Message For young climbers

[CurSedVoyce]

Well said Reg. We subscribe to the same thinking in this regard. I keep seeing these young ones running around chasing all the new shiny bling and not really just thinking it through. Look what the tribe is doing! Let's do that!. No watch, listen, absorb, experiment.
Oh look something shiny!
What were we talkin bout?

 

[kevin bingham]

If it were just a job I would tell people that there are far better jobs. As a business I can't say there is very much redeeming about it. If it were not a lifestyle for me and not just a paycheck I would much rather do something way easier. Its the trees man. I could never get away from them.

 

[kevin bingham]

and the gear. I love the gear and the ropes, and the knots. and the thrill of getting a box in the mail with new ideas in it. I really can't think of any purchase i have regretted. but in a sense it has locked my in this industry. so like yeah, if your smart, don't invest in gear because then it will be harder to get out... I've spent so much money on gear but now i want to sell real-estate.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Some gear is the best money spent. Does it make your job more efficient and easier?
Best return on the dollar. Period. But some widgets are just not really all that. I mean buy that shiny thing for that one job it will excel at. But don't take it out of the truck at every job trying to make the square peg make the round hole work.
Seriously. Keep it simple stoopid.
Does the GRCS really need to go to work today???? Prolly knot.
I cringe when I see my HOBBS go on the truck knowing full well it is not coming off to go to work. Now I have to friggin' deal with that heavy sum beach in the back of my truck all day. possibly the next too because no one really wants to have to lift it back out.
Right tool for the job. Climbing too.
Get efficient with that new piece of kit and climbing gear. Start with the basic. work up... See something new? Watch the other guys use it a bit before you go run out and spend your wad. How is it really working for them? Oh look... the Zig Zag broke again...

 

[treetx]

Trees are my passion. But you don't have to work in them daily to enjoy them.

I am late to it, but a big believer of the following. Don't follow your passion. Follow opportunity and bring your passion with you.

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[DMc]

... People aren't paying you to do what they can't do near as much as paying for what they don't want to do....Nate

I couldn't disagree more. Tree work is not mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage. It requires a skill set that most people do not possess.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Thats for sure.

You guys dont give yourselves enough credit.

 

[Limbrat]

Get efficient with that new piece of kit and climbing gear. Start with the basic. work up... See something new? Watch the other guys use it a bit before you go run out and spend your wad. How is it really working for them? Oh look... the Zig Zag broke again...

Dynamite post Stephen. I've got to say though, it is a job and a passion for me. One of the few jobs I have really enjoyed doing most of the time. I have always loved climbing and rigging, ground work, not so much. When you look at a job, plan it out and occasionally have it go as planned, it's pretty cool.

 

[Limbrat]

I couldn't disagree more. It requires a skill set that most people do not possess.

Not just a skill set, but a set as well. Not a lot of people have the nads, courage, stupidity or whatever you might call it to hang on a rope a hundred feet off the ground and swing a saw. Heck, my wife won't get on a ferris wheel.

 

[Levi]

Smart lady.

 

[MasterBlaster]

My advice to young climbers is to start your own treeco as soon as possible and find/train a climber so YOU don't have to climb forever.

 

[Levi]

 

[treetx]

I couldn't disagree more. Tree work is not mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage. It requires a skill set that most people do not possess.

It is dang close in the eyes of the public. I'd love to push the point more about how they are paying for what they don't want to do more so than what they can't do but it would be bad form on a tree forum to do so. Let's just say they are paying more for the skill like they would a good dry waller or tile setter than they are for the risky, "ooh, ahh, wow, I could never do that factor." It is a trade - simply put. Anything else is just ego stroking.

It is a labor of love or the most thankless job on the planet.

 

[Grendel]

I think Jim's right. I don't think this profession gets the respect it deserves in this country. I remember a thread a few years ago, where some European guys were talking about the standards and professionalism in their industry, and someone from the states made the comparison to tree work being just a step above jail. . .

