This job pays too little! Looking for advice.

[cre73]

Sounds like he should be making more but has to approach it correctly. On the smoking, smoked for 20 years. Quit cold turkey 18 months ago. Before I quit had constant sinus infections, constant cough , nose running. Couldn't sleep at all. Always said it had nothing to do with smoking. Boy was I wrong haven't had an issue since. No cough no runny nose no sinus infections since. Sleep better than ever when work leaves me alone. Yeah it was a bitch but well worth it. It's great not having my kids tell me how much I stink.

 

[jefflovstrom]

[QUOTE="MSgtBob66, post: 5897170, member: 64444. A CC is a great place to get a business AS degree so he can manage people and still get outside. Jeff got in when you didn't need a degree, now it is virtually mandatory for management.[/QUOTE]

Hey Bob, I hope you do not think that I got a 'Free Ride', no I did not,
the test's are much easier than in the old day's,,
my cert treeworker test in '91, (WC-449),it was an oral and a work climb and aerial rescue,,although
it took me two times to pass the cert. arb, (we-7624A), just once to get my CTSP Cert#519, got all my 'Qualified line clearance,,etc,,
I started in this biz and my Dad said that was stupid ,, "you can't make money doing trees,,,"
You are right about needing all the mandatory stuff, but that does not mean I got lucky,,
in fact,,those newbie degree guy's are taking test and passing by multiple choice answers and that is so much easier,,,just look at the pool of cert arb's and then look at their experience,

Oh, been a busy week and I may have been a little harsh,,forgive me,
I just get a little riled when someone does not think I paid my due's.
Jeff

 

[jefflovstrom]

My cousin and I are 4th generation Arborists. Joe.

Really?,, What are you ISA Certified Arborist number's,
Jeff

 

[rarefish383]

Gee Jeff, I guess I should have said my cousin and I "WERE" 4th generation Arborist's. He's 68 years old and retired 8-10 years ago. I'm 60 and retired last year, form UPS. Why would I know his MD Tree Expert License #, we didn't work together. His Dad owned his business and my Dad owned his. I put in my post that I kind of burned out and gave up the business in 86, and went to work for UPS for 30 years. I did take and pass the MD Tree Expert License Test in 1999. If you notice that I repeated the "MD Tree Expert License Test". MD did not recognize the ISA test till late 99 early 2000, I was in the last class that took the MD Tree Expert License Test. But, just for you, I'll PM you photo copies of my test scores, and MD certification. I'll also send you copies of my Dad's certification cards with License Numbers of 70 and less. That will give you 2 generations. When my Grandfather and Great Grandfather were doing tree work there were no licenses. So, I guess you will have to trust me on that one. I'll send you a copy of one of my cousins business cards and you can look up his info, it's public record. My cousin sold his company to his brother in law several years ago, but he still owns the property the yard is on, so he may still own part of the company and may still have his license. He is not a member of this site so I'll leave his name out. If you are happy with the info I PM you, great. Nowhere in my post did I say I was still licensed. When I said the climber that helps me has climbed for my cousin for over 30 years, that's true. But he now climbs for my cousins, wife's, sister's, husband, that's who is buying his business. Doesn't that take up a lot of space and sound kind of stupid? So my question to you is, if you retire or let you license laps, does that mean you are no longer an Arborist. Does that mean the years I spent at MD U as a Botany Major don't count anymore. Was any of the advice I put forth bad? Sorry for the long ramble. If I new how to scan that stuff in I'd do it now, but I don't. In the morning I'll take pics with my cell and PM them to you, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Jeff, this post is getting kind of old, so I didn't read all you posted in the past couple days. I was going to say the old MD Tree Expert Exam was much harder than the ISA test, but figured you wouldn't believe it. Then I saw you said the same thing in your post. We didn't have to do any climbing or rope work for the test. Most people think tree guys are dumb yocals. When I tell people how much Law, Geology, Pathology, Electricity, Physics you need they are just dumbfounded.

"It's been a busy week". That's a good thing.

Why would you get riled because someone on an internet forum questioned if your dues were paid? That's what people on the internet do.

I'm 60 and beat up. Just had my left knee replaced, have "arthur" in both wrists and shoulders. Every time I go into Ace Hardware I turn down offers for a job. We had an applicators license too, and even after 30 years I'm still pretty up on chemical applications. When I bought my new 660 for milling, and knew more about saws than the guy on the floor, they tried to hire me again. Ace likes old guys, they figure they know a lot. I know a little, maybe because I pay attention? I know I've been here since 09 and you post lots of good info. I would think you would say the same about me. I don't encourage people to break the law or do stupid stuff that can cause them trouble the rest of their lives. Some of my advice may be dated, but a lot of dated practices still work. Did you get the stuff I sent you? After I get a couple cups of coffee in me I'll send you copies of the rest. Stay busy my friend, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Jeff, I've always liked your Avatar. My kids got me one of those DNA test kits for my birthday. I'm 60% Scandinavian. My mothers birth name was Kristiansen, maybe we are long lost cousins, Joe.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Jeff, I've always liked your Avatar. My kids got me one of those DNA test kits for my birthday. I'm 60% Scandinavian. My mothers birth name was Kristiansen, maybe we are long lost cousins, Joe.

