Occupation Details
Tree Trimmers and Pruners
Using sophisticated climbing and rigging techniques, cut 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. Prune or treat 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.
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Interests
Realistic
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Work Values
Relationships
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Support
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Independence
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Salary & Job Outlook
Starting Salary
$43,510.00
New York StateMedian Salary
$61,120.00
New York StateExperienced Salary
$68,570.00
New York StateNational Average for Comparison
New York State Job Market Outlook
Jobs Right Now (2018)
3,730
professionals in NYFuture Job Growth (2030)
4,480
+75 jobs/yearNew Jobs Every Year
604
new opportunities yearlyGrowth Rate
0.2%
projected increasePreparation: Experience, Training, and Education
The list below outlines the prior educational experience required to perform in this occupation.
Some Training - Certificate or hands-on training
Experience Requirements
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Requirements
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Training Details
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Transferrable Skills and Experience
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include orderlies, counter and rental clerks, customer service representatives, security guards, upholsterers, tellers, and dental laboratory technicians.
School Programs
School Programs information is not available for this occupation.
Licensing & Certification
State License and Certifications Requirements are not currently associated with this occupation.
Apprenticeship
Contact your regional representative to learn more about apprenticeships available in your area by visiting Apprenticeship Contacts.
Skills
The list below includes the skills required by workers in this occupation; skills are what allow you to learn more quickly and improve your performance.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Skill level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Knowledge
The list below includes knowledge items, the principles and facts required by this occupation.
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Mechanical
Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Public Safety and Security
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Production and Processing
Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Transportation
Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Education and Training
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Administration and Management
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Knowledge level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Work Environment
The list below includes the physical and social factors that influence the nature of work in this occupation.
Hover over or tap each factor to see its description.
Work Styles
Included in the list below are the personal work style characteristics that can affect how well a worker is likely to perform in this occupation.
Achievement/Effort
Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Attention to Detail
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Concern for Others
Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Cooperation
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Leadership
Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Persistence
Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Self-Control
Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Tools & Technology
This list below describes the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology that workers in this occupation will use.
Tools
- Agricultural augers
- Boom trucks
- Brush chippers
- Brush trucks
- Bucket trucks
- Bypass pruners
- Cargo trailers
- Chemical mixers
- Chipper shredders
- Chipper trucks
- Climbing hooks
- Cordless power saws
- Dump trucks
- Felling wedges
- Garden shovels
- Gas hedge trimmers
- Hacksaws
- Hand pruners
- Hand-held grab hooks
- Handheld sprayers
- Hard hats
- Hedge clippers
- Hydraulic chemical sprayers
- Hydraulic pruners
- Hydraulic stick saws
- Limbing axes
- Loader backhoes
- Long-handled clippers
- Loppers
- Measuring tapes
Technology
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Outlook
Duties
Duties are job behaviors describing activities that occur on multiple jobs. The generalized and detailed work activities described in the list below apply to this occupation.
- advise clients or customers
- develop budgets
- monitor worker performance
- direct and coordinate activities of workers or staff
- demonstrate or explain assembly or use of equipment
- repair and maintain grounds keeping equipment and tools
- use plant disease control techniques
- recognize plant diseases
- use chain saws
- use hand or power tools
- use high voltage apparatus
- operate agricultural equipment or machinery
- use herbicides, fertilizers, pesticides or related products
- mix paint, ingredients, or chemicals, according to specifications
- use portable hand spray equipment
- climb ladders, scaffolding, or utility or telephone poles
- move or fit heavy objects
- fell or buck trees
- drive truck with capacity greater than 3 tons
- operate tractor with accessories or attachments
- use truck-mounted hydraulic lifts or other accessories
Tasks
The list below outlines specific tasks that a worker in this occupation is called upon to do regularly.
- Operate shredding and chipping equipment, and feed limbs and brush into the machines.
- Operate boom trucks, loaders, stump chippers, brush chippers, tractors, power saws, trucks, sprayers, and other equipment and tools.
- Clean, sharpen, and lubricate tools and equipment.
- Cut away dead and excess branches from trees, or clear branches around power lines, using climbing equipment or buckets of extended truck booms, or chainsaws, hooks, handsaws, shears, and clippers.
- Hoist tools and equipment to tree trimmers, and lower branches with ropes or block and tackle.
- Climb trees, using climbing hooks and belts, or climb ladders to gain access to work areas.
- Supervise others engaged in tree trimming work and train lower-level employees.
- Trim, top, and reshape trees to achieve attractive shapes or to remove low-hanging branches.
- Plan and develop budgets for tree work, and estimate the monetary value of trees.
- Load debris and refuse onto trucks and haul it away for disposal.
- Inspect trees to determine if they have diseases or pest problems.
- Prune, cut down, fertilize, and spray trees as directed by tree surgeons.
- Provide information to the public regarding trees, such as advice on tree care.
- Trim jagged stumps, using saws or pruning shears.
- Clear sites, streets, and grounds of woody and herbaceous materials, such as tree stumps and fallen trees and limbs.
- Collect debris and refuse from tree trimming and removal operations into piles, using shovels, rakes, or other tools.
- Remove broken limbs from wires, using hooked extension poles.
- Water, root-feed, and fertilize trees.
- Cable, brace, tie, bolt, stake, and guy trees and branches to provide support.
- Scrape decayed matter from cavities in trees and fill holes with cement to promote healing and to prevent further deterioration.
- Install lightning protection on trees.
- Spray trees to treat diseased or unhealthy trees, including mixing chemicals and calibrating spray equipment.
- Apply tar or other protective substances to cut surfaces or seal surfaces and to protect them from fungi and insects.
- Transplant and remove trees and shrubs, and prepare trees for moving.
- Split logs or wooden blocks into bolts, pickets, posts, or stakes, using hand tools such as ax wedges, sledgehammers, and mallets.
- Harvest tanbark by cutting rings and slits in bark and stripping bark from trees, using spuds or axes.
Learning Resources
More information on this occupation may be found in the links provided below.
Grounds maintenance workers
Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
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