New Job!

[Jumper]

Well despite my best resume efforts I am still working in trees.

After is disasterous interview for a "Branch Manager" job at $60K(and probably $100K worth of headaches and stress) I had a phone call waiting for me that night wanting to know if i could come to work the next morning. It was kind of ironic because my resume when received, was one fax ahead of the "Going out of business sale" one that my old boss sent out; I found it kind of humourous that he is selling stuff that he leases! ($$$$$)

What a pleasure-the saws work, the vehicles are serviced within an inch of their lives and my new boss likes to tinker and keep things in repair. Likes to work too-I was supposed to be there today but for the torrential rain.

No dope on the job, the guy I work with is about my age, and the boss is actually there to climb/supervise (and work too). The $2 more an hour did not hurt either.

I guess the downside to this, if there is one, is he is not an arborist and thus does not really care about the health of trees, just removing and trimming them, ie I asked if he did cabling, and the response was if it needs a cable it needs to be cut down. Not interested in fertilization or pesticides-no money in it. Guess I am a plant grower/neurterer at heart so can not quite grasp why trees that are capable of becoming healthy need to be removed. I really enjoyed that aspect of my last job.

Anyway guess you can not have it all!

 

[Nickrosis]

Funny that he considers fertilizing and spraying to be useless from a profit standpoint. Most companies use them as their revenue builder. In fact, that's exactly the downfall associated with them. Fertilizing can be so lucrative that companies prescribe it needlessly just for the money.

Nickrosis

 

[Jumper]

I agree

Yes Nick I found this a little funny too, as I am intimately aware of what the going rate is around here, given I billed the customers directly when I was done. Deep root was a $75 minimum per visit, and then we billed at about $1 per litre of solution applied, so most places were at least $200 if they had any large trees at all.

Inserts appeared even more lucrative, I put in about 60 iron supplements into two large sugar maples in Rockcliffe Park (pricy part of town) for a repeat customer and the bill was $380 for less than an hours work; I think the inserts were about 50 cents a pop, so $30 for the lot, plus $20 for my labour, and being really liberal $50 in other associated costs for a total of $100. $280 clear ain't bad.

I guess there are downsides to this part of the business, we have a real bunch of tree huggers on city council and they want to ban the use of all pesticides , herbicides and fertilizers city wide-this already is happening on city owned land and their property looks like sh*t. What they plan to do with the extensive farming areas here, not to mention how they are going to prevent 300,000 homeowners from applying legally available products is a good question. I already have served notice I will put anything available at Home Depot for eg on my property until they want to start paying the mortgage!

Anyways glad to be back at work.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I shudder at the thought of drilling holes in trees to "fertilize" them. I can see doing an Arbotech macro-injection on American elm, even sycamore, but wounding a tree when a soil injection can be used is bad.

I've done it, then I went back to my plant science learning. Read about CODIT. Now I'm against the high N fert apps, it is all about the $$$, not hard science. That is why I'm on the "natural" bandwagon theses days. Fish guts and seaweed sause.

 

[Jumper]

inserts

The ones I put in were iron, not nitrogen. Dunno about the holes: they for the most part are sealed when the plug is tapped in-more so than the holes we drilled year after year into sugar maples at my relatives sugar camp. The trees did not seem to suffer any.

 

[treeclimber165]

So Jumper, how's the new job going? Been a couple weeks now.

 

[DDM]

Hmmm i think i need a new job Considering ive fired and rehired myself 4 times that i can remember today.

 

[treeclimber165]

Take another Valium, David!

I wish I could have fired myself a dozen times this last week. We have had rain at some point every day for 12 straight days! I'm rotating 3 pair of boots trying to wear dry ones in the mornings at least.

 

[DDM]

Dang Send us some of that Rain! we havent had a Rain in a Month! you should get a boot Dryer from Baileys or Northern Tool. There only about 30.00 and they work over nite.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I take my boot dryer everywhere I go. even if it is not raining it keeps the sweat from stinkin.

 

[Jumper]

Re treeclimber 165

Two weeks tomorrow and I am still there. As I previously mentioned, the boss is not an arborist, and I really found that aspect of the previous company interesting. Let me say lot clearing and cleanups of the mess contractors left behind are NOT my favourite activities. A lot of little idiocincracies with this guy but I have kept my mouth shut (there is going to be a discussion about the speed I drive-too slow for his liking) So I am looking for something else, and also had an interview for a permanent position starting this fall, so I likely will be moving on at some point.