Logging Equipment Operators
SOC: 45-4022.00

Description:

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.

National Salary Information:

Hourly Statistics:

Annual Statistics:

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015 wage data.

Employment Projections:

Employment (2014):
37,300 employed

Projected (2024):
37,100 employed

Projected growth (2014-2024)


Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015 2014-2024 employment projections external site. "Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2014-2024). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Alternate Titles:

  • Boom Operator
  • Buncher Operator
  • Chain Hooker
  • Chain Saw Operator
  • Chipper Operator
  • Cutter Operator
  • Delimber Operator
  • Feller Buncher Operator
  • Feller Operator
  • Forder Operator
  • Grapple Operator
  • Grapple Skidder Operator
  • Harvester Operator
  • Hook Tender
  • Loader Operator
  • Log Carrier Operator
  • Log Handling Equipment Operator
  • Log Hauler
  • Log Loader
  • Log Processor Operator
  • Log Stacker Operator
  • Log Truck Driver
  • Logger
  • Logging Crane Operator
  • Logging Equipment Operator
  • Logging Shovel Operator
  • Logging Tractor Operator
  • Lumber Carrier Operator
  • Lumber Stacker Driver
  • Lumber Stacker Operator
  • Machine Operator
  • Mobile Heavy Equipment Operator
  • Processor Operator
  • Shift Stacker
  • Shovel Logger
  • Skidder Driver
  • Skidder Operator
  • Slasher Operator
  • Stroke Delimber Operator
  • Timber Harvester Operator
  • Tractor Driver
  • Tree Cutter Loader Operator
  • Tree Feller Operator
  • Tree Shear Operator
  • Tree-Shear Operator
  • Truck Driver
  • Yarder Operator

    • Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed

    Experience:

    Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.

    Education:

    Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.

    Job Training:

    Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.

    Required Skills:

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Active Listening
  • Writing
  • Speaking
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Critical Thinking
  • Active Learning
  • Learning Strategies
  • Monitoring
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Coordination
  • Persuasion
  • Negotiation
  • Instructing
  • Service Orientation
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Equipment Selection
  • Operation Monitoring
  • Operation and Control
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Troubleshooting
  • Repairing
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Systems Analysis
  • Systems Evaluation
  • Time Management
  • Management of Financial Resources
  • Management of Material Resources
  • Management of Personnel Resources

    • Knowledge Used:

  • Administration and Management
  • Clerical
  • Economics and Accounting
  • Sales and Marketing
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Personnel and Human Resources
  • Production and Processing
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Design
  • Building and Construction
  • Mechanical
  • Mathematics
  • Chemistry
  • Geography
  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Education and Training
  • English Language
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Law and Government
  • Telecommunications
  • Transportation

    • Tasks:

  • Inspect equipment for safety prior to use, and perform necessary basic maintenance tasks.
  • Drive straight or articulated tractors equipped with accessories such as bulldozer blades, grapples, logging arches, cable winches, and crane booms, to skid, load, unload, or stack logs, pull stumps, or clear brush.
  • Drive crawler or wheeled tractors to drag or transport logs from felling sites to log landing areas for processing and loading.
  • Drive tractors for the purpose of building or repairing logging and skid roads.
  • Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness, and according to established industry or company standards.
  • Control hydraulic tractors equipped with tree clamps and booms to lift, swing, and bunch sheared trees.
  • Drive and maneuver tractors and tree harvesters to shear the tops off of trees, cut and limb the trees, and cut the logs into desired lengths.
  • Fill out required job or shift report forms.
  • Calculate total board feet, cordage, or other wood measurement units, using conversion tables.

    • Tools & Technology:

  • Cable skidders
  • Delimbers
  • Desktop computers
  • Digital tire pressure gauges
  • Drive-to-tree feller bunchers
  • Equipment trailers
  • Felling heads
  • Forestry crawler dozers
  • Forestry hoes
  • Forestry swing machines
  • Forwarders
  • Grapple skidders
  • Grapple yarders
  • Harvesting heads
  • Heavy duty chainsaws
  • Knuckleboom loaders
  • Loading grapples
  • Log forks
  • Log loaders
  • Log stackers
  • Log trailers
  • Log transport trucks
  • Log winches
  • Loggers' tapes
  • Mobile radios
  • Nailing hammers
  • Pocket knives
  • Processing heads
  • Protective safety glasses
  • Scarifier attachments
  • Tablet computers
  • Tracked feller bunchers
  • Tracked harvesters
  • Tractor cranes
  • Tree saws
  • Truck mounted boom loaders
  • Wheeled harvesters
  • Yarding grapples
  • BCS Woodlands Systems The Logger Tracker
  • TradeTec TallyWorks Logs
  • TradeTec TallyWorks TimeTracker

    • farming fishing and forestry

    industry stats

    SOC: 45-0000

    Total Employed: 454,230

    Average Annual Salary: $26,360