Explore by Career/Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
Fallers
Use axes or chainsaws to fell trees using knowledge of tree characteristics and cutting techniques to control direction of fall and minimize tree damage.
- Median pay
- $53,900
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- -7.3%
- Declining
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Listening
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
What they do
- 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.
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Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.