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.
Also called: Cutter Operator · Logger · Sawyer · Timber Cutter · Timber Faller · Tree Faller
Median pay (national)
$53,900
$35,620–$84,510 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
4,110
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
-7.3%
~700 openings/yr
Typical entry
High school diploma or equivalent
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for fallers shows a broad range: the top 10% earn $84,510 versus $35,620 at the bottom 10% — 2.4x. The median of $53,900 leaves roughly 57% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change -7.3% from 2024 to 2034 — a projected decline, against +3% across all occupations. Even so, BLS projects about 700 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 23 states with released data, Oregon pays the most for this role (median $84,770, +57% vs the national median), while New York sits lowest at $35,820 — a 137% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Active Listening as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Mathematics
- Active Learning
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Science
- Learning Strategies
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- 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.
- 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.
- Insert jacks or drive wedges behind saws to prevent binding of saws and to start trees falling.
Tools & technology
- Assisi Compiler
- Assisi Software Assisi Inventory
- Assisi Software Assisi Manager
- Assisi Software Assisi Resource
- BCS Woodlands Software The Logger Tracker
- BCS Woodlands Software Woodlands Tracker
- ESRI ArcView
- Geographic information system GIS systems
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mathematics
- Economics and Accounting
- Law and Government