Watch this guys stuff
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOSe1afQIQB-rkeDxJ3OhLA he knows his shit and isn't just a butcher with a chainsaw. Buy and take on walks Collins Tree Guide if you are in the uk, or find the US equivalent. Tree ID will do your head in, as you MUST learn all the latin names. This is because common names cause confusion. For example, as nicked from wiki: Mountain ash is a name used for several trees, none of immediate relation. It may refer to:
Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest of all flowering plants and other floral species
Fraxinus texensis, an ash tree species in Texas
Sorbus aucuparia, which is also known as Rowan.
Now, if you go out expecting to work on a sorbus (average 25-30ft in the uk) and arrive looking at a 70ft eucalyptus, you may have brought the wrong kit, for a start. Climb. seriously, take a friend, a first aid kit, and a mobile phone, and some climbing gear obviously, and climb. be sensible obviously, don't try and get up a massive doug fir, but you're not going to cripple yourself practicing 20ft climbs on medium sycamore or similar. Do some cardio. do not buy ridiculous climbing aids. you don't know how to use them (hell I don't know how to efficinetly use the latest spiderjack, i've just not had the time to have a look at the weird bloody thing.) use prusiks. climb healthy looking live trees. pay attention to what they look like. read climbing guides, the AFAG (hurr) website has the approved guides on all aspects of arb work. oh and toughen your hands up. alot.
