How to tell when it's too dead

Pretty darn dedicated. Came into it late. If I could do it full time I would but why throw away a retirement I can get in a couple years then do it full time? Seemed like a no brainier. Glad you have the success you have. If you actually knew me you might think a little different of me but that the beauty of the Internet.
 
"But can't see a part timer being much of a tree man. just sayin...how dedicated could you be."
Good question
 
Steve Connally said:
Pretty darn dedicated. Came into it late. If I could do it full time I would but why throw away a retirement I can get in a couple years then do it full time? Seemed like a no brainier. Glad you have the success you have. If you actually knew me you might think a little different of me but that the beauty of the Internet.
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Now that makes sense Steve.

Think I will wander out of this thread. Toodles. 24645_483225871735492_408496782_n.webp
 
Levi.CO said:
"But can't see a part timer being much of a tree man. just sayin...how dedicated could you be."
Good question
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Personally, I think it's a rather naive, stupid question. Dedication is only required to learn a skill set to the level of expertise you decide is adequate for your purposes or goals. A person who is versatile and a quick learner can develop a dozen or more such skill sets in a lifetime, and do all of them at a level well above layperson or amateur. If your goal is to be able to work in a dozen different fields, rather than be stuck in the rut of doing the same job for 50 years, then the amount of dedication required would be substantially more than learning that "Gas goes up, shit goes down, payday is on Friday, I'm a plumber!"

If a guy likes to fix lawnmowers in his garage for extra spending money, and because he likes doing the work, he can easily become an expert at it. I know such a person, and if you're lucky enough to get him to work on your riding mower, he'll do a better job than anyone in a 100-mile radius of me, and he'll do it for cheaper. He happens to be an electrical engineer with several patents under his belt, and worked for a number of years as a consultant for the military-industrial complex... helping them to develop specialized robotic welding techniques for weapons manufacturing. Welding is another of his hobbies. I met him while working as an electronics engineer for one of the companies developing part of the control logic for such a system.

It's a shame to see anyone accused of lacking dedication to their pursuits, based solely on a narrow view of what constitutes "a proper tree man" or whatever goofball yardstick you choose to hold up against your fellow buzzers. I see recreational climbers, hobbyists, production climbers, scientists, weekend warriors and casual observers on here every day... and all of them are contributing to what it means to be dedicated to trees and their care. Some of them even contribute substantially more real, usable, coherent and productive information and techniques than the self-proclaimed greatest tree guys in the world.

No punch line in this one, kids. Decide for yourself who is "just telling the truth" and who is actually distorting the truth.
 
What a blow harded, long winded, self important, self proclaiming, load of horse shit...you must be a part timer Gu. If not you likely dabble in tree care and are a jack of all trades, master of none. Are you even a Certified Arborist? Basic entry level of understanding to qualify to care for trees.

There is so much to this trade/vocation you can spend a lifetime touching all the peripheral aspects involved with this business and never near a comprehensive understanding of everything. But Gu...he sees this biz as a short study and just something to dabble in and not worthy of much more effort.

Weekend warriors, part timers (except a guy like Connally who has a legit reason)...go fix mowers, dabble in real estate, part time it at the local car wash, spend half your days as a karate instructor...you don't belong in a group referred to as an Arborist. You probably don't try very hard at anything.

I always like to return to a thread and see if anyone is stabbing me in the back.
 
Sidebar. Been an arborist for almost 10 years. And in tree work in my area there are very few top notch outfits I could grow at. This market sucks. I'd love to move someplace where I could soak up as much knowledge as possible. Unfortunately that would put me outside my sons family network. Just wouldn't work. So I trod along working for a bunch on knit wits and do my very best to grow through reading and being a student of what I do
 
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It really helps in more ways than one to have high end clients. They are VERY discerning, know basic tree care and often more and are choosing you (hopefully) over other elite companies (plus...they pay you a lot more $). You are doing the right thing studying. ISA puts out a book catalogue and I believe still a list of books you should own. Seminars are good if you choose the right ones.

