A person interested in working as a lumberjack should have a passion for the outdoors, a desire for adventure, and the ability to react quickly in dangerous situations. Physical strength is also required because, as a lumberjack, you will not only be cutting down large trees but also handling, slicing, and transporting the wood to customers. While no formal education is required, different positions on a logging crew lead to senior positions that can only be obtained through experience.
Working for a lumber company or starting your own business are both viable options for becoming a lumberjack. The former will provide you with the opportunity to learn the trade from more experienced loggers. When it comes to chopping wood, there is also more safety in numbers. The tools and machinery used are extremely dangerous, and having the support of a logging team could mean the difference between life and death in an emergency.
You’ll have to live close to forest habitats and possibly far away from civilization. In the areas where you want to work, there should be lumber companies. To become a lumberjack, you must be willing to start at the bottom and work your way up.
The first jobs you take on your way to becoming a lumberjack will not always be the same roles you’ll fill later in your career. Chokermen are in charge of wrapping large cables around trees after they’ve been cut down for transportation. Because the thick, heavy cables that a chokerman handles can break when tightly wound, this job, like most jobs related to becoming a lumberjack, is extremely dangerous.
Another role in the lumber industry is tree felling. You’ll most likely be working out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a forest with trees that are hundreds of years old and reach hundreds of feet or meters into the sky. A tree’s weight can easily exceed 100 tons.
A feller is a logger who uses a hand tool, such as a chainsaw, to cut down the tree. The tree is cut in such a way that it falls in the direction in which it was cut. To work as a lumberjack, you must be willing to put yourself in danger by felling trees.
Finally, the wood must be chopped, loaded into trucks, and transported. The wood must be transported from the forest to the lumberyard, and then to the end users. Chopping wood entails working with potentially dangerous mechanical equipment, which is all part of pursuing a lumberjack career.