Groundman Expectations

[SouthSoundTree-]

We know what it takes to be an Excellent Groundman.

What do you expect out of a reasonably good groundman?

 

[Altissimus]

...medium IQ , brute strength , impaired hearing , low language skills , and colorblind.

 

[rskybiz]

Hustle, A good attitude, verbally concise, an eye for the suroundings (not only concerned with what's going on in the tree), proficient saw skills, the ability to know the next move, I'm sure I could go on

 

[MasterBlaster]

Show up on time, EVERY day, be ready to work, and have a valid driver's license!

 

[sotc]

Same things I look for in a climber, I don't want anyone that can't climb to some extent anymore

 

[stig]

Same here.
No difference between ground and climbers, we all switch hit.

Makes things go sooo much easier when everybody knows everybody elses job.

Nobody bombs a bunch of groundies back to the stoneage here, piling up wood, cause they know it will be their turn on chipper duty next time.

 

[Chris E]

Its always good to have a few climbers on the ground but its not essential, a competent groundsman knows the drill.

reliability
has some saw competence
some ability to use initiative
takes some pride in his work
has some ability to move lots of tree

 

[flushcut]

I expect them to not get killed or maimed, get all the brush out to the chipper before using the blower, not talk about random dumb shit all day long, stop talking and grab a rake,
In general I expect too much.

 

[Tucker943]

Don't touch my radio if we are in the truck together. I'm the DJ.

 

[Mick!]

You must greet the dog every morning.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Do you expect them to learn proper names for things, like tension and compression wood? It's hard for me to not speak the same language.

My new hire decided that since he's not getting paid under the table, and his car costs $500 to fix, it's not cost effective to commute in his f150, and he has a free place to stay, 40 minutes away, that he is better off finding under the table work without the opportunity to really learn tree work, which he says is what he wants. Too bad. I actually had hopes for this one.

Chaps seem like a bother to him, too hot, especially with double-front Carhartt's, that he wears. You know how people that have run a saw for years, somewhat crudely, will keep it far from their body because of being scared of cutting themselves. He wasn't really confident that chaps work to stop a chain. Hard to gain precision that way. Fine for crude cutting, like firewood.

 

[sotc]

No loss there

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Slim pickings.

Wants to work 7 days a week, and attack it with brute strength.

I have had to train all employees mostly from scratch, save one. Experience is great if it's great experience, good if it's good. Olympia is not known for its work ethic.

One past employee got on with Hotshots after a season of training.

Sometimes, I think a work force education and development job would suit me. Paid by the hour. Training is part of the objective, without training dollars coming from my pocket. speelyei on TB used to do it... Job Corps, or something.

 

[Peter]

Depends what you mean by groundie.

If it's your sole co worker, then I want a climber who is at least competent enough to get up any tree I'm up.

If it's a third or fourth man then showing up on time and not drunk/stoned will pretty much do.

 

[Mick!]

The guy I used as a third guy was a mate, unemployed, unemployable really, anyway one day he said he needed a shit so I sent him over the road to some woods. Time passed and me and the female groundie I used (good as gold but couldn't reverse a trailer if her life depended on it) began to wonder what had become of him, after 45 minutes he came back gouging out ,as they say, on smack, he'd managed to cook it up and smoke it in the woods. I sacked him on the spot and got him out of the clients garden immediately.

Hired him again two weeks later, well smack heads are always available aren't they? And sooooo cheap.

 

[Peter]

Even cheaper if you pay them in smack.

 

[Mick!]

around 35 quid in cash will usually swing it.

 

[Chris E]

ya well heroin isn't really suited to tree work (unfortunately for those that way inclined), I cut a groundy loose last week that had decided he could come to work on heroin, he was only ever average at best but with his intoxication the productivity hit rock bottom. It hadn't really clicked to me that he was off his face for a few days as I'm normally a bit distracted on demanding/challenging jobs. He sent me some pretty nasty text messages accusing me of having low morals, being untrustworthy and essentially stealing his means to make a living.... Just typical snivelling junky talk
This guy was climber as well... which is lucky otherwise this would seem like a groundy bashing thread.

 

[Tim_B.]

Don't touch my radio if we are in the truck together. I'm the DJ.

 

[stig]

You must greet the dog every morning.

Absolutely!

When I pre-interview a possible apprentice over the phone, I ask 3 things: is your BMI over 25, do you smoke and are you allergic to dogs.

Those we've actually hired have all told later, that they were somewhat mystified by the last question, 'till they saw how many dogs we bring to work.

 

[ValleyArborist]

All of the above, plus good communication skills with clients. Clients always seem to come out when the lead guy is in the tree and ground guys are the point of contact.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Is BMI a legal question to ask of prospective apprentices?

Years back, at a conservation corps, we started asking pants and shirt size, logistically for uniform reasons, and...

 

[MasterBlaster]

I think it's a good question to ax.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Absolutely not. No way. We fat people gotta work too ya know.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Jim would be a good ground man and strong like bull