Thread: question? curious yet? lol

im not sure how many of you have children boys and girls, but do they work with you? no matter what their age? and do you let them at a certain age? i have none just a neice who loves tree trimming 60 ft bucket trucks(id barf) sorry loves her poppies picker and is just pretty much stuck up his butt! lo hes taught her theres fear and then theres fear for saftey reasons be aware and she is? do any of you do this? for us its almost the norm but i was just wondering if you would encourage them in any kind of tree proffesion? im just curious i dont want a debate ...please (i do have an ulterior motive tho) lol

Our foreman brought his young son and daughter out to a crane job, just so they could see it in action. The operator actually let both of them operate the crane (a 30 tonner), while relocating a couple of logs that were on the ground, with him in the cab for safety, but I'm sure it was an experience neither of them will ever forget. Kids should always be able to get a taste of their parent's work, just make sure it's under controlled safe conditions.

My children are all grown now.My daughter has a daughter,my son and his wife are expecting,sometime in Dec.I had my daughter in a 60 ft bucket truck,when she was 8 yrs old, and taught her to run a dozer at 14,with me along,of course.My son,likewise. Now,as adults,they are not afraid to try anything.My ex,and I did not agree on this subject.Her's was to baby and coddle,mine was to protect,provide,encourage,and give direction.They turned out pretty good,if I do say so myself,but then why wouldn't I,eh?

My son and daughter both climb, although only my boy does it as my employee. Nineteen, girl's sixteen. Both are efficient with chain saws, chippers, skid steers and fwd tractors. also traditional tools (axes, peavies, bow saws, and hatchets). Neither have been past 42 feet in a bucket but both have wrangled longhorns and mustangs.

Girl's into chemistry and traditional dancing big time, son's the guinea pig. He's into magnetics, fuels, optics and ballistics, until I make him tag along for work. He's been riding along with dad since he's been wearing dipes, more or less. I don't fear for him because I trust him to do the best with whatever's at hand. I would hesitate to have him work with a strange crew though.

They have to learn - and will whether we teach them or not. It's just more comfortable being there where they do.

iv'e been thinking about this subject for a while i have 2 girls 8 and 11 ,1 son 10 and another on the way ,my girls iv'e been teaching tree ID , and my boy he is quite familier with the big toys chippers ,grinders trucks etc . he gives them a clean down now and again.and he now knows a bit about the workings plus he's been out with me and helped a bit cleaning up and knows that the end clean up realy matters.but i'm going to get a small harness and give them a taste of climbing very soon..i think a block set 30 ft up should be a good start..

I don't like any children at the worksite!

daddieslilgirl,

First off... welcome to the site. Since it's getting rare, allow me the opportunity to educate you on something... this is the internet; proper punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure is vital to making your posts easy to read and understand. =)




I have a 17 year old son who works with me on a semi-regular basis. His usual job is to handle the cordwood orders; splitting, sorting, loading, etc.

He's also a groundman on occasion. HE knows how to let the pieces run.

I Let my 6 Yrold Drive This Bobcat 453 and move Gravel from point A to B . But My 13 Yr old Daughter is the Operator for this machine No one else can fit in it!Buts its indespensible when trying to Back fill a pool with 40" of clearance.
My daughter Goes up in my bucket from time to time mainly when i'm greasing it.

My two kiddos are too young still to come to 'work'. Girl is 5 and boy is 3.

Both though have been to job sites to watch w/ their mom (my wife). The seem to always show up toward the end wich i think is a good thing. They too have both had rides in the bucket truck w/ me.

Would I encourage them into the profession? Im not sure. Related field - more so.

As for kids on jobsites MasterB, if they know how to stay well out of the way and not try to help, I dont mind. Its when they think, 'Hey, that groundie might like some help....I can drag limbs too' that gets me excited.

Son 15 now ran a chainsaw once last year to make a school project. His mom says obey child labor rules which read no power eqpt until 16. He does run a blower on the job and a mower (at home) but that's it.

As for climbing he seems to have a knack that I'm slowly developing. As far as a trade, he says no way, which is cool; I wanted to do the opposite of what my dad did when I was 15.

I'm all for getting em out there but keeping em safe. stepkids 10 and 11 drag brush etc. and like the $$.

wow i didnt think id get a response! thats great what you all are doing and thanks for answering. and to nettree i think im sorry my grammar offends you but this is the way i type i try for proper spelling and puncuation but just cant get the hang of it!

Start with using the "shift" key.

It's okay. I've come to expect laziness in younger people.

Better yet...


We'll call it "Communication Darwinism".

Both of my children started climbing at age 5. They are 11 and 13 now. They profer to rec climbing with Dad. They occasionally come with me on small jobs when we know the customer. I trim and they play. Not good with the clean up yet.

My kids are 3 and 1. I'll trade off taking them to dump or bid in the evening. I look forward to getting both in the trees.