woke up to a bad sight today

Dude there's only so many people in Maui. I predict that a year from now you're sharing work and are part of a network of soft spurring arborists. Kidding. I really think you can elevate everyone's awareness and practices. I challenge you.
 
Whiz makes a point. I know a spur climber that fought his way up a huge maple and was worried because he was always tied into his rigging lead. I went to look at finishing the other two leads.

I shot a line in the tree first attempt. Saddled up, and was SRT'ed into the high into the tree in 5 minutes. He probably took 20 minutes to get there.

It opened his eyes, sorta.
I've showed him my slightly modified hand truck. I had to. I felt so bad for his back and his groundies' backs the day I went and helped him with another maple. They were carrying rounds of wood.

You don't want dangerous or sub-par work happening. Their potential inefficiency of being stuck with a chain and spurs is your niche, perhaps. Focus on the technical climbing and rigging jobs. I don't try to compete with the removal companies on bucket access jobs. No point. If I did try to win those jobs, I'd be forced to do them in the style that they do them ("if you hear the chainsaw running, run!).
 
Whiz...Dude. Give it a little more thought.

Standing on the side of the road telling an already questionable character he could be a better man seems out of my job description.

I also think it would be a bad business model to educate my direct competition. These guys are the same guys doing everything to discredit me and take food from my belly. It may give you a warm feeling while sharing your knowledge on the roadside. See how you feel when your business goes down 50% as they can do what you do after spending years and dollars learning because you gave it away for free.

An educated consumer on the other hand would increase my business more than 50%.
 
i couldn't take it anymore so i walked over and introduced myself to the neighbors. i told her about my safety concerns with these guys and about the safety standards tree workers need to follow. i gave her the website "tree's are good" and talked a bit about the importance on using a climbing line. she said she is shocked at them not being safe. she said they put a flier in her mailbox and it had a picture of big machinery and a bucket truck and she was under the impression they would be using a bucket truck. i told her about what a certified arborist does and how we enforce safety and good work conduct. no amount of liability insurance will pay for a human life lost on the job because of lack of safety gear. she seemed very enlightened even more so when i said im not competing for the job, im worried about you having a dead climber on your property.

i really think i understand now. as an arborist i need to be educating the consumer about proper tree care and work ethics.
 
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5. pieces were not being rigged down and were in a close proximity to plants, a hedge, the house, and other tree's.

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you dont always need to rig in some trees. wood will go where you want it. all you need is a very sharp saw...except in a willow...(no comment)
 
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i really think i understand now. as an arborist i need to be educating the consumer about proper tree care and work ethics.

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Don't forget about educating tree folk. As you said, you're concerned about fellow climbers' safety.

Oh yeah, who are you certified by?
 
I think you'd be good to try and educate these guys as much as possible. Do what you can to educate the public, as well. Maybe try and set up a free class at a nursery or local plant seller on proper tree work, why hire an arborist, etc.

If they are fraudulently using the ISA logo - turn them in. I see it the same as stealing.

By the way, Cowboys, or Paniolos, are usually skilled professionals. The same reason I don't say, "That tree was butchered."

All the best to you.
 
I think I understand the frustration. It is frustrating seeing some company prosper by doing sub-standard work. And when we put out high quality craftsmanship, it is not always noticed like we'd like it to be.

So, like some have mentioned, we need to educate the home owners more.

I think a good time to educate a home owner is during our bidding process and when we see poor work done. I will often times walk up to a home owner and educate them tha their tree was mal-pruned. And I get mixed responses with that approach...
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One thing I've thought about doing for a long time now is, teaching structure pruning classes to the public. Our public library allows all sorts of classes to be taught by various professionals. Why not?
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The DNR puts on a small tree structural pruning course around here every now and then that is usually very well attended. Certainly wouldn't be a bad idea for a private bussiness.
 
i personally am not a certified arborist but i am well on my way and i do everything by the ISA study guide.i have worked under an amazing climber and arborist named tai doman who used to compete in climbing comps. he has taught me alot about the tree care industry and basically is to the point where he said i am ready to start my own business. you guys will be the first to know when i get certified. BTW id the test really hard??? how do they do the testing, multiple choice? idk who here is familiar with how the western chapter goes about the testing.
 
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he said i am ready to start my own business.

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Is he trying to sell you something? Beware of yourself.
 
Boreality I hear you loud and clear. Maybe I should but I've never put hard numbers to my losses when it comes to sharing my knowledge. Many of the people who continue to teach me, do so for free. Many of the people I've helped "roadside" have handed me very profitable jobs, leads, dumpsites, the list goes on. I don't feel I discredit the industry by parting with trade secrets though I understand how some could. Honestly I can't think of one operation that ran me under after I shared with them. More often than not they've returned the favor in ways more meaningful to me than money. I'm not running a free training facility and I'm not the guy taking food off your table and I don't mean that smart mouthed. I just feel balanced between the sharing and getting and hope the same for others.
 
Sorry for the derail Josh. I found the test tough...but I don't test well and have a learning imparment. Took the test 3 times before I got it. I know people who were literally insulted by how hard they worked at it and how easy it was on race day for them so it runs the whole gammut. If you can navigate treebuzz you can find out where and when the next test in your chapter is and what the requirements are. I have total faith in you bra. Once that one's under your belt you'll be all like "aw man what's next?". cue whiplash sound here---WHEW TSH!
 
Whiz you were saying Maui is small. My market is 2200 properties all with tree issues. All seasonal resort people with nothing better to do than gossip about the tree guy. I can handle every tree issue with a two man crew. In this market a little competitive advantage can go a long way.

Had a new equipment rich, skill poor guy hounding me on my worksites to teach him to climb or anything else, so finally, for his own safety I taught him how to sound trees. The NEXT DAY he sounded a 75 property coop and took a solid month's work from me while condemming good trees. Lesson learned.
 
i think the best thing in this situation is for someone on maui to teach a climbing class. then who ever wants to be safe and pursue it will show up and who ever wants to be dumb will not learn and just die like they deserve for turning a blind eye to safety on purpose.
 
Pole spikes are the norm in Hawaii. Humans have this tendency to discredit others to make themselves feel better, I know I'm guilty of it. But don't loose sight of the fact that a lot of the guys who don't follow the standards to the T have been doing the work a long time and could teach you a ton too. Not to mention it is a MUCH different culture here.

I think Whiz's approach would go a lot further.

jp
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