OLEAN — Jason Tucker has loved being outdoors all his life. From the time he was a child, he felt happiest being outside in nature — running, playing, climbing.
As he grew older, outdoor sports, hunting and fishing, camping, and hiking were favorite pastimes. After graduating from Allegany-Limestone High School he attended BOCES and studied welding, heavy equipment, natural resources and how to become an arborist, graduating in 2007.
At BOCES all the students were involved in a maple syrup project that involved tree cutting, moving metal and making something out of it.
“It was awesome working with the metal and creating something new out of it,” Jason said. “I highly recommend BOCES, the hands-on experience is better than just paperwork.”
At the beginning of his career he turned to right-of-way clearing and seeding, skills he had learned during his studies. But seasonal work was hard to manage so, with his welding degree from BOCES, he began using that skill, working as a traveling welder on pipeline projects for 11 years.
But he liked working with trees so much — and climbing them — that as a hobby he began to participate in tree felling competitions where competitors are timed on how fast they can climb and fell a tree or limbs marked with flags “out on a limb.”
He did PV “log rolls”, using a special tool to roll logs 100 feet, timed. He placed second out of 58 over a three-day competition. He participated in pole racing, where participants race up a pole, and the best time up and down wins.
There was also axe throwing, “It’s like throwing darts with a miniature axe,” he said. “In fact, there’s a restaurant in Ellicottville called Ratchet Hatchet that has an inside target.”
He still felt a yearning for a life that involved nature and trees. He decided to take a chance and start his own business. As many people in need of tree services know, the wait for service can be very long. As the owner of a new business he felt he could provide a timely response, and also work cooperatively with other arborists.
In 2020, he changed careers and started Tucker’s Tree Service, (585) 307-1857. Already he’s received a high rating from the Better Business Bureau and is fully licensed and insured.
Thanks to his BOCES training he was able to switch from welder to arborist easily. He’s grateful for the broad education he received there, again highlighting the welding, heavy equipment, and natural resources education he received.
“It’s invaluable to someone looking for a career,” he said.
BOCES does offer variations of that curriculum, and much more, at its Olean campus and at centers in Ellicottville and Belmont. Offerings include animal science, collision repair and auto body technology, audio visual production, cosmetology, early childhood education, healthcare and other career training — for teens as well as adults.
Changing careers takes some courage, but Tucker felt he wanted to be doing something he enjoyed, and climbing trees for him is the ultimate. He loves felling trees, trimming them, and doing all the tasks involved with complete removal, shaping, hedging, pruning, and stump grinding.
“Topping trees is not healthy for the tree, so that I prefer not to do,” he said.
Full-time now, he loves being outdoors in all conditions, so this is a life that suits him. His dreams of doing this are fulfilled thanks to his BOCES education, and he’s happy to be off the pipeline and into the trees.