Do I need to become an Arborist ?
- Thread starter Holden
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
It would be a local regulation if so...where are you?
Pelorus
Uva uvam vivendo varia fit
Define "need".
As a legal requirement, that would depend on your location. Which may also mandate you have current First Aid/ CPR / WHMIS certificates. And a chainsaw operator certificate.
From a purely marketing standpoint, it might be helpful for advertising purposes. Or not. You can go around and refer to yourself as an arborist up here (rural Ontario), and homeowners for the most part don't have a clue. In my considerable depths of cynicism, I have pondered awarding myself a self-conferred arborist certificate (with an embossed gold seal) and a degree from an foreign university as well.
CanopyGorilla
climber....sawyer
For yourself or a company? You need to know more about rigging and cutting for removals, and you need to be more of an arborist for pruning and care.
CanopyGorilla
climber....sawyer
I know a few "arborists" who couldn't bang out a big removal or cut their way out of a box, and I also know an amazing climber who couldn't do a proper prune job to save his life.
Go for it! To those of us in the USA, Ontario is in a foreign country.
Pelorus
Uva uvam vivendo varia fit
Well yeah, Ontario IS in a foreign and alien country. (we can't see Russia from here though).
Our dollar is called a loonie. It features the likeness of a loon...a diving duck. Which is what the Canadian dollar is currently doing......diving.
Is Newport News a place where humongous submarines get built?
Our dollar is called a loonie. It features the likeness of a loon...a diving duck. Which is what the Canadian dollar is currently doing......diving.
Is Newport News a place where humongous submarines get built?
Eh ... I wouldn't say the submarines are humongous, but our aircraft carriers are kinda big.
For what it's worth, I'm a foreigner here ... was sworn in as a U.S. citizen back in 1978.
For what it's worth, I'm a foreigner here ... was sworn in as a U.S. citizen back in 1978.
sgreanbeans
Treeaculterologist
A Arborist should be able to do all tree work. Period. I prefer to prune, but I can blast out a big nasty in style.
Pelorus
Uva uvam vivendo varia fit
An arborist should have the knowledge, but the ability to effectively execute that knowledge takes years of practice.
I suck at cabling cause I rarely get called to cable something. Have never installed lightning protection in a tree. I don't do pesticides, or a whole bunch of other things. Removals is my game; that's what people call me to do, so that is what I have become good at.
Bob (your doctor) a pretty smart cookie, but he will refer you to Henry (your future cardiologist) Not that Bob doesn't understand your ticker needs fixin, but Henry is The Guy who has been replacing dozens of leaky valves every year for the last two decades.
sgreanbeans
Treeaculterologist
I don't do much cabling either, but, I know exactly how to do it. I don't do chems either, have my nephews QAL tho. I try to learn every aspect that we may be called for. Actually, the one thing I never went after is the HV stuff, I don't feel I need to know what every little thing is with it. To me, its pretty simple. Touch it, you die, soooooooo.......don't touch it! If I had the opportunity to get Line Clearance Certified, I would, just to have the knowledge. But I am not going after it.
In Ct. an Arborist license is not needed if only doing removals.
In the State of Connecticut only licensed arborists may advertise, solicit or contract to prune, cable, fertilize or spray trees on a commercial basis.
In the State of Connecticut only licensed arborists may advertise, solicit or contract to prune, cable, fertilize or spray trees on a commercial basis.
Pelorus
Uva uvam vivendo varia fit
I have never gone after the HV stuff either. Working in close proximity to primaries gets me stressed out way more than climbing something that is patently unsafe.
I let my Ont. pesticide cert ("landscape exterminator" or something like that) expire and couldn't be bothered keeping it up.
Big problem I see with (some) folks who actually get certified is that they oversell their abilities. They misdiagnose problems. They screw up tree ID. They prescribe "deep root" fertilization without bothering with soil sampling. That kinda stuff gives the arb industry a bad rep.
I let my Ont. pesticide cert ("landscape exterminator" or something like that) expire and couldn't be bothered keeping it up.
Big problem I see with (some) folks who actually get certified is that they oversell their abilities. They misdiagnose problems. They screw up tree ID. They prescribe "deep root" fertilization without bothering with soil sampling. That kinda stuff gives the arb industry a bad rep.
sgreanbeans
Treeaculterologist
Word, gotta love it when I bid a maple and another dude calls it a oak, LOL! Or when they miss diagnose, treat it for something that it does not have, the tree dies and they say "we tried, it was too far gone" after they killed it. A few years ago, while I was off playin Jarhead, A long time client wanted to know what was going on with their white oaks. They call a big show. They sell them on DRF, nail them with a absurd amount of nitro. Didn't check anything, just looked and sold. Burned them so bad that the leaves where crunchy. Trees where slightly chloratic, something a little sprinkle on top could have taken care of. When I came home, he called me over. I could still smell the nitro, ended up removing the 4 and replacing the turf. I wanted to do a soil sample but HO didnt want to pay for it. Always wondered of what was really in the tank. Their fert is supposed to be so good that it can never burn? Figured that is was a contaminated batch. I know they like to use the same truck for everything. Doubt they do much cleaning.
Hey, gotta make that sales plan.........by any means necessary.
Seen a quote on Facebook that I liked "I would rather fail with honor than to succeed by fraud"
FLtreeGuyVHTC
ArboristSite Operative
Check with local Towns and state governments for tree ordinance... If no tree ordnance no worries.. Everything else will be listed under the Towns ordnance. I know here in Ithaca we have a conservation ordnance that states we can only cut trees that can cause damage to life or property and dead trees must be left standing to allow wildlife to use them for habitat. Often it's a lot of reading but it will save you on fines... Charge for the time of research if your not working in a town that you haven't researched already.
