Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul small engines used to power lawn mowers, chain saws, recreational sporting equipment, and related equipment.
Most important skills
- Equipment Maintenance
- Repairing
- Troubleshooting
- Operations Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Equipment Selection
- Operation and Control
- Active Listening
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Engineering and Technology
- Education and Training
- Transportation
- Sales and Marketing
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Repair and maintain gasoline engines used to power equipment such as portable saws, lawn mowers, generators, and compressors.
- Adjust points, valves, carburetors, distributors, and spark plug gaps, using feeler gauges.
- Reassemble engines after repair or maintenance work is complete.
- Record repairs made, time spent, and parts used.
- Perform routine maintenance such as cleaning and oiling parts, honing cylinders, and tuning ignition systems.
- Obtain problem descriptions from customers, and prepare cost estimates for repairs.
- Test and inspect engines to determine malfunctions, to locate missing and broken parts, and to verify repairs, using diagnostic instruments.
- Repair or replace defective parts such as magnetos, water pumps, gears, pistons, and carburetors, using hand tools.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (48.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (34.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (31.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 53% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 55% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 97% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 72% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 66% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 82% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 79% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 65% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 15.02%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.65%
- Contact with others most of the time: 5.79%
- Constant contact with others: 75.55%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 28.18%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 5.77%
- Very important: 18.95%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0.1%
- Very important: 6.14%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 14.92%
- Some freedom: 32.09%
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 3.65%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.16%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.35%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 18.95%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 17.3%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.94%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.25%
- Every day: 0%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.75%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 32.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 21.07%
- Every day: 0%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 19.03%
- Fairly serious: 6.14%
- Serious: 30.17%
- Very serious: 15.02%
- Extremely serious: 29.64%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 49-3053.00 · SOC 49-3053 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8