Why would you want to be a climber

[scheffa]

Curious as to people's reasons for becoming a climber.
I started because I enjoy the challenge and the rush from being up the top of a huge tree and dropping the head out.

Here in Aus where I work climbers on wages are only earning a couple dollars an hour more than the groundie a and supplying our own gear so it's definitely not the money that motivates me to climb

 

[rtsims]

I started out of necessity. I really enjoyed it for a short 4-5 years or so. This may sound ridiculous but after I got married and had children my outlook changed. I still enjoy pruning and swinging about in a large canopy but have found removing large conifers have become a daunting task. I can't say what exactly changed.

 

[Geordie]

My initial motivation was that it is much more interesting and challenging. Each tree is like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Some of them are straight forward, others take a bit of work to figure out how to tackle them. At my job, it also pays significantly more. You should talk to your boss about getting a raise. Climbing is dangerous and the compensation should reflect that.

 

[Oldmaple]

I still enjoy the climbing after 30+ years. I have slowed down and don't take on all comers. Self employment has given me that luxury. I would not do it for $2 per hour more than a groundie though. However if you get skilled at climbing and self employment is something you would like to do, groundies are a lot easier to find than climbers and usually easier to get along with.

 

[Hoowasat]

I like to get high without drugs.

 

[Zale]

Because being a groundie sucks.

 

[JeffGu]

I stopped doing it for quite a good number of years, but I still do landscaping/hardscaping and sometimes I'd take care of trees for clients. I found that I actually missed it, so a few years ago I started gearing back up for it, because... well, because I'm bat **** crazy. I'll be 60 in May, and I know I can't do it for much longer. But, the advances in the gear and equipment are amazing, and I'll keep going until I either find someone to train into the job or I just say screw it and stick to the stuff I can do on the ground. As mentioned, being self-employed means I have the luxury to just take the jobs I think I can do with what I have. Some are challenging, but I don't have to be in a tree five days a week, or more, and I'm not any real competition for the bucket truck and giant chipper and three dump truck guys in the area. Hell, a couple of them have told clients to call me when it was a tree in a backyard and they couldn't just roll up to the curb and whack it down in a couple hours.

It's honest work, has its own rewards, and the challenges keep it interesting. Money, though? Phhhtttt. I don't think so. You have to love doing it, cuz fame and fortune aren't part of the deal.

 

[scheffa]

Yeah it's a funny old industry. I'm a carpenter by trade but have been doing tree work on the side for quite a while. I shut my carpentry business down over Christmas and started working for a decent sized tree mob start of January. I'm still fairly new however seem to climb most days and for probably 5-6hrs a day. The guy I work for is awesome and we get along really well. However I'm getting paid $1 an hour more than a groundie who has been there for 6 months, which is a hard pill to swallow at times when your up the tree in 38 degree heat busting your arse while they are on the ground waiting for you to drop something for them to feed to the chipper

 

[tidy]

Contract climbers in Sydney charge around $600 per day whilst contract groundies charge around $200, so a wage based climber should still be on double the groundy. Sounds like a rip

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I'm the only one who does it cuz chicks dig climbers?

 

[BC WetCoast]

Groupies

 

[JeffGu]

 

[Groundguy]

Ground guys tend to live longer.

 

[Geordie]

Not around me they don't

 

[capetrees]

Been climbing since I could walk. Guy in the neighborhood used to be a photographer. Took lots of pics of me free climbing as a youngster, no ropes, no harnesses,no cares. He gave us a couple of pictures and I still have one. I just have always loved to climb and when I found out I could make money doing it, well, count me in.

 

[Pelorus]

Bought climbing gear. Taught self to climb. (A bit sketchy - do not recommend). Managed to earn enough coin moonlighting to keep mortgage paid. Eventually lurched into fulltime self employed arborism.

 

[Hddnis]

Been climbing since I could walk. Always wanted to go higher in an ever bigger tree. You can see stuff the earthbound can't see, hear stuff they can't hear.

 

[miko0618]

There is a little celebrity aspect to it. Lots of homeowners and neighbors film me. Its love hate for me. Some trees I cant wait to be down and some I am pumped the whole time. Self employed, my pay rate is higher than any blue collar job I know of. Even rated union jobs. Except I live in a drepressed area so it can be difficult.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[JeffGu]

You get to play with shiny stuff that you can take into a bar or coffeeshop and almost nobody has a clue what it's used for...

 

[beastmaster]

In 1976 i took a job for 3.75 an hour as a groundman, I heard the climber was getting a 100.00 a day. First day on the job the climber didn't show up, I said Id do it. That was hell of money back then for a teenager. That first climb was a leaner palm over a shed. removal. I had never been so afraid in my life, I loved it. I like to challenge my self, test my limitations.(I have none) Figuring out and planing a high risk removal using ropes, pulleys, rigging stuff down safely all in a days work is very rewarding to me. I like to see results at the end of the work day, Turning a big over grown tree in to a beautiful living piece of art is satisfying to my soul.
Ive always been a little hard headed, Ive walked off jobs, gotting in fights, I had a lot of problems in my early years that most industry wouldnt of been able to handle, but I fitted right in with the other misfits that made up most tree company's back then. I love this business, but I wouldnt recommend it to anyone I liked.