FAQs

Chainsaw maintenance and cross cutting or the combined course Chainsaw maintenance, cross cutting and felling is the ideal course to start with. This will allow you to use a chainsaw on the ground, so very flexible for work. It is the qualification most employers will look for. 

To become a tree surgeon, you will need the Tree climbing and aerial rescue and the Use of a chainsaw from a rope and harness qualifications. 

Following these courses, you can extend your skills with the more advanced courses: Aerial rigging, Aerial pruning, Stationary rope work positioning

Prices vary depending on each course (fees are on the course page). Our prices are for the training and assessment. Assessment days are booked prior to the course. 

The price paid is based on taking the assessment on the day provided. Should you want a different day, there may be an additional fee.

If you are booking multiple places or courses, we offer a 10% discount on the training fee (excluding assessment).

VAT is included in the fee. 

We are pleased to say we can now accept card payments. We will send you an invoice via email, you are then able to pay online using your card. This has proved very popular. 

Our Flexible package consists of the 3 main courses to get you qualified as a tree surgeon: Chainsaw maintenance, cross cutting and felling; Tree climbing and aerial rescue and Use of a chainsaw from a rope and hanress. This can be completed in 3 months or some people spread the courses out and take 6 months.

Short modular courses: All courses that lead to a qualification are short - maximum 5 days. Gaining the qualifications are the first step - then through practise, you can develop your style and skill level. 

Refresher training every 3-5 years.

No! We have a maximum of 4 people to a course, so instruction is personalised to you. The initial courses are ideal for novices and people without the qualifications but who may already have some experience. 

Yes! The City & Guilds Tree climbing and aerial rescue is the ideal course for you. This 5 day course teaches you how to ascend, descend and move around in the tree safely. 

No – it’s all available to hire at modest costs (please advise before booking your course) and it can be useful to try a range of equipment before committing your own money. Some items of PPE really are personal and for modest cost would be worth getting in your size – such as gloves.

If hiring PPE and/or equipment it is to be returned in good working order (as supplied). If damaged, a repair fee may be charged or the item may need to be replaced.

No. All this equipment is provided and included in your training course fee, although you may have to share a timber tape and a large felling lever. Some trainees bring their own felling levers and timber tongs or purchase them when they see how handy they will be for their future work. A small plastic wedge won’t cost a great deal and is a handy bit of kit for tree felling.

The list is comprehensive, and it covers most of the items we’ve needed to replace on trainees saws over the years. Be sensible and bring spares in proportion to your saws condition! There is also a good Stihl & Husqvarna main dealer within 3 minutes of the training site so we often arrange to meet there on one morning of the course anyway.

Lantra Awards Basic Chainsaw courses and NPTC assessments all have a 15” guide bar as the standard size. Up to guidebar length means a tree when de-buttressed with a diameter at ground level of around 15” or 380mm. Small variations are acceptable, (in the NPTC assessment at the Assessors discretion) it’s probably not worth spending on a new bar & chain unless they are in poor condition and you would have had to replace them anyway.

However, anything outside the 14 - 16” range is likely to be unsuitable, for obvious reasons with a smaller guide bar – you will run out of capacity at the top end of the tree range, and a larger bar may be less accurate and too wide for boring cuts on a smaller tree.

Left handed people have completed this training and assessment many times with me, but they use the saw in the correct position on the right hand side of their body. Chainsaws need both left and right hands to be active for safe use.  

•    Left hand - for positioning control, decompression button and use of the chain brake

•    Right hand - for throttle, on/off/ choke  and positioning 

I think the main issue is that they need to be used on the right hand side of the body, in order for the bar and chain to be correctly out of line with the head in the event of serious kickback. I understand that left handed people feel more comfortable with the left side of the body taking the 'lead'. So in short left handers are welcome on the tree surgery courses and can use a chainsaw!

The clothing you choose to wear on one of our tree surgeon courses or chainsaw courses is ultimately a personal choice but be informed! Remember no protective clothing will guarantee that you don't have an accident.

There are 2 standard types of chainsaw trousers:

Type A - these protect the front leg only. 

Type C - these protect all round the leg. These are commonly worn by arborists, to provide all round protection when climbing and operating a chainsaw or by people who use chainsaws occassionally. 

Protective clothing is discussed during all tree surgery courses. 

Our tree surgery courses are held on site in near Tunbridge Wells, where we have a fully equipped heated workshop and plenty of woodland.  

As its name suggests, a training course with the assessment element built in. Chainsaw maintenance & crosscutting covered in the same way as below (perhaps slightly less emphasis on the chain detail required to pass the NPTC assessment) the felling part is limited to 200mm diameter at ground level and does not cover quite so many techniques, really the 'what if's' are less comprehensively covered. A good choice for those not intending to be regular chainsaw operators, perhaps it is one small part of their job. I regularly deliver this course to many clients, including civil and marine engineering companies.

We run both the Lantra courses and NPTC City & Guilds assessments - both are nationally recognised qualifications. The Lantra Integrated Training and Assessment for Chainsaw maintenance and cross cutting is ideal for people who may need to use a chainsaw at work but it is not their main source of work or for domestic users. Our Industry standard tree surgery training courses are followed by independent City & Guilds assessment. 

An instructor and assessor are assigned to each course. When making a booking, you are given a place. If you cancel that space, we are likely to incur a loss - as we have made a commitment to staff and may have turned other people away. 

We therefore do not offer refunds / transfers for cancellations made within 15 working days of the course. If cancelled within 15 working days of the course, the full fee is due. If cancelled within 20 days of the training, 50% of the fee is due.

If you are paying by grant, this still applies to you. You will be charged, if the grant does not cover the fee.

If we did not do this, we would have to put the price up for everyone.