Ideas for climbing jobs unrelated to the trees?

Tree work in Minnesota in winter is varied. The big companies work all winter long and it gets miserable. Small guys work when there is some and weather permitting. If you're lucky enough to collect unemployment you can always plow for cash which usually pays better than climbing! No ones getting rich climbing but I don't know many going broke doing it either. Fluffy feel free to PM me if you have questions about companies in the cities I've worked for most of the big ones and several small ones.
 
TCtreeswinger said:
Tree work in Minnesota in winter is varied. The big companies work all winter long and it gets miserable. Small guys work when there is some and weather permitting. If you're lucky enough to collect unemployment you can always plow for cash which usually pays better than climbing! No ones getting rich climbing but I don't know many going broke doing it either. Fluffy feel free to PM me if you have questions about companies in the cities I've worked for most of the big ones and several small ones.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! I will definitely speak with you before delving into a company.
 
I do some arena rigging and some industrial cleaning/maintenance to supplement the slow winter months. Sure is nice to be inside but nothing pays nor is as mentally/physically rewarding as tree work.

Tower and wind turbine climbing? Nah, I've looked into it and as a tech you'll spend most of your time in a truck or motel room and the rest doing boring ladder type climbing for minimal pay. Unless you're an engineer but that's a completely different job.

Get a SRAT/IRATA cert then set up you own company doing rope course installs/inspections. Is there an ACCT training/cert?

Or just bite the bullet and take a groundhand/apprentice position for a couple yrs and learn how to cut wood - best thing you can do with your life IMHO.
 
Over the years I've talked with so many arbos who wonder what to do in 'the winter'. So many of them are way south of the Snow Belt too. It isn't the weather or temps that constrain them. All they have to do is look north and see how much 'winter work' is being done where the temps are colder and the snow deeper. Not much in the winter no matter where a person lives. The exceptions are the San Diego and S. Florida tropical area. The public doesn't think trees in the dormant season. Their pocket books close and it takes marketing and sales to keep going.

Sure, us Snow Belters work, but the production levels are reduced.

Now I work for a city so weather doesn't affect my paycheck. Last winter I didn't miss one minute of pay because of the weather. For most of the previous decades of my career my winter paychecks were affected by the weather.

Seasonal work means fiscal discipline. Work hard and save in the summer...no different than farming.

Fluffy...do some research on IRATA and SPRAT. They'll open your eyes to other vertical work.
 
Fluff- I was recently approached by a guy who does high end landscape lighting. He wants me to get his lights up in the trees where his guys can't. I gotta admit the look is pretty dramatic.

Probably not a career per se, but extra money could be nice in the slow season. Still gettin paid to climb....
 
PB120026.webp 8545[2].webp

I had a friend call me, who worked for a local sign company, wanting to know if I would be interested in helping out with a sign replacement job. The Hilton hotel in town had to replace it old logos with new ones, as ordered by the corporate office. After the building was finished in 1976, the logos were placed on the building with a helicopter. Apparently, the Hilton contacted a helicopter company to replace the new signs, and the price was $25,000 per sign, and three signs needed replaced.
Long story, short, there were five of us doing the removal replacement job, it took us four days to complete, and we each made $5000. Not to mention, it was fun as heck hanging off of the 400 ft building, and rigging the signs to lower and rise. So, yes, there are other means to make money climbing....something.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom