As of June 2026, Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics has an AI-exposure score of 41/100 (Moderate exposure) on the AI-Safe Careers index, blending O*NET tasks, the Anthropic Economic Index, the Penn/OpenAI study, and BLS data. This is an estimate of task exposure, not a prediction of job loss.
Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics
More exposed than 12% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$47,880. About 3,500 projected openings a year (BLS 2024–34 — growth plus replacement).
Pay & demand figures are US medians (BLS, in USD) — your local figures will differ. Your exposure score applies broadly.
How you compare to similar Installation & Repair roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
No automatable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as durable (79%).
- Record repairs made, time spent, and parts used.
- Sell parts and equipment.
- Show customers how to maintain equipment.
- Dismantle engines, using hand tools, and examine parts for defects.
- Repair and maintain gasoline engines used to power equipment such as portable saws, lawn mowers, generators, and compressors.
- Repair or replace defective parts such as magnetos, water pumps, gears, pistons, and carburetors, using hand tools.
- Replace motors.
- Remove engines from equipment, and position and bolt engines to repair stands.
- Perform routine maintenance such as cleaning and oiling parts, honing cylinders, and tuning ignition systems.
- Reassemble engines after repair or maintenance work is complete.
- Obtain problem descriptions from customers, and prepare cost estimates for repairs.
- Grind, ream, rebore, and re-tap parts to obtain specified clearances, using grinders, lathes, taps, reamers, boring machines, and micrometers.
- Adjust points, valves, carburetors, distributors, and spark plug gaps, using feeler gauges.
- Test and inspect engines to determine malfunctions, to locate missing and broken parts, and to verify repairs, using diagnostic instruments.
Safer adjacent roles
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