Forums and online groups for tree workers: three public boards compared from their own pages
Three public tree care discussion boards listed alphabetically, with the sections, size figures and posting terms each one shows on its own pages, and a note on the social media groups with no readable page.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
Public forums are where many climbers and firm owners ask each other questions. This page reports only what each board shows to a visitor who is not logged in: its section list, the counts printed on its index, and the terms it publishes. Posts are not quoted and no member is named. Counts are the figures on the page on October 9, 2026, and a board's own counts change as people post.
| Board | What its pages show |
|---|---|
| Arborist Site, English | Section list headed Tree Care Forums: Commercial Tree Care and Climbing, described as for experienced tree climbers (14.8K threads, 328K messages), Arborist 101 for people new to the business (6K threads, 81.8K messages), a Homeowner Helper forum (10.8K threads), a section for arboricultural injuries and fatalities, and Recreational Tree Climbing (420 threads). It also runs wood carving, forestry and logging, and equipment sections. Forum statistics on its index: 325,302 threads, 7,339,392 messages and 65,478 registered accounts. The Trading Post section requires 30 prior posts and 45 days of membership before selling. |
| Arbtalk, United Kingdom based, English | Sections include Climbers talk, SRT (Single Rope Technique), Rigging and roping, Splicing, Tree health care, Trees and the Law (conservation areas, tree preservation orders and planning), a Homeowners Tree Advice Forum, Training and education (it names NPTC, Lantra and ABA assessments), Business Management, an Insurance Forum, Employment where vacancies are advertised free of charge, and equipment sections. The page offers a news feed, a knot guide, member blogs and a freelancer listing. Its Forum Rules page says posters grant the site a perpetual licence to reproduce what they upload. |
| TreeBuzz Buzzboard, English | Sections include General Discussion (13.6K threads, 216.9K messages), Climber's Talk (5.8K threads, 122.6K messages), Stationary Rope Technique (721 threads), Rigging and Roping (1.7K threads), Crane Use (1.2K threads), a women's section (150 threads) and a section for accidents and close calls (2.1K threads). Forum statistics on its index: 50,318 threads, 784,623 messages and 20,086 registered accounts. |
What the published terms say
Arborist Site's terms of service include a clause that forbids using the site's content to train computer models or for commercial, personal or non-profit projects, and says breaches may bring penalties set by the site owners. Its injuries and fatalities section asks posters to share accident information with links to news articles, and says names do not have to be included. The TreeBuzz terms and rules page says the providers are not responsible for user content, that the service is for users aged 13 or over, that staff may review content and may remove or change it at any time, and that posters keep copyright but grant the service a permanent licence to publish it. Neither text offers a way to verify what a member claims about qualifications.
Reddit and Facebook groups
No official page was open for the Reddit community for arborists on October 9, 2026: its rules and about addresses returned a network security block, so no rule, member count or description is reported here. Facebook groups need an account to read and are not listed. The page makes no claim about their size or rules.
Reading a board as a source
Each board mixes trade advice, homeowner questions and chat. Section descriptions are the board's own wording, and a thread count says how much has been posted, not how accurate it is. The documents behind standards and law questions are described on the standards register and the associations and reading page.
Sources
- Arborist Site, forum index, read October 9, 2026
- Arborist Site, terms and rules, read October 9, 2026
- Arbtalk, home page, read October 9, 2026
- Arbtalk, forum list, read October 9, 2026
- Arbtalk, forum rules, read October 9, 2026
- TreeBuzz, Buzzboard forum list, read October 9, 2026
- TreeBuzz, Buzzboard terms and rules, read October 9, 2026