimes I wonder how I ended up here and then remember how I screwed up my education and other career choices until I decided that staying with tree work might be my only lucrative option for a career. Honestly, there have been many times I wish I stayed in college. I have busted myself up and worn my self out pretty good physically in this job but can still knock out some decent tree work from time to time. But then I feel it for days and just let my crew do the work until I think I am needed again, besides my job is selling work and maintaining the business. Salesman, climber, groundman, mechanic, driver, insurance and permit negotiator, general public and government official liaison, advertising department, and all around gopher and promoter; as a busuness owner those are all the hats I wear.

Through it all I'm proud of my career and our 31 years in business and am glad I'm still in one piece. Every couple years I get hurt and nurse an injury, right now a cortisone shot in my heel and bike riding is helping me with plantar fasciitis, but I tore my meniscus again a few weeks ago and am trying to heal my knee without surgery.

Well, good luck with whatever you decide. Definitely try to find employment with a conscientious and reputable employer if it's doable. You must always put safety first if you want to survive in this profession.

-bushman
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Aug 18, 2015 - 04:10pm PT
"I've been in tree work in one capacity or another for 43 years."

Hence, the nom de plume, Bushman of the poet tree thread.

I hope you don't mind, but this is one helluva tribute to your mentor.

'Jack Manning'

As a teen I was a rebel,
And was angry to the bone,
With my family I had quarreled,
So I struck out on my own,
For I was just a boy then,
So wandering I did roam,
Uprooted from my family,
And far away from home,

I hitchhiked to Minnesota,
And met danger I should say,
I was hungry and was dirty,
And remember to this day,
The rumble in my belly,
But it soon would go away,
For I followed my directions,
And found instruction on the way,

I arrived at two am,
At a farmhouse in a glen,
All dogs put up a racket,
But the lights were on within,
My note was worn and tattered,
Written by a family friend,
"So you've come from California?"
As his wife ushered me in,

"You can sleep upon the couch,
In the morning you can ask him,"
He hasn't logged in years,
So on him it will depend,"
And I slept a fitful sleep,
With the demons and the din,
Of a chorusing of angels,
Who harassed me once again,

And I woke to see a figure,
Who was coming down the stair,
An old man bent and broken,
Who was stubbled with grey hair,
But his hands were veined and gnarly,
His steely gaze a stare,
The rumpled hat pulled low,
And his purple frown severe,

I made my introductions,
Feeling sheepish and afraid,
I explained my situation,
And the mess of it I'd made,
The old woman served me breakfast,
The orange juice was homemade,
The eggs all peppered black,
With toast and marmalade,

And afterwards he looked at me,
And offered me a smoke,
I believe it was the first time,
I remember that he spoke,
He told me it took courage,
Or craziness no joke,
To hitchhike 'cross the country,
So destitute and broke,

"So you want to be a logger?"
He asked me with intent,
"We could give it a go then,
If you work for food and rent,
And an extra hundred here and there,
If on working you are bent,
But we always rest on Sunday's,"
Wasn’t sure of what he meant,

For every yard of fresh cut pulpwood,
Paid a hundred dollar bill,
And before I knew my poplar,
I was sure to get my fill,
Of the toiling and the danger,
And before I climbed that hill,
For every log I rolled up there,
I was sure to foot the bill,

He taught me to drive the one ton,
Up the winding mountain road,
To a lot that he laid claim to,
And we started to unload,
In the damp and humid forest,
Sounds of crickets and the toad,
Then we fired up the chain saws,
'Twas the north woods loggers ode,

Falling them and bucking them,
And skinning every pole,
Hoisting them and hauling them,
With the dozer was our goal,
I almost lost my life the day,
A snag nearly took its toll,
As Jack yelled out to warn me,
I had clearly lost control,

The branch caught on the dozer stack,
While towing up a sled,
I ducked down when the stack broke off,
It near took off my head,
Jack had saved my life that day,
My face turned crimson red,
If he hadn't yelled to warn me,
I knew that I'd be dead,

Jack had seven children,
From sixteen to forty three,
And we always worked to help them out,
On every Saturday,
I plowed from dawn to dusk one day,
For sandwiches and tea,
Jack alway did what he would do,
For love and family,

On Sundays we would drive to town,
And the women went to church,
As Jack and I sat in the car,
Drinking whiskey 'neath the birch,
For Jack and I saw eye to eye,
God being handy in a lurch,
We accepting it for the present time,
And were contented with our perch,

Jack treated me as equal,
And respected me as much,
He had rode the rails in forty eight,
And knew of hardships in a clutch,
The railroad men had almost killed him,
As he’d camped out in a hutch,
The kinship that he showed me,
Was stronger than the crutch,

I was strong of flesh but wounded,
In my spirit and my heart,
But Jack stood out a legend,
As he gave me a new start,
And one day upon the homestead,
He blew my mind apart,
As we walked the wire fence line,
And he proved I weren't so smart,

The fence it was electric,
And Jack made me a bet,
That he could hold that wire,
As the voltage through him let,
And I watched him wince in series,
As two minutes came and went,
He never let that wire go,
To challenge me as yet,

He bet me half my paycheck,
That I couldn't do the same,
For even thirty seconds,
And I thought the bet was lame,
I grabbed into that wire,
Thinking I would win his game,
The first jolt knocked me back a step,
He knew that I was tame,

And then he grabbed the wire again,
And rubbed it in for luck,
I'd just been taught a lesson,
And was out a fifty buck,
He held on for a minute more,
And I felt like a schmuck,
For a man of over seventy,
Jack really had some pluck,

