Logging Workers
Career, Salary and Education Information
What They Do: Logging workers harvest forests to provide the raw material for many consumer goods and industrial products.
Work Environment: Logging is physically demanding and can be dangerous. Workers spend all their time outdoors, sometimes in poor weather and often in isolated areas.
How to Become One: Most logging workers have a high school diploma. They get on-the-job training to become familiar with forest environments and to learn how to operate logging machinery.
Salary: The median annual wage for logging workers is $46,330.
Job Outlook: Overall employment of logging workers is projected to decline 4 percent over the next ten years.
Related Careers: Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of logging workers with similar occupations.
Following is everything you need to know about a career as a logging worker with lots of details. As a first step, take a look at some of the following jobs, which are real jobs with real employers. You will be able to see the very real job career requirements for employers who are actively hiring. The link will open in a new tab so that you can come back to this page to continue reading about the career:
Top 3 Logging Jobs
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Sample Catcher Trainees / Mud Logger
- Excellence Logging LLC
- Lubbock, TX
Excellence Logging is a specialist oilfield services company with a focus on providing customers safe, and more technically advanced geological, surface formation evaluation, drilling monitoring, and ...
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Mud Logging Geologist
- MCWL Paladin Geological Services
- Norman, OK
MCWL Paladin is looking for applicants for open positions in Mud Logging for West Texas/Permian Basin/Delaware Basin area. Ideal candidates would have 3-5 years of experience throughout the Permian ...
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Choker Setter / Rigging Slinger
- Mobile Salvage Logging
- Springfield, OR
Looking for a full-time choker setter, with or without experience. Job tasks may include (but are not limited to): 1) Fastens choker cables around logs for yarding from cutting area to landing: Pulls ...
What Logging Workers Do[About this section] [To Top]
Logging workers harvest thousands of acres of forests each year. The timber they harvest provides the raw material for countless consumer and industrial products.
Duties of Logging Workers
Logging workers typically do the following:
- Cut down trees
- Fasten cables around logs to be dragged by tractors
- Operate machinery that drag logs to the landing or deck area
- Separate logs by species and type of wood and load them onto trucks
- Drive and maneuver feller—buncher tree harvesters to shear trees and cut logs into desired lengths
- Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness
- Inspect equipment for safety, and perform necessary basic maintenance tasks, before using the equipment
The cutting and logging of timber is done by a logging crew. The following are examples of types of logging workers:
Fallers cut down trees with hand-held power chain saws.
Buckers work alongside fallers, trimming the tops and branches of felled trees and bucking (cutting) the logs into specific lengths.
Tree climbers use special equipment to scale tall trees and remove their limbs. They carry heavy tools and safety gear as they climb the trees, and are kept safe by a harness attached to a rope.
Choke setters fasten steel cables or chains, known as chokers, around logs to be skidded (dragged) by tractors or forwarded by the cable-yarding system to the landing or deck area, where the logs are separated by species and type of product.
Rigging slingers and chasers set up and dismantle the cables and guy wires of the yarding system.
Log sorters, markers, movers, and chippers sort, mark, and move logs on the basis of their species, size, and ownership. They also tend machines that chip up logs.
Logging equipment operators use tree harvesters to fell trees, shear off tree limbs, and cut trees into desired lengths. They drive tractors and operate self-propelled machines called skidders or forwarders, which drag or otherwise transport logs to a loading area.
Log graders and scalers inspect logs for defects and measure the logs to determine their volume. They estimate the value of logs or pulpwood. These workers often use hand-held data collection devices into which they enter data about trees.
A logging crew might consist of the following members:
- one or two tree fallers or one or two logging equipment operators with a tree harvester to cut down trees
- one bucker to cut logs
- two choke setters with tractors to drag felled trees to the loading deck
- one logging equipment operator to delimb, cut logs to length, and load the logs onto trucks
Work Environment for Logging Workers[About this section] [To Top]
Logging workers hold about 48,500 jobs. Employment in the detailed occupations that make up logging workers is distributed as follows:
| Logging equipment operators | 34,300 |
| Fallers | 5,600 |
| Log graders and scalers | 4,500 |
| Logging workers, all other | 4,200 |
The largest employers of logging workers are as follows:
| Self-employed workers | 24% |
| Sawmills and wood preservation | 12% |
| Crop production | 2% |
| Support activities for agriculture and forestry | 0% |
Logging is physically demanding and can be dangerous. Workers spend all their time outdoors, sometimes in poor weather and often in isolated areas. The increased use of enclosed machines has decreased some of the discomforts caused by bad weather and has generally made logging much safer.