Dang man!,,my rile is reactionary and I never mean to be mean,, I guess I come off that way, I am sorry I was harsh and sorry in the future if I do it again,,(lol),,
I really like your posts and hope you are not to offended,, I always assume we all have our 'man-suits' on, I will try to be nicer,,
Jeff

 

[newsawtooth]

Cut it out you two and get back to fightin'.

 

[rarefish383]

Oh Crap, don't worry about being mean. Men were meant to be mean. Vikings didn't say they were sorry for tromping on a village. They just grabbed a couple pretty girls by the hair and took them home. Just know that an old fat guy that can hold a Homelite 1050 at chest height, has enough left in him to grab at least one pretty girl by the hair and drag her home, Joe.

 

[chainsaw_chomper]

Sounds like he should be making more but has to approach it correctly. On the smoking, smoked for 20 years. Quit cold turkey 18 months ago. Before I quit had constant sinus infections, constant cough , nose running. Couldn't sleep at all. Always said it had nothing to do with smoking. Boy was I wrong haven't had an issue since. No cough no runny nose no sinus infections since. Sleep better than ever when work leaves me alone. Yeah it was a ***** but well worth it. It's great not having my kids tell me how much I stink.

Well done!!!

Did you go nuts? BF says if he tries that he would feel like killing the whole world.

 

[chainsaw_chomper]

Me and my wife live in Southeastern pa, and probably make make around simalar money to them but with me on the high end and the wife on the low end. Sure you can get by with much less money but if you want to do anything besides just get by I can see where they could have money issues

Plus if the lower earner feels he wants to contribute equally to everything, you become a little restricted.

 

[Cupocoffee]

I am an arborist's girlfriend. I'm looking for some opinions or advice. My BF has been doing tree work for 15 years. He currently works for a big-name tree care company and is a crew leader. He is often told that he is the best climber they have in their division, and they get him to teach other climbers the ropes at workshops. My impression is he is very good at what he does. He is paid about $23 an hour. With variability in weather, he often is forced to take days off and this doesn't amount to a whole lot per year. Unfortunately he is a smoker and spends $300 a month on that habit. he has tried quitting and hasn't been able to. His firm offers health insurance but he is unable to afford it or any insurance at all - the cheapest runs to $40 per week.

He sometimes works 10 hour days and weekends because his reps do not do a good job of allocating work to the right number of people. he is too modest and quiet to bring any of this up with his bosses, but it makes me mad. He tells me how frustrated he feels, but never takes it up with them. I have a mind to call them myself (I know, I am an interfering gf, aren't I).

He would love to work a job at an arboretum where he can work on the same trees over the years, but most such jobs require a degree and he has only had high school. I asked him to apply anyway as I thought his experience might be valued, but he refused. I have asked him to speak with a career counsseler to see what his options are but he has not done it. I don't know if we could pay for school for him, but I am a professor at a university and he might be able to get something off of tuition. But the thought of us only living on my salary seems like a huge leap to take when we are not even sure of the prospects after he would get a degree.

Finally, he hates the idea of doing a desk job....really likes being outdoors. I wish there were forester jobs, but those seem to pay even less. he is not very business minded, so I doubt he would try to strike out on his own.

I would be glad to hear any thoughts or advice people have.

I retired ten years ago and never intended to work another day in my life. I hated punching that time clock but I accidentally got into the tree stump grinding business when I lost 65 trees on my property after an ice storm. I bought a small diesel stump grinder and did some advertising on Craigslist to offset the cost. It turned out that I could pick up some pretty good money, so I moved up a notch to a 35 HP diesel stump grinder, then several years later ended with my current 66 HP stump grinder. If your BF loves the outdoors, and he is already in the tree business, stump grinding might be an option for him. I could write a book on stump grinding. I am always surprised when I see posts from guys who say they hate stump grinding. With the right equipment, the right attitude, the right location, and the right marketing he could make more than he ever dreamed he would with about 1/3 the time he is spending on his current job. It wouldn't happen overnight. I tell people who are getting into this business there are two things which will put you out of business very fast and that is if you don't charge people enough money and also if you charge too much money. There is a fine line between the two. This seems to be a shady business in some senses. I get many jobs where customers call and tell me a guy was supposed to show up three days ago and he never showed and won't answer his phone. I have never showed up late for a job ... ever. I always have clean shirts in my truck because this can be a dirty and sweaty business so I never show up on a job site with a sweaty shirt. I invested heavily in this business with all new equipment. That isn't possible for many people. I would suggest renting a medium size, diesel, self propelled stump grinder for a couple of months and put an ad up on Craigslist every day and see what kind of response he gets. He might be one of those who hates stump grinding. Even when I first started my business, I never hustled work. In other words, I don't knock on doors. There are a millions of stumps out there. When I bought my Carlton SP7015 in November 2012, I paid $53,000 for it (same one is $65,000 today). When I was loading it on my trailer in South Carolina, a man from NYC had shown up to buy one like mine. Carlton didn't have any on their lot. The man from NYC offered me $10,000 more than I paid for it on the spot, in front of their salesman. That was right after Hurricane Sandy and he knew he would pay the machine off just from that storm. I didn't take the offer. I have never chased storms to make money but since he knew his area, I am sure he knew what he was doing. If your BF is not good with people this is not the business to be in.