About This Career

Using sophisticated climbing and rigging techniques, cuts away dead or excess branches from trees or shrubs to maintain right-of-way for roads, sidewalks, or utilities, or to improve appearance, health, and value of tree. Prunes or treats trees or shrubs using handsaws, hand pruners, clippers, and power pruners. Works off the ground in the tree canopy and may use truck-mounted lifts.

This career is part of the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources cluster Plant Systems pathway.

A person in this career:

• Operates shredding and chipping equipment, and feeds limbs and brushes into the machines.
• Operates boom trucks, loaders, stump chippers, brush chippers, tractors, power saws, trucks, sprayers, and other equipment and tools.
• Cuts away dead and excess branches from trees, or clears branches around power lines, using climbing equipment or buckets of extended truck booms, or chainsaws, hooks, handsaws, shears, and clippers.
• Cleans, sharpens, and lubricates tools and equipment.
• Hoists tools and equipment to tree trimmers, and lowers branches with ropes or block and tackle.
• Climbs trees, using climbing hooks and belts, or climbs ladders to gain access to work areas.
• Supervises others engaged in tree trimming work and trains lower-level employees.
• Trims, tops, and reshapes trees to achieve attractive shapes or to remove low-hanging branches.
• Inspects trees to determine if they have diseases or pest problems.
• Loads debris and refuse onto trucks and hauls it away for disposal.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
• Work at heights above 8 feet more than once a month on structures such as ladders, poles, scaffolding, and catwalks

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
• Maintaining a body position that prevents falling when in an unstable position
• Moving the arms, legs and torso together when the whole body is in motion
• Judging how far away an object is, or which of several objects is closer or farther away
• Using muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Exerting oneself physically over long periods of time without getting out of breath
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Seasonal work