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climberjay

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Hi I have been in the tree climbing bis for about 8 years as a freelance climber for other company's but would really like to become an arborist how do I go about studying?
 
Welcome climber Jay, here is a simmilar thread,
http://www.arboristsite.com/arborist-101/85038.htm
I read and did the ISA Certified Arborist study guide (S. Lilley), A New Tree Biology(Dr Alex Shigo), Tree Climbers Companion,& To Fell A Tree(Jeff Jepson), the ANSI Z133 safty standards for tree care, ISA best management practices Pruning,Planting, NAS Field Guide To Trees, western region, Temperate Zone Pomology, the Texas Forestry web site on Tree ID, also read up on HAZ COM, there were a couple questions I missed on that, it is all on OSHA site long boring read, need to know for aplicators license, some of the Tree ID questions had common and scientific names but a couple had only Genus and no specific epethit and no common names, it is by region but Texas was concidered a region, go figure, that was my lowest score tree ID, higest was soil science, I filled out the answers on the work sheets after each chapter on a blank paper so I could go back and test my self later, also I took the San Antonio Colloge study guide prep class that was 8 weeks every Friday, was real rushed but it helped, and they let me borrow the 10 dvr ISA basics of Arborculture set,(they are pricey but also have CEU at end of each section) and those helped a lot, the problem with the cd and the study guide questions is they are all on one subject at the end of the review or chapter and thy are black and white stand out easy 3 wrong,1 right, easy
On the real test they are all mixed up and there are alot of grey answers you really have to answer the exact question, hope this helps and good luck.
Paul
 
+1

To add to his, I, as most know, get up really early, my "silent time" and would read every day for at least 2 hours, until I finished whatever I was reading. I wouldn't just try and get thru it, but would read each page over until I could comprehend what they where saying 100%. I had the Arb dictionary and Google at the ready. If I came across a word that I did not know, I would find it and master it before moving on in the book. Helped my comprehension a lot. When I took the test, I scored a 83, was done in 45min and I looked at the study guide for 1 day before the test. DO NOT TAKE THE STUDY GUIDE AS THE END ALL. Too many guys have that book and think that it is all there is to Arboriculture, that is why many fail the first try. If u pass, don't take that as proof that u know all there is about trees. I have learned more since the test. Speaking of which, I have been bad lately. Being a Mod takes time, so trying to find a balance between the two. Got that big paper Derwoodi posted, sitting staring at me, making me feel guilty. So READ, READ READ! Good luck, one shot one kill.
 
I did the Isa cert 3 years back. I found the ISA cert cd disc set helpful played in the car / truck as I went job to job subliminal worked for me made the study much easier. I now do the ISA mag online quiz they are more often Ok but the latest issues been real hard yakka as high end lab coat boffin stuff
 
Yea I read real slow and finished the test dead last, didn't think I did that well, but made an over all 88% higest was pruning at 97% and lowest was tree selection and id at 77% you have to pass all sections and each section is a different percentage of the exam, and they are all scrambled in the exam,
this Shigo online Tree dictionary helped too,
DICT2003 ,
I really like how He defines what he means and what it means to him, Ability vrs. Capacity is good in all life, don't let Shigo's definitions through you off even though he is correct ISA still calls the 17 esential Elements nutrients even though they are elements until usable, we don't have a periodial chart of Nutrients, probably cost me some questions, because I would Argue the vilidity of the question or the four answers, so just answer the question with the one that is best don't fix an Imaganary tree,
Paul

Oh the ANSI standards are revised so get the latest version and know that Shall is mandatory, and Should is recomended
http://www.isa-arbor.com/newsroom/r...d2011_Z133StandardRevisions_Public Review.pdf
 
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