How much does a logging equipment operator make?

The median pay is $23.91 per hour — roughly $49,500 a year, with the real range running from about $16.91/hr (10th percentile) to $35.72/hr (90th percentile). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Do you need a degree to be a logging equipment operator?

The typical entry-level education is: High school diploma. Overall preparation level: little or no preparation (Job Zone 1 of 5).

What does a logging equipment operator actually do all day?

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.

Farming & Outdoors

Logging Equipment Operators

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.

What it pays
Logging Equipment Operators earn a median of $23.91/hr — about $49,500 a year. The lowest-paid 10% earn $16.91/hr; the top 10% earn $35.72/hr. (Annual figures are approximate: hourly × 2,080.)

What you'd actually do

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.

How you get there

Typical entry-level education: High school diploma. Overall preparation: little or no preparation (Job Zone 1 of 5).

The feel of the work

Much of the work happens outdoors. (Compared against the other 818 careers in the guide.)

Working for yourself

About 29.1% of logging equipment operators are self-employed.

Who it tends to fit

This work tends to fit people who are hands-on and organized and detail-focused.

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Quick questions

How much does a logging equipment operator make?: The median pay is $23.91 per hour — roughly $49,500 a year, with the real range running from about $16.91/hr (10th percentile) to $35.72/hr (90th percentile). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Do you need a degree to be a logging equipment operator?: The typical entry-level education is: High school diploma. Overall preparation level: little or no preparation (Job Zone 1 of 5).
What does a logging equipment operator actually do all day?: 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.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS. Tasks & interests: O*NET. Career pathways shown in the app are draft archetypes — verify before relying on them. Trailhead is a free career guide for students — honest numbers, no hype.

Trailhead is operated by FLEXVermont LLC. It is intended for high-school students age 13 and older, and the educators and families who support them, and is not directed to children under 13. Trailhead is provided for general informational and educational purposes only. It does not offer professional, financial, or career advice, and its wage figures and pathways are estimates that may not fit your situation — they should not be relied on as the sole basis for any decision.