I worked for most the summer,
And passed my sixteenth year,
The work had made stronger,
In my body that was clear,
But mind was still confused,
And I found solace in my beer,
But whenever I had words to say,
Jack always lent his ear,

As the season turned to autumn,
And my thoughts returned to home,
The road was calling out to me,
I knew that I must roam,
I thought I was a man then,
Not afraid to be alone,
Jack's tutelage had bolstered me,
So I struck out on my own,

Back on the road once more,
I survived by tooth and nail,
And back in California,
I found trouble without fail,
Adversity was my friend no doubt,
At times I slipped and fell,
Into troubles with the law again,
I created my own hell,

My good friends and my family,
They loved me through it all,
The days went by as I grew up,
A few years later in the fall,
My thoughts returned my friend Jack,
I had to make the call,
My mentor sounded none too well,
For time exacting took its toll,

A few months later I called back,
To speak to him again,
His wife Maria answered and,
I intuited it would be grim,
She said the cancer in his lungs,
Took him finally in the end,
I set the phone down woefully,
And said goodbye to my old friend,

Somehow through all my hardships,
I wound up on my feet,
For big brother and my family,
It was a monumental feat,
They gave me opportunities,
To help save me from defeat,
So I grabbed onto my bootstraps,
And held onto my seat,

Up the hill and over dell,
I made compromise with strife,
And somehow in the thick of it,
Through love I found a wife,
The trees became my trade,
And the marketplace was rife,
By providence or confidence,
I finally made a life,

My kids grew up and grandkids came,
They're growing up so fast,
From time to time I think back on,
My adolescence and my past,
The lumberjack and mountain man,
Who befriended me back then, alas,
There's nary been a man I've known,
Who treated such a boy with class,

This lost and wayward runaway,
Whose self esteem was low,
He took and spent some time with me,
For what little did I know,
The man saw in himself the boy,
And knew how things might go,
He helped bring out the best in me,
With kindness helped the boy to grow.



-bushman
07/11/2015



Bushman

Social climber
Elk Grove, California
Aug 18, 2015 - 04:58pm PT
Thank you kindly,
Mouse.
Dropline

Mountain climber
Somewhere Up There
Aug 19, 2015 - 04:46am PT
As others have said, what kind of arboriculture you practice makes a big difference.

Utility arboriculture is low paying mindless work but a good experience for a brief while. You'll learn more about working around power lines doing utility line clearing than anywhere else.

If you want low pressure and good benefits then municipal work is a good way to go.

If you have an entrepreneurial spirit private arboriculture is the only way to go.

Get as much education as you can. Become ISA Certified, and in time ISA Board Certified and ASCA Registered. Education and certification will make your work more interesting, more fulfilling, and more lucrative.



Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
Aug 19, 2015 - 05:11am PT
if you switch you'll
enjoy an episode of honeymoon
bliss:

"f*#k yea! i'm climbing every day.
getting the chiz scared out of me
regularly! i'm in great shape.
great views, exciting work.
impressive to clients and
random passerbyers the like.
cool tools. getting dirty.
chicks dig me! (this one's only
in your head)"

but then,
as the repetitiveness, constant
exposure to horrible tangles, snags,
dead wood, nesting insects,
HEAVY tools, pitch, extreme
heat in the summer and frigid
days in the winter, going home
completely wrecked physically;
your daily exposure to liability
(SH#T HAPPENS);
the ridiculous cost of insurance;
picky clients, joint aches etc. etc
sinks in,

you'll realize,

tree work sucks.
i f*#king hate it.

but i hate any job.

so the conclusive results, for me,
are not yet in.
Rock!...oopsie.

Trad climber
the pitch above you
Aug 19, 2015 - 07:21pm PT
The Warbler said:
If you're certified and insured, and have the skills to please housewives in an upperclass area, the money's good.

Do high level skills with the housewives trump the insurance thing? What if I've done my best work with the lower class housewives?

I think there's a script for a B-movie on par with joysticks and pizza boy here.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Aug 19, 2015 - 10:12pm PT
I wasn't involved, but I've seen branches dropped on ground men, electrical service boxes and poles ripped off building, chimneys taken down, cars crushed, and crane semi's toppled across all lanes of main city thoroughfares.

Again, deliberate and precise. It's not a business for guessing - you either know or don't cut.
CCT

Trad climber
Aug 19, 2015 - 11:30pm PT
That's an amazing poem, Bushman. So personal and so universal, both at once.

Thanks for posting it, Mouse!
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
Aug 20, 2015 - 05:50am PT
one unintended benifit and / or consequence
of my chosen tree-trade
is a gross adjustment in
my day-to-day perception;

a great shift in my norm.

for when you conduct high-angle
trades with sharp tools
which release great loads
in close proximity to structures,
you kinda get used to
tiptoeing around disaster.

near misses are standard business.
one becomes sorta numb
to the feel of fear;
sort of deaf to the music of status quo.

nothing really phases me anymore.

i don't even care when my wife
rips big farts.

this warping of reality
also benefits our rock climbing
pursuits.

you see, tree climbing
is mostly 5.9 with a chainsaw.
occasionally you'll encounter
a 5.12 tree, but those yield
handsome financial dividends,
and are rare.

as a matter of fact,
the other day, i won
1000 bucks after taxes,
and the next day, 800.
bam.

but when i rope up in my leisure,
donning my sleek little slippers,
and i step to stone,
it's so much easier
than humping up a stick
with 10 # boots and
loads of sharp and heavy
burdens all the f*#k over you.

oh, and when you cut a top
off a two hundred footer
an you're left standing there
on a wobbling pole, a foot in
diameter at your tie in,
life is bitchen.

fyck-the-so-what.
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