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

  • Realistic / Conventional
  • Realistic / Investigative

Skills

  • Fell trees

    Fell trees safely and effectively to specification.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Select tree felling methods

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

  • Spray pesticides

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

  • 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.

  • Assess felled timber quality

    Evaluate the quality of the felled timber.

  • Identify trees to fell

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

  • Load timber onto a skidder

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

  • Operate forestry machinery

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

  • 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.

  • Drive timber machine

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

  • Assess felled timber volume

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

  • De-limb trees

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Maintain the security of machinery

    Maintain the security of site machinery and equipment.

  • Manage logs segregation and stacking

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

  • 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.

Optional knowledge and skills

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

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