I got this because my nephew is thinking about timber work and I wanted to sound informed. Chapter 1 was genuinely eye-opening - I had no idea scalers dealt with truck drivers arguing over every log. The salary numbers in Chapter 4 made me realize it's not the quick path to cash I thought. It's a solid guide, but I wished it had photos or diagrams of what a 'defect' actually looks like. Fine for what it is.

I'm 34 and miserable in my warehouse job, and this book absolutely gave me the reality check I needed - both good and bad. The day-in-the-life chapter is worth the price alone: it walks you through the rain, the mud, the scale stick, and the frustrating drivers, but also the genuine satisfaction of calling a grade right. I used the self-assessment checklist in Chapter 2 and realized I'm exactly the kind of person who'd like this work. I've already applied to a mill that's hiring trainees. This is the only guide I found that didn't treat me like I was foolish for considering this.

As someone who's been in construction for a decade and thinking about a change, this book was helpful but a bit long-winded. The pay table in Chapter 4 was useful - confirmed I'd be taking a pay cut initially. The chapter on getting the first job had good advice about calling mills directly, which I wouldn't have thought of. But I felt Chapter 3 went too deep on forest ecology and not enough on the actual math and measuring details. It's a decent starting point, just don't expect it to be the last thing you read.