Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics
In short: today's best AI models could do about 8% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 92% of the time, stays with people.
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul small engines used to power lawn mowers, chain saws, recreational sporting equipment, and related equipment.
36,060 people do this job in the US. $47,880 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on3 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people37 h
Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 37 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Obtain problem descriptions from customers, and prepare cost estimates for repairs (about 2 h); Record repairs made, time spent, and parts used (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 8%
- 2%
- 90%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 8%. Today's estimate: 8%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 14 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 79% of this job's working time as physical work. For 27% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 27% in a purpose-built cell. 0.27 of 3, the 394th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 21%
- No robot shown 52%
- In a purpose-built cell 27%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repair and maintain gasoline engines used to power equipment such as portable saws, lawn mowers, generators, and compressors.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 27% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace defective parts such as magnetos, water pumps, gears, pistons, and carburetors, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Test and inspect engines to determine malfunctions, to locate missing and broken parts, and to verify repairs, using diagnostic instruments.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Polytec laser vibrometer / SonicTC QuickCheck engine cold-test systems (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 38 min17 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Reassemble engines after repair or maintenance work is complete.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KUKA Assembly & Test engine block assembly line at Scania Södertälje (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Dismantle engines, using hand tools, and examine parts for defects.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform routine maintenance such as cleaning and oiling parts, honing cylinders, and tuning ignition systems.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 42 min21 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Obtain problem descriptions from customers, and prepare cost estimates for repairs.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 29 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Record repairs made, time spent, and parts used.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 21 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Adjust points, valves, carburetors, distributors, and spark plug gaps, using feeler gauges.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Spark plug manufacturing apparatus (USPTO 8,371,889) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 21 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Grind, ream, rebore, and re-tap parts to obtain specified clearances, using grinders, lathes, taps, reamers, boring machines, and micrometers.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Sunnen SV-1005 CNC vertical honing system with integrated air gauging (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Show customers how to maintain equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 21 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Sell parts and equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists2% now, 2% by 2028
- Motorcycle Mechanics0% now, 0% by 2028
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines6% now, 6% by 2028
- Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians3% now, 3% by 2028
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers9% now, 9% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 8% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 8% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Obtain problem descriptions from customers, and prepare cost estimates for repairs (100% of the task's time now); and Record repairs made, time spent, and parts used (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: 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; and Test and inspect engines to determine malfunctions, to locate missing and broken parts, and to verify repairs, using diagnostic instruments. Together such tasks are about 92% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 79% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 27% of the working time. Its index is 0.27 of 3. One example: Polytec laser vibrometer / SonicTC QuickCheck engine cold-test systems for "test and inspect engines to determine malfunctions, to locate missing and broken parts, and to verify repairs, using diagnostic instruments". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 14 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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