Most logging work involves lifting, climbing, and other strenuous activities, although machinery has eliminated some heavy labor. Falling branches, vines, and rough terrain are constant hazards, as are dangers associated with felling trees and handling logs.
Chain saws and other power equipment can be dangerous; therefore, workers must be careful and must use proper safety measures and equipment, such as hardhats, safety clothing, hearing protection devices, and boots.
Injuries and Illnesses for Logging Workers
Despite the industry’s strong emphasis on safety, logging workers sometimes get injured on the job. And although fatalities are uncommon, fallers experience one of the highest rates of occupational fatalities of all occupations. Most fatalities occur through contact with a machine or an object, such as a log.
Logging Worker Work Schedules
Workers sometimes commute long distances between their homes and logging sites. In more densely populated states, commuting distances are shorter. Logging work is often seasonal, and workers can find more employment opportunities during the warmer months because snow and cold weather adversely affect working conditions.
How to Become a Logging Worker[About this section] [To Top]
Get the education you need: Find schools for Logging Workers near you!
Most logging workers have a high school diploma. They get on-the-job training to become familiar with forest environments and to learn how to operate logging machinery.
Education for Logging Workers
A high school diploma is enough for most logging worker jobs. Some vocational or technical schools and community colleges offer associate's degrees or certificates in forest technology. This additional education may help workers get a job. Programs may include field trips to observe or participate in logging activities.
A few community colleges offer education programs for logging equipment operators.
Logging Worker Training
Many states have training programs for loggers. Although specific coursework may vary by state, programs usually include technical instruction or field training in a number of areas, including best management practices, environmental compliance, and reforestation.
Safety training is a vital part of logging workers' instruction. Many state forestry or logging associations provide training sessions for logging equipment operators, whose jobs require more technical skill than other logging positions. Sessions take place in the field, where trainees have the opportunity to practice various logging techniques and use particular equipment.
Logging companies and trade associations offer training programs for workers who operate large, expensive machinery and equipment. These programs often culminate in a state-recognized safety certification from the logging company.
Important Qualities for Logging Workers
Communication skills. Logging workers must communicate with other crew members so that they can cut and delimb trees efficiently and safely.
Decisionmaking skills. Logging workers must make quick, intelligent decisions when hazards arise.
Detail oriented. Logging workers must watch gauges, dials, and other indicators to determine whether their equipment and tools are working properly.
Physical stamina. Logging workers need to be able to perform laborious tasks repeatedly.
Physical strength. Logging workers must be able to handle heavy equipment.
Logging Worker Salaries[About this section] [More salary/earnings info] [To Top]
The median annual wage for logging workers is $46,330. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $28,810, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $61,560.
Median annual wages for logging workers are as follows:
| Fallers | $47,700 |
| Logging equipment operators | $46,400 |
| Logging workers, all other | $46,090 |
| Log graders and scalers | $37,820 |
The median annual wages for logging workers in the top industries in which they work are as follows:
| Sawmills and wood preservation | $37,170 |
Workers sometimes commute long distances between their homes and logging sites. In more densely populated states, commuting distances are shorter. Logging work is often seasonal, and workers can find more employment opportunities during the warmer months because snow and cold weather adversely affect working conditions.
Job Outlook for Logging Workers[About this section] [To Top]
Overall employment of logging workers is projected to decline 4 percent over the next ten years.
Despite declining employment, about 7,200 openings for logging workers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. All of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Employment of Logging Workers
Projected employment of logging workers varies by occupation. The mechanization of logging operations and improvements in logging equipment have increased productivity, which is expected to reduce demand for logging workers, especially those who work by hand. However, the need to prevent destructive wildfires by thinning susceptible forests is expected to support some demand for logging workers.
| Occupational Title | Employment, 2021 | Projected Employment, 2031 | Change, 2021-31 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | Numeric | |||
| Logging workers | 48,500 | 46,700 | -4 | -1,800 |
| Fallers | 5,600 | 5,100 | -9 | -500 |
| Logging equipment operators | 34,300 | 33,200 | -3 | -1,100 |
| Log graders and scalers | 4,500 | 4,600 | 4 | 200 |
| Logging workers, all other | 4,200 | 3,800 | -8 | -300 |
More Logging Worker Information[About this section] [To Top]
For information about timber-cutting and logging careers, visit
A portion of the information on this page is used by permission of the U.S. Department of Labor.