Forestry Logger

You fell marked trees with a chainsaw on slopes above the Vrbanja, limb them, and cut the trunk into the lengths the forest office sets for each assortment. Logs are measured with a tape and a caliper, marked with the plate number and entered on the delivery slip before the skidder winches them down to the landing. You sharpen and refuel the saw yourself, check the chain brake before every start, and hold the felling distance from the rest of the crew. Work starts at first light and ends by 15:00, and you report to the forest ranger.

At least five years of felling with a chainsaw

Directional felling with wedges on a slope

Own saw maintenance, chain sharpening and carburettor setting

Measuring and grading logs by assortment

Fit for a full day of walking on rough ground

Sober and steady, with respect for the felling distance

Basic English for machine labels and safety pictograms

Net salary from 535 up to 590 EUR per month

Permanent contract with pay on a fixed date

Field allowance for every day spent in the forest

Warm meal and drinking water brought to the felling site

Transport from Kotor Varos and the villages up the valley

Chainsaw, fuel and chain oil provided by the employer

Cut resistant trousers, helmet with visor and ear defenders

A logger who knows the assortments can take the log scaling course and move to the landing as a measurer, which is indoor paperwork and outdoor tally in equal parts. The employer pays the course.

The whole day is spent outdoors on forest slopes in every kind of weather, with a container at the landing for breaks and dry clothes. Helmet with visor, ear defenders, cut resistant trousers and boots are mandatory.