Hello all I live in the UK and have recently passed my felling tickets and would love to move out to Canada to become a feller/faller but after a bit of research I'm not sure if I could just move out and find a job over there, would I have to do any certificates over there or would my UK tickets be acceptable?
British columbia felling job
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Dayto
ArboristSite Operative
We would not even consider you with UK tickets...Sorry for that , not being a ****...Just like Arborist don't have a chance at carrying over to a coastal faller.. You will have to start of in the riggin , learn the basics , set some beads , drag some tommy's around learn how to rig on steep ground after a few years you will go through as chaser /landing bucker (Re-learning chainsaw basics cuz this aint no flat ground 18"bar **** , this is high production steep ground running 36" Bar+ , learning how to buck big wood 5ft+ etc ) Then you might have the option to get broken into falling ..Then $16 ,000 to get your coastal certification....That's the difference out here , its usually passed down through family the opportunity to get broken in.. Its not just a course and there ya go "Now your a westcoast faller"...even after all this , you might not get the chance to go "Falling"..
Well I own a tree surgeon company in the UK and have done for the last five years but only recently did the tickets, does that experience count for nothing? $16000 is a lot of money to suck eggs for the most part, is that certification required in just BC or everywhere like Oregon?
Warshington and Oregon as yet do not require any certs (not 100% on Oregon). However the job market is very tight in general, and logging jobs are even more tight, on account of not enough logging going around for those of us that are in it. Not to mention the fallers are almost a dying breed now with mechanization taking over.
Plus arborist skills are entirely different than logging, in logging the trees absolutely must come down in one piece, for tree service, chunking is the norm. Not to mention you don't get all day to fall 2-3 trees you get about 15 minutes, a little more if there is limbing involved.
Plus arborist skills are entirely different than logging, in logging the trees absolutely must come down in one piece, for tree service, chunking is the norm. Not to mention you don't get all day to fall 2-3 trees you get about 15 minutes, a little more if there is limbing involved.
I have heard that GOOD, EXPERIENCED, QUALITY PRODUCTION fallers are hard to come by. We have a local guy who gets lured by better money, to drive 6 hours a day to work 6 hours. But he's got a reputation for cutting the way the people in charge want, being reliable, and for getting wood on the ground. He's good and kept working throughout the lean years.
forestryworks
Addicted to ArboristSite
Being a tree "surgeon" is nothing at all, nowhere close, not even by a mile, the same as being a production timber faller. Nobody just walks into a falling job - especially coming from across the pond to the other side of the NA continent. When they say, steep ground, it's steep. Your thighs will burn and you'll wear out daily. When they say the trees are tall and the ground is short - that's where you need to know your **** to maximize your lay and the value of the logs. It's hard, body-breaking work, and bridging the gap from plain jane arborist to production faller is a big jump.
And have you ever used a saw with a wrap handle? Can you cut a humdoldt face?
You'll be lucky to get a falling job these days - that's a dying profession. If you're offered a rigging job, take it. If you don't, put your latex gloves back on and go sew up some xylems and phloems.
Not everybody in the UK is a pencil pusher, some of us are big on fitness and like to take on challenges. No unfortunately I haven't used a full wrap handle as they are very hard to come by in the UK. Humboldt, open, standard face cuts you name it we don't all use 18" bars, smallest bar I use besides a top handle is 25"
Why do you want to be a faller?
HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
Does it have to be west coast?
Trx250r180
Saw polisher
do you like lots of rain ?
HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
Lots of southeastern fallers/loggers on this site. It's a really big country with trees on lots of it
1270d
ArboristSite Guru
as I understand it the west coast of US and Canada wouldn't be an ideal environment for you.
Trx250r180
Saw polisher
If looking to work in BC ,may consider the weather conditions ,it does stay a pretty steady 45 degree avg most of the winter ,and summers are not normally too warm 60-70 ,but will need rain gear in the winter months
you may browse these BC training video's ,they give a general idea of the terrain and weather and what the trees are like
you may browse these BC training video's ,they give a general idea of the terrain and weather and what the trees are like
HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
Carolina's, Tennessee. Arkansas. I'm just going by where some of the pro fallers on this site hail from. Like you, I think I'd enjoy being a faller, unlike you I'm an unskilled pencil and sharp object pusher who can't match cuts. I do have wrap handles tho, so maybe I'm closer than I think??......
I'll look into those places, cheers for the info as aside from the weather B.C requires certificates which cost an arm and a leg.
Most folks can't handle the weather out here, its bad enough in Seattle or Portland, once you get into the hills a little ways, or skip past the end of the Olympics or Vancouver Island it gets really nasty.
And by steep we mean steep, nothing you got in England even comes close. Maybe parts of Scotland, but even then there is the 5000' elevation gain in a little over half an hour (less if your in a crummy (less still if its payday and you're in a crummy)), on windy dirt roads. Temperature drops with the elevation, and the weather is completely unpredictable, could be sunny and 70f at sea level, and rainy and 40 on the landing, in june...
And by steep we mean steep, nothing you got in England even comes close. Maybe parts of Scotland, but even then there is the 5000' elevation gain in a little over half an hour (less if your in a crummy (less still if its payday and you're in a crummy)), on windy dirt roads. Temperature drops with the elevation, and the weather is completely unpredictable, could be sunny and 70f at sea level, and rainy and 40 on the landing, in june...
Vermonster
ArboristSite Operative
From the descriptions of the weather and terrain, sounds like a Limey would find himself on another planet in the PNW. Not for the faint of heart. But on the other hand, a young fella with a lot of ambition and motivation can achieve a lot.
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