Fallers

What the job really is

Use axes or chainsaws to fell trees using knowledge of tree characteristics and cutting techniques to control direction of fall and minimize tree damage.

At a glance

• Sector: Farming, Fishing & Forestry
• O*NET-SOC code: 45-4021
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Stop saw engines, pull cutting bars from cuts, and run to safety as tree falls.
• Appraise trees for certain characteristics, such as twist, rot, and heavy limb growth, and gauge amount and direction of lean, to determine how to control the direction of a tree's fall with the least damage.
• Saw back-cuts, leaving sufficient sound wood to control direction of fall.
• Clear brush from work areas and escape routes, and cut saplings and other trees from direction of falls, using axes, chainsaws, or bulldozers.
• Measure felled trees and cut them into specified log lengths, using chain saws and axes.
• Assess logs after cutting to ensure that the quality and length are correct.
• Determine position, direction, and depth of cuts to be made, and placement of wedges or jacks.
• Control the direction of a tree's fall by scoring cutting lines with axes, sawing undercuts along scored lines with chainsaws, knocking slabs from cuts with single-bit axes, and driving wedges.
• Trim off the tops and limbs of trees, using chainsaws, delimbers, or axes.
• Select trees to be cut down, assessing factors such as site, terrain, and weather conditions before beginning work.
• Maintain and repair chainsaws and other equipment, cleaning, oiling, and greasing equipment, and sharpening equipment properly.
• Insert jacks or drive wedges behind saws to prevent binding of saws and to start trees falling.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, All terrain vehicles ATV, Assisi Compiler, Assisi Software Assisi Inventory, Assisi Software Assisi Manager, Assisi Software Assisi Resource, Auger bits, BCS Woodlands Software The Logger Tracker

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Tree Trimmers and Pruners
• Logging Equipment Operators
• Forest and Conservation Workers
• Log Graders and Scalers
• Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
• Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
• Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
• Rock Splitters, Quarry

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Fallers — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.