cangrejo arboreo
New Member
Hello Arborsite folks,
Michael here, saying hello and "saludos" from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I have been involved in arboriculture since late 2017 after the hurricanes Irma and Maria rocked the island. At first tree work was just a job to get me through those first tough months after the hurricanes and get me back to the normalcy of my old job, but I was bit by the tree climbing bug which brought back great childhood memories. I have also been dabbling in gardening, a fruit trees orchard, and homesteading on a small property since 2008, so learning the tree trade was a serendipitous event that had a very positive impact in my management of that property.
After realizing how much I was enjoying being in the trees again, I decided to put a lot of personal time and effort into learning the trade in a safe and efficient manner, with books, videos, and seeking out knowledgeable people, as it was hard to find many good role models in my area. I slowly transitioned from my old job into part time and then into full time tree work between 2018 and 2021, thanks to stints of seasonal work with some very patient and exceptional arborists who have helped me learn the trade. Since early 2022, I run a small business with a partner. Both my business partner and I can climb and we also work regularly with other local small outfits, where we all typically subcontract each other on whoever's jobs and bids were successful, and support each other in mutual benefit instead of seeing each as the competition.
We now do a very mixed bag of residential tree work, fine pruning, tree planting, removals, rigging, some landscape design and planting, as well as other work in like minded endeavours such as related educational work, trail building and maintenance, erosion control, fruit tree pruning, coffee and cacao plantation shade management, tree inventory, mitigation work, etc. It has been interesting to be involved in many aspects of trees and tree work, and I'm grateful to collaborate with many passionate, intelligent and hard working folks.
Hope to enjoy reading and learning from everyone's posts.
Michael Poland
Cangrejos Arboreos LLC
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Michael here, saying hello and "saludos" from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I have been involved in arboriculture since late 2017 after the hurricanes Irma and Maria rocked the island. At first tree work was just a job to get me through those first tough months after the hurricanes and get me back to the normalcy of my old job, but I was bit by the tree climbing bug which brought back great childhood memories. I have also been dabbling in gardening, a fruit trees orchard, and homesteading on a small property since 2008, so learning the tree trade was a serendipitous event that had a very positive impact in my management of that property.
After realizing how much I was enjoying being in the trees again, I decided to put a lot of personal time and effort into learning the trade in a safe and efficient manner, with books, videos, and seeking out knowledgeable people, as it was hard to find many good role models in my area. I slowly transitioned from my old job into part time and then into full time tree work between 2018 and 2021, thanks to stints of seasonal work with some very patient and exceptional arborists who have helped me learn the trade. Since early 2022, I run a small business with a partner. Both my business partner and I can climb and we also work regularly with other local small outfits, where we all typically subcontract each other on whoever's jobs and bids were successful, and support each other in mutual benefit instead of seeing each as the competition.
We now do a very mixed bag of residential tree work, fine pruning, tree planting, removals, rigging, some landscape design and planting, as well as other work in like minded endeavours such as related educational work, trail building and maintenance, erosion control, fruit tree pruning, coffee and cacao plantation shade management, tree inventory, mitigation work, etc. It has been interesting to be involved in many aspects of trees and tree work, and I'm grateful to collaborate with many passionate, intelligent and hard working folks.
Hope to enjoy reading and learning from everyone's posts.
Michael Poland
Cangrejos Arboreos LLC
San Juan, Puerto Rico
