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.

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Fill out required job or shift report forms.
  • Drive tractors for the purpose of building or repairing logging and skid roads.
  • 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.
  • Calculate total board feet, cordage, or other wood measurement units, using conversion tables.
Work Context

Work Context information for this career will be available soon.

Work Activities
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment — Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Inspect equipment or facilities to determine condition or maintenance needs.
  • Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
  • Operate forestry equipment.
  • Operate forestry equipment.
  • Operate forestry equipment.
  • Evaluate log quality.
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Knowledge

Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Skills

Operation and Control
  • Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Operation Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Equipment Maintenance
  • Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Active Listening
  • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
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Abilities

Control Precision
  • The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Reaction Time
  • The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Multilimb Coordination
  • The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Data base user interface and query software
  • BCS Woodlands Systems The Logger Tracker
Inventory management software
  • TradeTec TallyWorks Logs
Human resources software
  • TradeTec TallyWorks TimeTracker