Your future in arboriculture?

@ROYCE Is there an ISA cert. for schmoozing with the rich and famous. I am totally on board for that career path.(y) Maybe even Board Master Gentleman/Lady title.

One thing did stick out in Royce's comment which I have been passionate about, "Selling the idea of tree care" I feel, rich or middle class, most people treat their trees like an annoying step child that they know they need to take care of but don't want to. But that is a totally different thread.
 
Jem4417 said:
Production climber at 55 to 60 doesn't seem very feasible to me. Maybe small stuff if you take care of your body very well but being a climber that is relied on for all climbing tasks is a lot to ask for. It takes a very early realization that you can't do Treework forever so you can figure out an exit strategy as soon as possible. Some people will make it out but most will get very stuck in the field with little options. People on this site are fortunate enough to be very proactive about their careers in tree care so it may not apply to most here but the majority of people in our industry will be stuck in the field
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One of our best climbers is 56 years old. Still going strong. Amazing to watch work a tree rigging or pruning. He gets it done.
Jem4417: You are what I call a "Debbie Downer" Oh, woe is me!! In this post and your other posts. If you woke up and said...."hell, I am going to climb until I'm 60, or I am going to make 90K by the time I'm 30, or I am going to start my own gig and do high quality arboriculture" You would do just that. Kid, you have to dream big and then go get it. Life is what you make it. I can't stand the mentality that you stuck! No one is stuck, go out and make your future, make your destiny. Grab life by the horns and go take what you want. Enough said!!!
 
Perception is reality. That's all I have to say about this industry. I refuse to believe I ever "need" luck.

I feel like I found a glass ceiling for a production climber. I'm planning/ thinking/ working/ obsessing about creating a market in my area for me as a contract climber. I aim to offer free consultations to high end clients for landscape companies and split the % of the revenues based on involvement (pruning all day with one groundie vs. big removal with skilled ropes-man and 2nd ground guy.
Everyone needs a climber / arborist around here, they just can't keep them employed, nor want to be insured to do tree work. But they have dump trucks and chippers!
I'm in this industry for life. So I'm gunna make it work for me, not fight to stay working in it.
You all CAN do the same if you believe you can
 
Wesley Full said:
@ROYCE Is there an ISA cert. for schmoozing with the rich and famous. I am totally on board for that career path.(y) Maybe even Board Master Gentleman/Lady title.

One thing did stick out in Royce's comment which I have been passionate about, "Selling the idea of tree care" I feel, rich or middle class, most people treat their trees like an annoying step child that they know they need to take care of but don't want to. But that is a totally different thread.
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Ha, Ill make an ISA certification for it.
 
Levi.CO said:
Damn Royce, let me know when you open that position. I wouldn't mind spending my working hours in swanky bars and cigar rooms, spilling scotch and hobnobbing with old rich dudes.
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Levi: This position was designed with you in mind. What model Mercedes do you prefer? How is your golf game? It really could be the wave of the future. I'm on to something here, I just know I am.
 
Ummm... Royce.... you know I want the Rolls! I heard you got the family connection;) I golfed a few months ago, I think I was about twenty over par on 9 holes, so yeah... I'm pretty kickass at golf too.:rock:
 
Levi.CO said:
Ummm... Royce.... you know I want the Rolls! I heard you got the family connection;) I golfed a few months ago, I think I was about twenty over par on 9 holes, so yeah... I'm pretty kickass at golf too.:rock:
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See, thats why I like you. Most people don't want to roll around in a car with my name on it (you see what I did their?) But you don't mind.
Excellent. your hired. :maraca:
 
If you are lucky enough to be in your twenties or thirties and you don't have kids, I'd encourage you to hone your skills and find a good employer. When the winter begins, you take your month off and do your thing. Maybe you go to Europe and climb with the pros over there. Its tough out there but life is an adventure. Don't care about the money, because you got more time than that. If I didn't have a wife and kids, I'd start a seed collection company and travel the world looking for exemplary specimens and collect their seed for nurserymen. The earth for a pillow, the sky for a blanket: that is true prosperity!
 
ward said:
If you are lucky enough to be in your twenties or thirties and you don't have kids, I'd encourage you to hone your skills and find a good employer. When the winter begins, you take your month off and do your thing. Maybe you go to Europe and climb with the pros over there. Its tough out there but life is an adventure. Don't care about the money, because you got more time than that. If I didn't have a wife and kids, I'd start a seed collection company and travel the world looking for exemplary specimens and collect their seed for nurserymen. The earth for a pillow, the sky for a blanket: that is true prosperity!
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Well stated.
 
