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I've never tried to be a "dirt dart" (that term is permanently stuck in my head now) but the worst accident I had in a tree ( as against the time I ran the saw through my thigh while on the ground) was when I thought I could free spike just a few feet in a Black oak. There were lots of...

Sure, we can save your tree for you! We'll just stack it right over there.

I'm still mystified about why the bush hog idea didn't get more affirmation. It sounds like most folks are desperate to generate landfill. A day with a bobcat / bush hog attachment would reduce the work load by at least 80%, and leave nothing but a thin layer of chips to get churned into the...

A client asks me to look at a nasty little Mulberry in a tight side garden with utility lines and fences all around. The neighbor's drive runs about 18 feet away, so I knock on the door there and ask permission to use their drive to access the tree with our bucket truck. The 20-ish year old...

Couldn't you rig up a nice little rigging FS like someone up the thread recommended using clevises/shackles of different sizes and loops of "as strong as you need" material? You could even work the same trick using a smal clevis and a rigging pulley, no?

13 guys in 10 years...you have been blessed! There is no magic bullet for finding and keeping staff. You simply have no choice but to keep that issue at high on your list of priority issues. I think you feel the stress more because yours is such a tight operation. You end up relating almost...

As Alan said, go for the quality motivated clients. The others will just break your heart. We are blessed in this area with equipment rich, talent poor outfits who depress the takedown/land clearing end of the market by working for peanuts. It is truly painful to watch when they are engaged...

The vast majority of my work is done as either sole bidder or not low bidder. Who wants to do our kind of work and get paid less than everyone else? Low bid sucks!

Generally, if decay is an issue at all, go with steel. If the supported limb is bigger than your thigh, go with through bolts, especially with an historic item in the target zone.

I work on the east coast, but have heard old timers tell horror stories about eucs: the wood is heavy as hell, there's lots of silica in the bark that eats chains,and, as noted above, they can behave VERY badly. Be cautious, or it might turn out to be a longer stay in CA than...

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I agreee that the cost / benefit question is very much an issue. As an Arborist / Salesman I am more concerned with the credential aspect than many climbing Arborists might be. I share the concern about the dilution of the value of the standard "Certified...

Okay, so nobody knows squat about this, huh?

Prune, fertilize, mulch, lightning protection, re-prune, treat for anthracnose, re-fert., re-prune and take down.

Yup, like Mr. Chucky says The good news is that if Bartlett sees potential for business in your area, you live in a great place. They don't work in slums. They may well raise the bar for folks who aspire to work for higher end clients. If that describes you, your job becomes a bit more...

It's how you run the business, like was mentioned above. There's always good reason to sell work for the winter, to build that kind of backlog. Discipline! Smarts! Then it depends on where you live on how many days you can figure on getting frozen/blasted/rained out. You don't want to over...

I am a former TCOT Arborist, and I can tell you that if you went to them with a fire in your belly to learn climbing, they would accomodate you as quickly as you could handle. I learned my basics with a very good one-horse company, and took 2 years before I ever put on a saddle, and was amazed...

What should you make per manhour? Multiply that times, what...8 to 10 manhours, plus a little travel time. At $75. per MHR, that's about $600 to $750 just to fell it and clean up. Add some for the stump, and a good deal more if you take away the wood. How does that shake out with what...

The situation was radically changed when they put a house under the tree and raised the "target value" in the equation. It's up the the client, of course, but my recommendation would be to install a full dynamic support system including a tree-to-tree and a single fork cable. Crown...

Speaking for myself as a production Tree Climber, I loved the challenge of tackling a tough, significant job, new every day. As I learned my trade, I developed a deep sense of competence that has helped me in all areas of my life. Yes, of course, there have been bad days, nasty people, and...

What are folks saying about this new level of certification? I think it looks like a great opportunity to distinguish oneself from the crowd.