Advice/ treesurgeons

[Thrym]

Im at that age where im leaving school in a few months and id like to get into a career as a tree surgeon / forestry worker. Unfortunatly there are no colleges close to me that do any courses in a related subject so i am lost as to what to do
Should i try and find a company who would take me on as an aprentice?
i really could do with some advice if anyone could help.
Josh

 

[jamie6754]

Just read your post Thrym, that’s a dream career you’re thinking about doing mate, out in nature all day all year wow, funny you should post this. I am leaving the army in 10 months and I would love to pursue a career in the forestry commission but I have two kids and a wife and the salary wouldn’t be enough to support my family so I have to go with a gas engineer career until my two little monsters have flown the nest . Here’s a link mate that might help you.

http://www.connexions-direct.com/jo...catalogueContentID=241&render=detailedArticle

If i get anymore info i will let you know, hope this link helps you

 

[Thrym]

thanks alot mate that has indeed helped il keep you posted on anyother info i find

 

[billycan]

Hi Thrym,
The Royal Agricultural College is not to far from you, in Cirencester, they run all the NPTC and lantra courses, they also have accomodation if you needed to stay up there if you dont drive etc?
Depends what you want to do, if you want to do basic ground work you will need to do CS30 (Maintenance and Cross Cutting) and CS 31 (Small Felling) Prob best to check it is the NPTC scheme as Lantra is not always recognised by some employers. If you want to climb you will need to do a few more, they're well worth it, i love my job.

Heres the link, ask for James Foster at the Rural Skills centre
http://rsc.rac.ac.uk/

 

[swyn]

Hey Thrym.
Sadly jobs in Forestry are not as plentiful as they used to be. The FC is the main general employer and worth talking to. Other companies are UPM Tillhill and Euroforest, etc. These are large scale harvesting/thinning/forestry operation companies and may give advice on careers.
Jamie6754 and billycan have given a couple of web sites to look at which give you an idea.
Redflex posts here and, I think, is right in the middle of his Forestry degree at Bangor university. He may be worth talking to. This is also a very good uni.
To go forward in todays forestry world and earn a reasonable living is not easy. You need to have good training and qualifications from a recognised university and this is just a start! Most of the people I know, myself included, have been at it for 30 odd years and often came up the hard way. It is not unusual to have two careers with forestry being the second, although not by choice!
The ethos of Forestry doesn't really change, ie to grow sustainable timber resources.
Good luck with your quest.
Swyn.

 

[Silverback]

You're other option may be to look down the tree surgery route in terms of lopping, reducing and occasional felling - not as 'wild' as pure forestry work but in my experience a better rate of pay. I worked for a very professional family run business who were one of the few arboriculturally approved companies in the country at the time (16 years ago) and although I didn't do any climbing, the option was open to me had I continued with them. I was purely a groundworker which is tough work but highly enjoyable and good grounds for moving on to the more skilled applications if you can find work with a reputable firm.

 

[Thrym]

thanks for all the help everyone. ive decided im going to do alevels at school and then from then on decide what to do. This gives me another 2 years to decide what i want to do and gives me alevels which cant be bad.

 

[leon-b]

i would like to go into this area of work aswell, great thread
leon

 

[Tony]

I think that we’ve got a number of members that are involved in forestry/tree surgery etc Bam springs to mind on top of those already mentioned. I’m sure there will be more people along to comment, although it’s probably going to be slow over Christmas. I know a few over here in Wales and they all enjoy it, although they always warn of the dangers as well.

Good luck with your search

 

[British Red]

I'd really suggest a conversation with redflex too - one of the last horseloggers around! Thoroughly nice fellow too

Red

 

[paulcd]

Im at that age where im leaving school in a few months and id like to get into a career as a tree surgeon / forestry worker. Unfortunatly there are no colleges close to me that do any courses in a related subject so i am lost as to what to do
Should i try and find a company who would take me on as an aprentice?
i really could do with some advice if anyone could help.
Josh

I think that cannington college or bridgwater (somerset) may be able to help.
I teach this subject at Holme Lacy college, Hereford, where you can do a variety of courses straight from school, linked in with an apprenticeship....there may be employers Ledbury/Gloucster way if that helps you, but travel is usually a problem with guys of your age. I teach private courses www.treeclimbing.co.uk when I am not running my bushcraft courses, but I think you need to look at an extended training option. See if you can help out with a local tree surgeon Bath or Bristol to get the picture before committing yourself to any course of action. If you like what you see, and would like the Hereford option, PM me so I could give you a phone number. Its a great career if you look after yourself!

 

[Jodie]

Until this week I didn't know there was such a discipline as the social
science of forestry but now I do, and it seems to be quite interesting!
http://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/website/forestresearch.nsf/ByUnique/INFD-5WBLHH

Probably not what you're interested in directly but I'm sure an appreciation
of the wider context can't hurt at any interviews

For similar stuff, see also the Forest Harvest thread posted by Fred Gordon
in the Flora and Fauna forum.

Jo

 

[Aaron]

I started at 16 by doing voluntary work at my local National Trust property in my spare time - although it is unpaid it gives you a good idea of whether you are suited to the job or not. Depending on what area of 'tree work' you want to get into it is definately a good idea to get some sort of academic qualification - I got a fairly broad one in doing a BSc in 'Countryside Management' which covered a variety of disciplines including forestry and conservation management, and has allowed me to work in a number of jobs including tree surgery, woodland/forestry contracting and nature conservation.

That being said the most rewarding area of outdoor work (I think) is definately being 'on the tools', so like the other fellas have said get your NPTC Chainsaw ticket - I did mine whilst I was a student and got it half price from the college I was studying at - the bloke who ran the course also did tree surgery work in the locality and from that I got some work with him. If you can try and do the NPTC tickets in tractor driving and pesticide application (PA1 and PA6) as well. If you really want to do tree surgery you can do intensive courses at a number of colleges - Bicton College in South Devon do one that lasts eight weeks and gives you all of the NPTC tree climbing and chainsaw modules.

One thing about arboriculture though - most of it involves amenity tree work in towns and gardens, not in the countryside - this is a mistake many people make (including myself) who think that they will be working in the countryside. If you want to climb its also a fairly short working career as it knackers your body - you dont get many blokes climbing over forty, although it does depend on how well you look after yourself. Please fellas I'm not trying to be a smug ****head or warn you off - I think its a brilliant life and never want to do anything else - but its important to decide whether or not it really is for you before you waste loads of money on training yourself.

Like I say try and do some voluntary work experience- the National Trust for one have organised voluntary placements which will often put you on different training courses including your chainsaw ticket if you make a commitment to work for them for a few months - you will also get loads of 'on the job' training that will stand you in good stead for other jobs. Doing voluntary work also shows employers that you are really committed. Anyway enough rambling hope this helps Aaron