Skip to main content

Occupational Employment Statistics


DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA

45-4023 Log Graders and Scalers



Grade logs or estimate the marketable content or value of logs or pulpwood in sorting yards, millpond, log deck, or similar locations. Inspect logs for defects or measure logs to determine volume. Excludes “Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products" (13-1021).

Geography Click link for Career Profile EmploymentEmp SE*Percentiles
Mean10th25thMedian75th90th
Northwest Minnesota         
Minnesota         
U S 3,640233$23.24/hr$16.31/hr$18.74/hr$22.50/hr$27.18/hr$30.76/hr


IndustryOES Employment (Statewide)OES Median Wage (Statewide)
Natural Resources and MiningN/AN/A
 
Geography Click link for details EmploymentMedian WageProjections
% Change -10-
Central Minnesota N/AN/AN/A
Northeast Minnesota N/AN/AN/A
Northwest Minnesota N/AN/AN/A
Duluth MN-WI MSA N/AN/AN/A
La Crosse WI-MN MSA N/AN/AN/A
Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington MN-WI MSA N/AN/AN/A
Minnesota N/AN/AN/A
Northwest Balance of State N/AN/AN/A
Northeast Balance of State N/AN/AN/A


Occupations Click link for details EmploymentMedian WageProjections
% Change 2022-2032
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping 400$23.59/hr-3.1%
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers 10,470$24.40/hr2.5%
Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks 13,900$22.63/hr-5.3%


  • Tend conveyor chains that move logs to and from scaling stations.
  • Measure log lengths and mark boles for bucking into logs, according to specifications.
  • Evaluate log characteristics and determine grades, using established criteria.
  • Record data about individual trees or load volumes into tally books or hand-held collection terminals.
  • Jab logs with metal ends of scale sticks, and inspect logs to ascertain characteristics or defects such as water damage, splits, knots, broken ends, rotten areas, twists, and curves.
  • Measure felled logs or loads of pulpwood to calculate volume, weight, dimensions, and marketable value, using measuring devices and conversion tables.
  • Weigh log trucks before and after unloading, and record load weights and supplier identities.
  • Paint identification marks of specified colors on logs to identify grades or species, using spray cans, or call out grades to log markers.
  • Identify logs of substandard or special grade so that they can be returned to shippers, regraded, recut, or transferred for other processing.
  • Drive to sawmills, wharfs, or skids to inspect logs or pulpwood.