How much do you pay to have chains ground?

[CascadeHusky]

I try file my chains as little as possible, bc a good ground chisel can't be beaten(at least not by me, I don't bother trying to chisel file, just round).
I dont have access to a chisel grinder anymore. I've done horse-trading to have them ground by fallers that I know, but right now I have a lot of chain to grind and nothing to exchange. So that means I need to pay.

What are some rates you guys pay (or charge?)

Is 25¢ a bar inch ball-park?

 

[CascadeHusky]

I'm not looking for a scientific answer. I understand their are variables..full comp, skip, rakers, gullets...but am mostly curious for an idea of what people pay.

 

[Warped5]

I charge $6/each for the first two, then it drops to $5/each after that. Everything over 28" is $7.

All the shops around me charge $8 - $12 per chain.

 

[Definitive Dave]

The big dealer near me kept raising their prices, deliberately to try to take in less sharpening work as it was slowing down the service department. They got to $12.00 a chain off the saw and 15/chain on the saw and still too busy so they bought a frantzen.
they said that made it worse because now the big tree services drop off mixed chains 100 or more at a time, it is hard for a service tech to stop what he is doing every three minutes to change out chains on the machine, but at least they don't burn them up like they did in the past trying to keep up with production
small 1 man shop near me charges $8/chain 24" and under
performance motorcross shop near me charges $15.00 /chain
big dealer across town charges .35/cutter

 

[Trx250r180]

7-10 bucks a chain pays for a used chisel grinder pretty fast the way my math comes out .

 

[Patrick62]

We're charging 25 cents a cutter, and slowly building a decent reputation of doing a good job.
I have two others at the store that I am working with and training to get them sharpened correctly. Customers know the difference between a sharp chain and a half arsed one.

 

[Guido Salvage]

7-10 bucks a chain pays for a used chisel grinder pretty fast the way my math comes out .

Yup, and files are even cheaper.

Don't you have a car to crush?

 

[CoreyB]

I bought one of those file n joint jigs but made by Oregon for just under $40 it is not the fastest but a good excuse to be out in the shop sipping on some refreshing beverages. And the sharpened chains are just as good as the guys charging $8-$17 dollars. The stihl dealer is the $17 range for a $25, 20" chain.

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

$5 off, $7 on in my neck of the woods.

 

[Philbert]

Seems to be around $7 - $8 for a 16 inch chain around here, and I hear people complaining about those rates. My dealer has to do 10 -12 chains an hour to make their hourly shop rate.
Off the saw. Does not include depth gauges. Extra to de-burr drive links. Longer chains are more. Starts pushing up close to the cost of a new replacement chain pretty quickly!

The ones I have seen the shop do look good. I do my own (and friends') chains, but could never make decent money at it if I charged - I am too slow and fussy!

Philbert

 

[big t double]

12"- 5.50 14"-6.00 16"-6.50 18"-7.00 20"-7.50 24/25"- 8.00 28"-8.50 30" 9.50 32" 10.50 36" 13.50 anything longer and I make it up on the fly, we don't sharpen many over 36". this includes rakers. to remove and reinstall is another 6.00. I don't debur, I wont do it, buy a new chain or do it yourself...I sell flat files.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

$10 off saw, $14 on.

Doesn't matter on the length.

On saw we usually blow out the saw, clean out the bar grooves and grind the rails if it's needed. If I have time I'll run the saw a bit to make sure it's in tune and all is fine. Sometimes can make a bit on repairs.

 

[CascadeHusky]

Thanks for the replies everyone, it looks like there is a wide range in price just as their likely is in quality.

12"- 5.50 14"-6.00 16"-6.50 18"-7.00 20"-7.50 24/25"- 8.00 28"-8.50 30" 9.50 32" 10.50 36" 13.50 anything longer and I make it up on the fly, we don't sharpen many over 36". this includes rakers. to remove and reinstall is another 6.00. I don't debur, I wont do it, buy a new chain or do it yourself...I sell flat files.

I dont quite understand why the progressive cost per 2" as chain gets over 32", most peoples' marginal cost is less as chain gets longer as setup(time) is minimalized.

But you get to make the rules and I don't see a problem, just pointing out that it is odd for a 28" to be a discount on your overall pricing scheme and a 36" to be a premium.

 

[Trx250r180]

When i grind a 105 dl full comp ,it has twice the cutters so is like doing 2 full skip 105 dl chains

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I get $5 a chain for 24" and under on or off saw dont matter.

 

[Philbert]

U work CHEAP!

Philbert

 

[Donnieboy]

I charge $8 a loop, any length. But there ain't very many long bars around these parts. The saw shops around here charge $12.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I'd imagine it comes down to what the shop labor price is as well. We are at $90/hr.

Figure at $10 a chain, have to do a loop in about 6 mins for it to be in line with the labor rate (roughly figuring in electricity, grinder wheels, grinders, etc as well). If the chains are just "touch ups" from a short bar saw they are quickly done, but then the long loops, bad filing job, or used to cut who knows what ones can easily take 15+ mins a loop.

 

[Philbert]

That's why I 'adopt' unwanted chains. If they are 'mine', I can take as long as I want to recondition them!

Philbert

 

[big t double]

I dont quite understand why the progressive cost per 2" as chain gets over 32", most peoples' marginal cost is less as chain gets longer as setup(time) is minimalized.

But you get to make the rules and I don't see a problem, just pointing out that it is odd for a 28" to be a discount on your overall pricing scheme and a 36" to be a premium.

Your right...There is no rhyme or reason to the prices we set...it's what sounded good at the time. Before I started at the shop I'm at there wasn't even a price set for 36" chains...so I made one up. I didn't do any math to figure it out...just entered what sounded good. If I'm gonna stand there and sharpen a 36" chain I wanna be paid and if they don't like my price then they're more than welcome to try somewhere else. It's also why I price our labor higher to tube a tire than the shop up the block, I don't want to install tire tubes, takes to much time...In my opinion there's no money in chain sharpening...it's just a service we offer to keep folks coming to the store. Maybe they'll buy oil or files or some other junk we have sittin out at the register that looks appealing. I sold one of those stupidly expensive Stihl splitting wedges to a guy the other day who was in to pick up a chain I sharpened...it was sitting at the register and he was checkin it out while waiting to be rang up for his 7 dollar sharpening. But thanks...now I have to reevaluate our sharpening prices. Hahahaha.