A faller is a highly skilled worker specializing in the controlled cutting down of trees in commercial logging operations. This occupation requires an intimate understanding of tree physics and precision cutting to direct a tree’s fall. The job is physically demanding and recognized as a high-risk profession. Fallers combine practical knowledge with advanced training to manage one of the most hazardous processes in the resource sector, ensuring the safe and efficient delivery of raw timber.
What Does a Professional Faller Do?
The primary responsibility of a professional faller involves more than operating a chainsaw. Before any cut is made, the faller must perform a thorough assessment of the tree’s characteristics, including its species, height, diameter, weight distribution, and lean. This pre-felling evaluation involves calculating the desired felling direction and identifying potential hazards in the surrounding work area. Planning the immediate escape route is mandatory.
A distinction exists between a traditional “hand faller” and mechanized operations utilizing a feller buncher. Hand fallers, who use chainsaws, typically take on the most difficult assignments, such as felling trees on steep slopes or in rugged terrain inaccessible to heavy machinery. While the feller buncher is an enclosed machine that cuts and gathers trees, hand fallers manage trees that are too large, located where the machine cannot maneuver, or require maximum control. Ultimately, the faller’s goal is to execute a precise cut that ensures the tree lands cleanly and safely in the intended landing zone to maximize timber recovery.
Required Skills and Training
The faller profession necessitates a combination of physical attributes, mental acumen, and formal qualifications. Physical stamina and dexterity are necessary for maneuvering heavy equipment and working in adverse weather conditions or on uneven ground for extended periods. Equally important are the cognitive skills, such as strong situational awareness and the ability to perform complex risk assessments and make rapid decisions under pressure.
Aspiring fallers typically begin in entry-level logging positions to gain foundational experience before entering specialized training programs. Formal training often includes state or regional logging certifications that focus on advanced chainsaw operation, directional felling principles, and safety compliance. These programs often utilize practical field exercises to build proficiency, and many fallers gain their skills through structured apprenticeships under experienced cutters. Holding current certifications in advanced first aid and CPR is standard, reflecting the remote and hazardous nature of the work environment.
Specialized Tools and Felling Techniques
The faller relies on a suite of specialized tools, with the professional-grade chainsaw serving as the primary instrument for cutting. These saws are high-powered, featuring longer guide bars appropriate for the large-diameter timber found in commercial logging operations. Fallers also carry a selection of felling wedges, which are driven into the back cut to prevent the saw bar from pinching and to help steer the tree in the desired direction.
Directional felling is controlled by three distinct cuts that dictate the physics of the tree’s descent. The faller first creates the notch, or undercut, which establishes the direction of the fall and is typically an open-face notch with an angle of 70 to 90 degrees for maximum control. Next, the back cut is made from the opposite side, stopping short of the notch to leave a section of uncut wood known as the hinge. The hinge wood is the controlling element that guides the tree as it falls, and its consistent thickness is paramount to a controlled fall.
A common technique for challenging trees is the bore cut, where the faller drills the saw bar horizontally into the tree trunk to create the back cut, leaving the hinge intact before releasing the final cut. Rigging equipment, such as ropes and cables, may also be employed in conjunction with machinery to ensure positive control over the tree’s momentum and landing spot.
The Critical Importance of Safety
Safety is the primary consideration in the faller’s work, as logging consistently ranks as one of the most hazardous occupations globally. Fallers face unique and unpredictable hazards, such as “widowmakers”—loose limbs or dead tops suspended in the canopy that can fall without warning. Other dangers include chainsaw kickback, trees “springing” back or twisting upon impact, and “barber chairing.” Barber chairing occurs when a tree splits vertically up the trunk from the stump, creating a powerful, uncontrolled upward and backward thrust.
Mitigation of these risks begins with strict adherence to regulatory standards, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard 29 CFR 1910.266, which covers logging operations in the United States. This standard mandates requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to withstand the hazards of the industry.
Required PPE includes:
- A hard hat that meets ANSI standards.
- Hearing protection.
- Eye and face shields.
- Cut-resistant leg protection, such as chaps or pants made of ballistic nylon.
The regulations also require specific procedural safety measures, including the preparation of two clear escape routes positioned at approximately 45 degrees to the line of fall. Furthermore, all work must cease when environmental conditions, such as high winds or electrical storms, create an unacceptable hazard for felling operations. Fallers must maintain a safe working distance from other crew members, often a distance of two tree lengths, to prevent injury from falling or rolling timber.
Career Outlook and Compensation
Compensation for professional fallers reflects the skill, experience, and inherent danger associated with the occupation. While the median annual wage for logging workers in May 2024 was approximately $49,540, fallers often earn significantly more due to their specialized role. Top-tier, experienced fallers can earn over $90,930 annually. Wages depend on factors like geographic region, the size of the timber being harvested, and the complexity of the terrain.
Despite the projected decline in overall logging employment due to increased mechanization, the job outlook for skilled fallers remains stable. This stability is due to continuous openings from the need to replace workers who exit the profession. Career progression for experienced fallers often leads to supervisory roles, such as becoming a crew boss, or transitioning into safety management and training positions within the timber industry.