TCI Magazine Audio Edition
TCI Magazine has upgraded its audio options so you can now listen to your favorite arboriculture articles on the go! Discover the latest in technology, techniques and best practices for climbing, rigging, gear and more, all while on the go. If it impacts our industry, we’ve got it covered in an all-new, easy-to-listen-to format.
Episodes
340 episodes
The Climb That Changed Everything
By TCIA StaffWhen a woman calling herself GoldenLarch logged into the TreeBuzz arborist forum in late 2020, she wasn’t looking for applause – she was looking for honesty. At 28, after leaving a customer-service career and earning a horti...
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6:18
The Soft Science of Heavy Things
By TCIA StaffEvery industry breeds its own folklore. In tree work, cutting, hinging and rigging theories might make for some of the loudest campfire stories of all. On a TreeBuzz thread dealing with these topics, a post about “rip cuts” ...
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7:32
Knucklebooms in Tree Care: From Curiosity to Cornerstone
By TCIA StaffWhen Urbana, Illinois, arborist Mike Poor first rolled onto a job site with a remote-controlled knuckleboom crane in the late 1990s, the reactions were a mix of awe and head scratching. “That is the oddest-looking crane I’ve...
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6:57
Complacency Conducts Electricity!
By TCIA StaffThis discussion began on July 19, 2025, when a climber using the handle DRBetz started a thread on the TreeBuzz forum titled “Let’s Talk About Electrical Awareness.” Within a few days, the post had drawn replies from more th...
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6:09
TCIA and TCI Magazine Partner With TreeBuzz
BY JON GERSTENBERGER AND MARK CHISHOLM, CTSPDuring the past few years, TCIA has been working on a group of strategic initiatives we’ve called “game changers” – things that, when accomplished, will change the fundamental experience ...
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3:49
White Pine Woes
BY PAUL WOLFE IIMost of us have pretty good memories. Like taking the driver’s-license test, first dates with our significant other, a sibling’s birth date, etc. I don’t remember any of those things as time is slowly eroding my mind. I d...
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6:21
Injury & Incompetence: Beware a Prematurely Promoted Crew Leader
BY RYFE GREENWOODI get it, your tree service needs production, and you need it now. Your employee retention is precarious, and the labor pool in your area is emptier than the Grand Canyon. Prematurely tapping a new crew leader seems like...
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16:41
New Chapter for TCI Magazine
by Jon GerstenbergerTCI Magazine celebrated 35 years of publication in 2025. For 427 issues, since June 1990 – through recessions, global pandemics and spikes in printing and postage costs – TCI Magazine has hit the industry’s mailboxes ...
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3:29
There’s More Than One Way to Do It Right
BY TAMSIN VENNAs a self-professed tree nerd, there is nothing Bret MacKay likes to do more than climb trees, preferably white oaks. Except for one thing – teaching his fellow arborists how to do it safely.
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4:00
Adapting During Uncertainty – Equipment Financing in Today’s Economy
BY TIM BARTELTDeciding if and when to spend money on large capital-equipment expenditures is a strategic part of any business, and the tree care industry is not immune to that struggle. Buy outright or finance? Long-term rental or RPO (r...
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8:40
Aerial Lifts, Electrical Hazards and the Revised Z133
Compiled by Peter GerstenbergerWe went through the upcoming revision of the ANSI Z133 Safety Standard, pulling out and listing here in sequential order all the relevant parts that affect lift operations near conductors. These apply to co...
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8:45
Having Hard Conversations and Changing the Conversation on Safety
BY JEFF INMAN, CTSP, TRAQHave you ever found yourself in a situation where you’re trying to have a conversation with someone and they don’t agree with what you’re saying? You could be making the best case in the universe for your point o...
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15:15
Fuel Injection in Professional Chain Saws: Powering the Next Era of Tree Care
BY NATHAN KROISFor years, professional arborists and forestry crews have relied on steady improvements in chain-saw design to keep pace with the demands of their work.
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7:16
Electrical Hazards for Aerial-Lift Operations
BY JOHN BALL, PH.D, BCMA, CTSPElectrical hazards to tree workers are, for the most part, within the realm of those who access tree canopies. True, we do have electrocutions and electric-shock injuries among ground workers, but they are t...
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7:16
Floyd Taylor – A Life Rooted in Tree Care
BY TIM BARTELTEditor’s note: Two readers contacted TCI Magazine last winter suggesting we do a story about Floyd Taylor. The first was Nathan J. Wright, CTSP, ISA Certified Arborist and manager distribution forestry with National Grid We...
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6:23
Lift Plans for Crane-Assisted Technical Rigging
BY ANTHONY TRESSELTCrane-assisted rigging is a complex layering of skills, equipment and knowledge. Like many involved tasks, it looks relatively simple when done well. However, the truth is that when poorly planned, cranes and trees can...
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12:17
Using SPSD to Hone Your Diagnostic and Management Skills, Part 2
BY MICHAEL J. RAUPP, PH.D., AND PAULA M. SHREWSBURY, PH.D.In Part 1 of this article (TCI Magazine, October 2025), we introduced four foundational elements useful in diagnosing problems with trees and shrubs, represented by the acronym SP...
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13:32
CTSP Credential Shows a Commitment to Safety and the Industry
BY TAMSIN VENNRare is the employer who does everything he or she can to help an employee secure their next job. But that was the case with Daniel Miraval, BCMA, and Brianna White, ISA Certified Arborist, co-owners of Emerald Tree Care LL...
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5:15
TCIA Welcomes New Leader for Advocacy
BY PETER GERSTENBERGERThe Tree Care Industry Association in August welcomed George Strout as its Strout will lead TCIA’s efforts to mobilize tree care professionals across the country in support of smart policy and industry advancement. ...
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9:28
“The Informed Gardener” and “The Informed Gardener – Blooms Again”
REVIEWED BY STEVEN F. PREGLERThese two books were written by Linda Chalker-Scott, former urban horticulture extension specialist and a professor in the Department of Horticulture at Washington State University
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4:35
DOL Self-Audit Programs See Expansion and Reimplementation
BY BAILEY GRAVESIn July 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced it reinstated and updated self-audit programs run by its agencies, including the reimplementation of the Wage and Hour Division’s Payroll Audit Independent Determinati...
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4:36
Tariffs and Tree Care Equipment
BY AUSTIN BONNEMAAs a TCIA Board member and a long-time industry participant, I’ve seen plenty of challenges come and go, but few have been as persistent and unpredictable as tariffs. For those of us involved in equipment manufac...
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3:42
Help! How to Attract and Retain Reliable and Qualified Employees
BY BRIAN FAIN, P&C, L&HDay in and day out, I have conversations with many of my clients expressing their frustrations on how to hire and retain reliable, qualified employees. I am sure you will agree that this is one of the more,...
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6:25
Lost in Translation: Avoiding the Pitfalls of the Assumption Trap
BY KATE ZABRISKIE Ever had that moment when a project seemed crystal clear during a meeting, only to find out weeks later that everyone had completely different interpretations? It’s like playing a grown-up version of the game “tele...
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6:53