It really is something most people couldn't do. Not with the gear, or the saws, or the ropes. They just couldn't physically or mentally pull it off. Tree work is the best part of my job. It's the only part I would do for free.

Just my thoughts.

Cheers

 

[Mick!]

I'm not really interested in gaining respect from the general public.
Their money, now that's a different story.

 

[Levi]

That's the way Mick.

 

[woodworkingboy]

It seems cavalier about the money, but I have a hard time believing that. If word of mouth referrals is a part of how work comes in, unless you're particularly good looking, it seems like getting respect for what you do is surely a plus.

 

[DMc]

... Let's just say they are paying more for the skill like they would a good dry waller or tile setter than they are for the risky, "ooh, ahh, wow, I could never do that factor." It is a trade - simply put. Anything else is just ego stroking....

I agree but do you really believe it to be such a simple skill set? I have never been paid for the "ooh, ahh" factor and in fact could care less what other people think. That is not why I do what I do. I do it because I like it and fortunately for me, happen to be good at it.

With that said though most people do go out of their way to thank me for the work I do. I have never felt that nobody gives a shit. My wife and I often joke that we could make a ton of extra money by selling coffee and donuts to the crowds that gather when we work downtown.

 

[Mick!]

It seems cavalier about the money, but I have a hard time believing that. If word of mouth referrals is a part of how work comes in, unless you're particularly good looking, it seems like getting respect for what you do is surely a plus.

Fair point, I'll clarify.

My reputation/respect as a tradesman who has the gear to do the job, does it when he says he will at a price IS important to me.

Any respect I feel I'm due because I climb trees etc is incidental and relatively unimportant.

I'm not immune to a bit of "oooh aren't you great, you big brave hero!" But I still want paying!

 

[Altissimus]

When I started out I wanted all my customers to like me , after I got experienced and good at it I wanted them all to know that. Now at this point it is strictly about the money ! ... Yes I love the trade , take pride in my work as well but that's all private ( internal , if you will) to me.

 

[DMc]

Tree work is like sex in that it can be a truly wonderful experience or it can be all about the money.

Ed Hobbs gave me some great advice when I first started working. He said to never forget that when you work for money, you are trading hours of your life. Don't trade your life away, just for the money.

 

[Limbrat]

Great advice

 

[Altissimus]

Tree work is like sex in that it can be a truly wonderful experience or it can be all about the money.

Ed Hobbs gave me some great advice when I first started working. He said to never forget that when you work for money, you are trading hours of your life. Don't trade your life away, just for the money.

....really don't get that part myself , we definitely enjoy the job but.... Say , wait a minute ... are you calling me a Whore ?

 

[Grendel]

I was thinking about what Reg said a little more this afternoon, up in a tree, with a cool breeze coming in off the lake, and the sun and blue sky shining crystal clear. . . Man, If I see anybody working outside in the rain, soaked through, I think they're kind of getting screwed over by somebody. The first time I watched a pro dismantle a tree from the top down, I was blown away. It was like watching real magic.

I love the work, I love the gear, I like that tree people seem to stick together and help each other out. It's just a really cool thing, all the way around.

 

[woodworkingboy]

It isn't only tree work that has manufacturers pumping out new products. Woodworking is a huge hobby in the west, to some extent worldwide, and you can add in the relatively small percentage of professionals. The people that sell the tools can only be eager to offer new stuff based on the advertising that I see. Gizmos to check the angle of your saw blade or depth of cut, measuring tools, greater ease in drilling holes....it's never ending. I have to wonder if that stuff gets predictably sold, or it's more just throwing it out there to maybe get lucky. If you've been working with wood for some time, the majority of new goods seem to be ideas with minimal purposefulness. An interesting thing about it, is that the level of accuracy achievable with the new tooling is insufficient for precise work, you still have to check things in the old ways or go to the old fashioned method to get precision for real good work that reflects emotion invested in it..

A lot of extra money floating around in the US, one reason for such volume of new goods hitting the market. Lots of doctors have woodworking as a hobby, I'm told. People spending money is good for the economy though, so don't be too down on it.