Wood treaters
Wood treaters operate and tend wood treatment processing equipment and machines to remove bark from logs, produce wood chips, season, preserve and treat wood, and produce waferboards, particleboards, hardboards, insulation boards, plywood, veneers and similar wood products.
Skill level: Semi-skilledCheck your pay
- Salary range for the majority of workers in Wood treaters - from R8 510 to R36 951 per month - 2025.
- A Wood treaters typically earns between R8 510 and R16 937 net per month at the start of the job.
- After 5 years of service, this is between R10 067 and R22 187 per month for a working week of 45 hours.
Salary Check
Duties and tasks
- Operating and tending kilns, treating tanks and other equipment to dry lumber, prepare and season wood and other wood products, and to impregnate wood products with preservatives
- Monitoring equipment operation, gauges, and panel lights in order to detect deviations from standards and to ensure that processes are operating according to specifications
- Operating valves to admit treating solution into treatment vessels, maintain specified heat, vacuum and hydraulic pressure and levels of solution during each phase of the treatment cycle
- Activating vacuum and hydraulic pressure pumps that remove air and steam from retorts and force treating solution into pores of wood to accelerate the treatment process
- Assisting in maintaining processing equipment and machines as required
- Cleaning, lubricating and adjusting equipment
- Transporting materials and products to and from work areas manually or using carts, handtrucks or hoists
- Completing and maintaining production reports