Lumber Grading School

[nbolte]

So I have recently found out that I have to change my career path, as the regulations require me to have a much higher level of formal education as I am finishing my degree (literally one semester left).

With every challenge comes new possibilities, and the world is my oyster at this point.

I have been looking into the NHLA grading school to be a lumber grader.

I live in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and use wood on a daily basis, and I could see myself doing this. Also, this gives me an opportunity to not be confined to an inside office or cubicle.

My question is are there jobs for graduates out of school? Are graders able to grade independently years down the road? What does the pay look like?

I know little about the field, and I would appreciate the input and advice.

Thank You
NJB

[Ron Wenrich]

Wholesalers, buyers and producers are where there are the main jobs.  One of the larger buyers in my are used to have lumber graders as buyers, and they came out to the mill to inspect the lumber.  Company car and the usual perks.  Pay range looks to be around $40k at mill level.  Zip recruiter has pay range from $33-51k. 

I imagine you could develop into a contract grader.  I knew a couple that did that.  You would have to work with smaller mills.  If you had sales avenues that would make it attractive, then you would be more in demand.  Usually small mills send to a larger operation that does the grading. 

There is also the opportunity to use the grading school as a basis in the industry.  I had a short course in grading and used it in sawing and graded some lumber for sales.  I also was able to develop log grades and figure yields on logs when needed.  Couple that with some other mill studies, and you could offer some services on mill operations.  I did that for a number of years, but sawing as a contractor was my mainstay.

The only drawback may be that lumber inspection may eventually be scanned by machine.  They've been working on it for a number of years, and with technology advancement, it will probably only be a matter of time.  This can also be said for a number of jobs.  It doesn't diminish the usefulness of a NHLA certificate. 

[CJennings]

I toured a sawmill two years ago already using a computer to scan and grade the lumber. The grader was basically relegated to just occasionally checking to see the computer was grading correctly. And filling in if the computer malfunctioned to keep the lumber moving.