Name: Andrew Young
Age: 33
Role: Protree, Professional Tree Services.
Working hours: 7am to 6pm, five days a week in the field, plus at least two hours, four nights a week on bookwork.
Average salary for employed arborist: $40,000-$45,000/ $20-$25 per hour.
Qualifications: Trade Certificate in Horticulture.
KEY POINTS:
Describe what you do.
A lot of my work involves removing or replacing large trees, as well as pruning and management.
I thrive on the combination of physical and brain work.
I also love trees. When I'm out it is trees, not scenery, I notice. I notice things like branches that should come out or have been cut badly or need shaping.
Your background?
After leaving school, I did a gardening apprenticeship.
I'd watch arborists come in with chainsaws and climb trees and told my boss that was what I aspired to be.
I then spent four years in forestry, which was great fun but I eventually got bored and started working for arborists and finally climbing trees. The really big trees, such as 100-foot gum trees, were initially a bit scary and hard work because of their sheer height and numbers.
I worked for Waitakere City Council for three years, then got a job at Treescape where I became a foreman and ran a crew. Once I got married, I decided to work for myself and have had my business for four years.
How did you start up?
I started advertising in the local paper for Saturday work while working at my full-time job.
There was lots of work so, after three months, I went out on my own. I started employing people after six months. I now employ three arborists.
What is a typical day like?
We could do anything from hedge trimming and shaping or removing small trees to removing or pruning large trees, which can take a number of days.
I meet all clients to discuss the job, explain how we'll do it and assure them their property won't be damaged and the trees will end up as they envisage.
The logistics of moving limbs over houses requires careful planning.
What is important when removing branches from a big tree?
Firstly, safety. You always wear harnesses up a tree over 2m. Different trees require different approaches.
With a spreading tree, you get roped in at the highest point and then work around the tree like you're abseiling. With another tree, we may need to start at the top and then section and fell the trunk bit by bit. Branches are cut to drop in certain places, depending on the site.
Today, my guys are doing a pohutakawa that has to come out over a house. That requires a pulley system at the base connected to another pulley at a higher point near the branch that has to come out.
Important qualities?
A head for heights, although that comes with experience. I wasn't that good with really high trees when I started.
You need to be fit, have good balance and hand-eye co-ordination. Teamwork is essential, as is listening and following instructions.
You need to be calm and patient. You have to problem solve. Before you start it is important to go up the tree, look around, think it through and discuss it with your ground guy.
The ground guy holds the rope and processes the material; chipping, then getting out of way for the next branch.
Best part of the job?
I like employing and training people and I love working with trees.
There is something great about cutting into half-tonne pieces of tree, watching them hit the right spot below and seeing the guys like ants below you chipping and clearing them.
Challenges?
Persuading clients to change their plans when their idea is going to butcher a tree. Fortunately that doesn't often happen.
Keeping on top of the paperwork. In any one day, there will be six to eight jobs to be invoiced, organised and quality-assured.
How can you tell a good tree surgeon?
Ask them if they are an arborist and if they are insured. Ask them to explain their approach.
I try and give people a vision of what I'm going to do.
If they turn up with no harness and just a chainsaw, there is a risk they'll hurt themselves and your property.
Advice about arboriculture careers?
There is a real shortage and we need more young people.
It is a physical job but if you get your trade papers, you can move into consultancy and management once you've had enough of the full-on physical side.
It's hard to find young people that are "clean" and want to work. We can't have people hungover on site.
Newcomers usually start by working on the ground for about three months, chipping and learning how to climb a ladder and use hedge trimmers before getting into a harness. I'm happy to offer potential apprentices a day's work experience to help them get a feel for the job.