I would probably be contact ground man so I could also try for better ground guys I have climb an now my own business but think about there is of alot real good ground with there on tools an that's knows how use them I have already been in just every aspect of this industry I found it hard to find good help with said I pass my knowledge along to new ground guys because think about we all started out on the ground with very little knowledge

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I think my future lies in mass producing (a euphamism for having it mass produced in China) certain mechanical devices. With the right demonstration models, I think they would sell like hotcakes. I have this picture of what it is I have in mind.... oh, wait. That pic almost got me banned. Hmmm... I wonder if I blurred out the pornogra... er... engineering detail parts, if I could slip it past my arch nemesis, @Tom Dunlap before he recognizes it. No, if I did that it would just be one big blur. Damn. Y'all will just have to use your imagination.
 
I would suggest to any tree worker who does not want to be operating a saw all their life to gain skills beyond rope&saddle and saws. Supervision, management, business, H&S, sales, consulting, mechanics, human resources, logistics, scheduling, teaching, training, public speaking etc. are all courses and skills to gain and can be used in places other than the tree business. Take every course, certification, qualification etc. you can find and take every opportunity within your current workplace.

Take a look around and see how many 40 year olds are in the tree (and 50s and 60s). Remember that most tree workers will likely need to work till 65 or more.
 
I may catch grief for this, but I do believe a larger % of the tree industry workers are in it these days with a higher level of education (not that it makes them better at anything, only matters on paper to the powers at be) to carry them on into something else, as well as having a genuine interest in an arboricultural career somewhat planned out, than say the guys that have already "aged out" and are currently doing so.


Most of the older guys I know doing this or that have done it didn't get into it because they wanted to, they tripped into it needing a job, they had a strong back at the time and became good at it and more or less stayed because it was all they knew.

I still think a large majority of that is true these days, but trending more towards arboeiculture or otherwise, career-planning climbers, little by little.
 
There's no limitation to opportunity just limit to one's ability to see beyond the obvious. With higher education comes greater understanding that arboriculture is much more than saw and saddle. The new blood in our industry will drive the change in our business from skilled labor to knowledge workers with labor skills. My goal is to be part of the change leading to a plant wellness model and truly working with clients as their expert consultants. I'm tiring of the "don't think, cut" model of business. We need to stop letting the client decide what is right and just doing it (i.e., I'm scared this will fall on my house so cut that branch off or take that tree down). I don't tell my doctor what to do, I tell them what my symptoms are and what I'm hoping to do. They tell me…. let me say this again, they tell me, what they need to do to diagnose and then prescribe a treatment, if any. AND, I'm glad to pay them for it.
 
As long as the future doesn't involve climbing in the rain and getting a second job that is ridiculously too much for pouring rain so you only get a half day of work. Then get back to the shop to be told the thunderstorms tomorrow arent suppose to be that bad but we ll let you know if you can just make it up on Saturday. If the future doesn't have that in it I'll try to be a climber till I'm 60... #itsraininginpennsylvania
 
Jem4417 said:
As long as the future doesn't involve climbing in the rain and getting a second job that is ridiculously too much for pouring rain so you only get a half day of work. Then get back to the shop to be told the thunderstorms tomorrow arent suppose to be that bad but we ll let you know if you can just make it up on Saturday. If the future doesn't have that in it I'll try to be a climber till I'm 60... #itsraininginpennsylvania
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I guess you're going to be retiring early! :LOL:
 
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