How hard do you work? (And for how long?)

I have no set work hours. I can go for weeks and not have a job to do. But then I may be swamped with work that has to be finished during a storm in the middle of the night, and that can be brutal, lasting several days with little sleep if things are bad. Then back to doing nothing for a few weeks. The only part I get to pick is how serious is the job, and can it wait until morning rather than me going out in the dark, because I hate rigging generators and lights to see what I am doing in the rain. Can't always get out of that one however.
And I am one of those Boomers that retired at 50 years old to take it easy and go fishing. That lasted about a year and I was going nuts. I don't need to work now, but I want to keep going because I actually love it. Even that phone call on a stormy night at 2am gets my adrenalin pumping. I will complain to my wife and tell her I am not doing this anymore, but deep down inside I'm excited, and before she is done telling me I should quit then, my truck is headed down the driveway. I get a lot of pressure to get the work done as quickly as possible, but the people who tell me that also know I am going to work at a pace I am comfortable with, and no faster, and they are okay with that. You don't push a fellow that is working with trees on six insulator power lines, and you don't push an old man who is wet, and cold, and tired and has a chainsaw in his hand.
 
Last edited:
"Slow is smooth; and smooth is fast." I remind myself of that truth every time I start a job. I am coming at tree work late in life, and with perspective different from many. It's been a serious learning hobby for six years - then I incorporated this year and I'm 64. To stay in shape the last decade I walked the Appalachian Trail. For a non-athlete like me, that means learning to walk with endurance, not speed. That's the attitude I take to tree-climbing and tree work in general. 6-8 hours in a tree is doable when doing it relaxed and smooth, and my groundsworker sends up lots of water and Propel. So I usually start at 8:00. Thorough safety discussion and planning, then setting lines (if needed), might take until 9:00. The next 6-8 hours is working steadily, maybe with a snack bar or two thrown in if I'm on the ground. This is not a comparison with anyone since I'm only working two days a week and plan only that much work until I'm in my 70's. Working smart and steady is the only way I'll be able to do this safely, providing the supplemental retirement income I want, and keeping myself physically fit (not broken down).
 
we try to make 6hs long days.
but 2 days ago in a job where phone lines had to come down for easier dismantle...
my 2nd climber got sick...
12o'clock wind gusts started heavy...
I spent 8 and half hs up in the trees...
next day body pays...
but shit how much did I enjoy???
can't even tell
 
macrocarpa said:
I should add for us solo operators, we typically do the work of 2-3 people solo. Therefore, 2.5 days/week is surely fulltime ;)

If I work 4 days/week I’m basically working 8 days a week.
Click to expand...
I don't really agree with this if I go out and do a tree solo I load up at 730 home and unloaded at 1 I worked 5.5 hours the fact that I climbed and did some cleanup and brush chipping doesn't masks it ten.
 
Vicente said:
I don't really agree with this if I go out and do a tree solo I load up at 730 home and unloaded at 1 I worked 5.5 hours the fact that I climbed and did some cleanup and brush chipping doesn't masks it ten.
Click to expand...
It was sarcasm.

What I need to learn at this stage is to follow through with the idealistic short days and to know when to call it and come back to finish the next day. Worked a hard 9 hour day last week and overworked, payed for it the next couple days. Not worth it to me anymore.

When I was younger it was no problem. I need to start thinking more about body preservation at this point.
 
macrocarpa said:
It was sarcasm.

What I need to learn at this stage is to follow through with the idealistic short days and to know when to call it and come back to finish the next day. Worked a hard 9 hour day last week and overworked, payed for it the next couple days. Not worth it to me anymore.

When I was younger it was no problem. I need to start thinking more about body preservation at this point.
Click to expand...
We did a 10 yesterday it was pretty easy though, climbing a couple decent sized oaks the first one didn't have much brush and I had to opt out of finishing the 3rd leader it was pretty bad going up but the top was real bad looking and only 5-6" and I would've had to climb pretty far up and negative rig a 15ft 4-5 in limb off. I'm taking off for a week Monday so I got the second one done it was over the house and deck in a tight spot in the yard one leader was really badly damaged I was able to rig it out of a small pine with the grcs and move all of the leaders and brush and logs over the fence with rigging so no one had to do to much hard labor it's getting cleaned up on Monday.
 
macrocarpa said:
It was sarcasm.

What I need to learn at this stage is to follow through with the idealistic short days and to know when to call it and come back to finish the next day. Worked a hard 9 hour day last week and overworked, payed for it the next couple days. Not worth it to me anymore.

When I was younger it was no problem. I need to start thinking more about body preservation at this point.
Click to expand...
Pacing is very important, at all ages.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Kask Stihl NORTHEASTERN Arborists Wesspur TreeStuff.com Teufelberger Westminster X-Rigging Teufelberger
Back
Top Bottom