Whether their boots are in the lumberyard or spiked into a tree high above the ground, logging workers know the value of the trees they harvest. The timber they take provides the raw material for hundreds of products for home and business use. Logging workers include several categories: Fallers cut down trees with chain saws and axes, then cut them into measured lengths. Logging equipment operators use heavy machinery for the same tasks. They move the logs to be loaded for transport, and pull stumps and clear brush if required. Log graders and scalers inspect logs to estimate their value. They enter data about trees on hand-held devices, and grade the lumber in the yards where logs are collected before shipping. Logging worker supervisors have years of experience in the field. They train workers, assign jobs, and solve on-site problems to ensure compliance with regulations. Working around falling trees and heavy equipment, logging requires a balance of quick, intelligent decision-making and an appetite for physical work. Workers spend all their time outdoors… often climbing and lifting… sometimes in poor weather. The hazards of logging require rigorous safety practices and equipment. Work is usually more available in warmer months, and may be located in remote, isolated sites. A significant number of logging workers are self-employed. While many logging workers have a high school education, almost all learn on the job.
What they do:
Drive logging tractor or wheeled vehicle equipped with one or more accessories, such as bulldozer blade, frontal shear, grapple, logging arch, cable winches, hoisting rack, or crane boom, to fell tree; to skid, load, unload, or stack logs; or to pull stumps or clear brush. Includes operating stand-alone logging machines, such as log chippers.
On the job, you would:
Inspect equipment for safety prior to use, and perform necessary basic maintenance tasks.
Control hydraulic tractors equipped with tree clamps and booms to lift, swing, and bunch sheared trees.
Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness, and according to established industry or company standards.
Engineering and Technology
mechanical
Safety and Government
public safety and security
Manufactured or Agricultural Goods
manufacture and distribution of products
Basic Skills
keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
Problem Solving
noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Controlled Movement
quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat
use your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down
Hand and Finger Use
keep your arm or hand steady
hold or move items with your hands
Spatial
imagine how something will look after it is moved around or changed
know where things are around you
Vision
decide which thing is closer or farther away from you or decide how far away it is from you
People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.
They do well at jobs that need:
Dependability
Initiative
Self Control
Adaptability/Flexibility
Cooperation
Independence
You might use software like this on the job:
Spreadsheet software
Microsoft Excel
Electronic mail software
Microsoft Outlook
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
SAP software
no high school diploma/GED or high school diploma/GED usually needed
Get started on your career:
New job opportunities are less likely in the future.
In the military:
see titles from the Army or Navy.
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