Profession forestry equipment operator

Forestry equipment operators carry out operations with specialised equipment in the forest to maintain, harvest, extract and forward wood for the manufacturing of consumer goods and industrial products.

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Personality Type

Skills

  • Carry out routine maintenance of wood cutting machinery

    Inspect, clean, service and maintain the power unit in accordance with manufacturer requirements and industry guidelines. Inspect components within the power unit and maintain cutting systems in accordance with manufacturer recommendations by using appropriate tools to replace damaged, missing or worn components. Report appropriately on any defects. Carry out routine operator maintenance by performing pre-start checks and setting the machine for the use of reassemble chainsaws and cutting systems to their functional or operational standards.

  • Load timber onto a skidder

    Load timber onto the skidder. Move trees and timber to an accumulation point and unload it for processing.

  • Identify trees to fell

    Identify trees to fell and position machine to fell trees in the required direction, in both clear-fell and thinning.

  • Spray pesticides

    Spray pesticide solutions to keep insects, fungus, weed growth, and diseases under control.

  • Assess hazards implied in tree operations

    Evaluate risks and hazards, perform efficient actions in order to minimize risks and to restore the trees to their orginal state or to replant new ones.

  • Maintain the security of machinery

    Maintain the security of site machinery and equipment.

  • Assess felled timber volume

    Measure the amount of timber felled using appropriate equipment. Take care of the equipment. Record the measured data.

  • Operate forestry machinery

    Operate machinery on and off road for harvesting, forwarding and transportation of wood.

  • Minimise environmental impact on the surrounding area

    Minimise the waste of materials and dispose of debris correctly. Minimise the damage to plants, features and surrounding areas.

  • Drive timber machine

    Drive and manoeuver the machine to the timber in a safe and effective way within site restraints.

  • Fell trees

    Fell trees safely and effectively to specification.

  • Manage logs segregation and stacking

    Stack and segregate logs to enable ease of extraction, including placement of brash clear of timber zone.

  • Process arisings from treework operations

    Prepare arisings in accordance with the specification, the site, relevant legislation and industry guidelines . Process arisings appropriate to their condition, the specification and the site requirement.

  • Assess felled timber quality

    Evaluate the quality of the felled timber.

  • Process timber using hand-fed machinery

    Use hand-fed machinery for timber processing. Saw with a mobile saw bench, mechanically process firewood, split stakes, and use pointing machines, peelers and wood chippers.

  • De-limb trees

    De-limb trees ensuring that the quality is within specified limits.

  • Select tree felling methods

    Select the appropriate felling method for the tree size and condition. Adhere to the given specification.

  • Prepare emergency treework operations

    Prepare and perform emergency tree work operations, typically as a result of car accidents involving the tree, damage due to storms, tree disease or infestation.

  • Extract coppice

    Cut coppice to promote healthy re-growth of the coppice stool. Extract cut coppice using methods appropriate to the site and amount of material.

Optional knowledge and skills

provide first aid limit load to prevent damage maintain edged hand tools operate gps systems work independently in forestry services harvest timber sharpen edged tools report to the team leader timber products attach protective attachments to timber piles forest conservation agronomy advise on timber harvest forecast timber production maintain forest inventory use hand tools for forestry work forest ecology comply with timber trade code of conduct advise on timber-based products maintain forestry equipment report pollution incidents use ict systems forecast workload inspect timber

Source: Sisyphus ODB