But like you said...that often requires moving for many arborists to service high end customers.
 
JeffGu said:
Personally, I think it's a rather naive, stupid question. ....
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HAHA! I couldn't agree more but you guys are using words and placing values that may not be correct for the situation.

Dedicated or dedication implies a singularity of purpose, such as a rope that is " a dedicated bull rope ". It means nothing more than what it does.

Learning a skill set is, in most cases, just a component of a job. Rope climbing, chainsaw use, biology....are skill sets within the " job " of arboriculture. You may be very good at any one of the individual aspects, even extraordinary, and still not be an expert in the job of arboriculture.

Stuck in a rut, implies lack of forward movement. Understand that not all jobs are the same. Stuck in a rut might accurately describe someone flipping burgers but most definitely not someone that has dedicated their lives to learning all aspects of arboriculture. It is a vast field that has more complexities than can fit into one puny human brain. I have been in the tree industry for over 45 years and have never felt "stuck in a rut". I am constantly learning new things; can barely keep up.

Come on, getting paid to climb trees? Peter Pan eat your heart out!

There is a lot of discussion on trusting your gut. Listen to it, but don't trust everything it says. It will tell you the donut you just ate was the best thing ever. It was lying. When working with trees, especially dead ones, if you do not know the outcome, don't do it.
 
treevet said:
...he sees this biz as a short study and just something to dabble in and not worthy of much more effort.
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treevet said:
You probably don't try very hard at anything.
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And, right back to the Madam TreeVet's Fortune Telling act at the Carnival. You started out with ridiculous assumptions about people you don't know, and are sticking with that plan, eh?
Along with a list of adjectives already attributed to yourself, as a result of the aforementioned habit of using your God-like skills at deciding who is worthy and who isn't.

treevet said:
I always like to return to a thread and see if anyone is stabbing me in the back.
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This is because your own insecurities about your self-proclaimed expertise, on all matters of which you speak, won't allow you to not come back. The fact is, you're a liar on top of being a belligerent dickhead. You said you were leaving the thread, so get your ass out of it, already.
 
DSMc said:
...dedication implies a singularity of purpose...
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1.
wholly committed to something, as to an ideal, political cause, or personal goal:
a dedicated artist.
2.
set apart or reserved for a specific use or purpose:
We don't need a computer but a dedicated word processor.

I believe that my use of the word is covered in the first definition, and yours is covered in the second. The word, in the context in which I used it, doesn't imply permanence... even if the reader chooses to believe that only lifelong dedication is important.

DSMc said:
Stuck in a rut...
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My use of the metaphor related to the idea that a person's motivation for having multiple interests or careers might be motivated by an unpleasant, boring alternative and was not meant to imply that any particular career choice was a deadend road... certainly not aboriculture.

DSMc said:
Learning a skill set is, in most cases, just a component of a job. Rope climbing, chainsaw use, biology....are skill sets within the " job " of arboriculture. You may be very good at any one of the individual aspects, even extraordinary, and still not be an expert in the job of arboriculture.
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I couldn't agree more. Seems to me that this covers pretty much everyone on here. Well, except one, apparently.
 
This w. pine was too dead to climb. Sketchy.
Climbed it anyway, but success brought more relief than either satisfaction or commensurate $$$.

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Yeah, it was a tad lousy.

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Did a somewhat monstrous poplar (lean, large cavity at base on tension side) in town last week. Owners had got a lotta estimates. I was the big winner...(yay!).....$1500 just to get it on the ground. Highest quote from a competitor (well known outfit B.Tree Expert Co.....nice yellow trucks and equipment) was $7000. They were going to bring in a crane to supplement their bucket truck. I climbed and dismantled it in slightly over 5 hours, with many thanks to a good ground team, and a Hobbs lowering device. Will put up some photos if the guys ever forward some to me.
 
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