mtfallsmikey
Addicted to ArboristSite
A good dumb question, especially for those of you who have Woodmizers, or mill logs for customers. How much, or how do you charge, per bd. ft., or time? And how much?
Prices for milling logs
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John Bartley
ArboristSite Lurker
"Retail" rate : for one-time customers - $75/hr
"Trade" rate : contractors, farmers, or others who will be repeat customers - $60/hr.
cheers
"Trade" rate : contractors, farmers, or others who will be repeat customers - $60/hr.
cheers
Burlhunter13
ArboristSite Operative
for me (part time milling) is usually $40 an hour minimum (I dont have a high production mill, mine is all manual). As well as a fee to bring the mill out. Minimum of $30 local and it increases with distance. I drop rates a little if they are able to bring the logs to me.
I dont really do by the board foot.
And if the person doesn't want to spend any money then I'll split the wood with them 50/50 for milling it. In either case there is still a fee to come out with the mill.
I admit....I do it for cheep. I should raise the price, I'm also one of the only mills in the area.
Cheers
I dont really do by the board foot.
And if the person doesn't want to spend any money then I'll split the wood with them 50/50 for milling it. In either case there is still a fee to come out with the mill.
I admit....I do it for cheep. I should raise the price, I'm also one of the only mills in the area.
Cheers
Last edited:
Tree Bones
ArboristSite Lurker
Here is the long winded version.
I have been running a WM LTG40HD '95 model for over 12 years. What kind of mill you have should determine if you will have similar performance and production. I charge $450.00 per thousand for clean log decks ready to mill and $85.00 an hour for oak and hardwoods.
The first thing I would consider are your operating expenses.
When I run the mill all day I use about 10 gallons of fuel. If the logs are clean I use 4 or 5 blades per day. That is one blade sharpening for every 300-700 bd ft of lumber depending on the species and size of lumber you are cutting. This can vary tremendously, based on whether you are cutting 1 inch or 2 inch lumber, clean or dirty logs, rocks or metal, etc. I get between 5 an 10 sharpenings per blade. New blades cost $25,00 after shipping. A re-sharpening service is around $6 each plus shipping both ways. I sharpen my own blades.
What is your time worth?
Mostly I work by myself and try to be as efficient as I can with every move I make. I stack every thing out of the way of incoming logs and keep the worksite area clean. I do this while the mill is cutting and I am not right at the controls. It takes practice to know your logs and how to set the feed rate. Your skill as a sawyer and your physical ability's to preform all the labor of stacking and clean up will show in the total bdft at the end of the day. It is important to keep lumber stacks and tailings near the mill so you don't need to walk very far. Having a helper or the log owner to take care of stacking, clean up and staging logs is an alternative to working alone. Sometimes I will give a discount for help and keep the cost for cutting down. But only if this will help me to have a higher production rate. Some operators of mobile mills have different rates, one for bringing paid labor and one with the owner working. (Warning: insurance and liability issues here.)
Plan on 1 to 2 hours of time spent discussing cutting, stacking, drying and tallying up the lumber, as well as setup, breakdown, and travel time to and from.
How much can you cut in a day?
Production rate depends on several factors:
Quality of logs, size, type of timber, ie oak, pine, walnut, maple etc, this will have a lot to do with how I price a job. Logs that are 20 inch diameter and larger that are straight and true at 16 foot lengths will yield considerably more lumber per hour than 8 inch diameter 8 foot stock. Straight, knot free logs cut faster than knotty ones. Defects like a rotted heart or split and wind check will force you to work around the defect, slowing you down. You need to spend the extra time to get quality lumber with poor logs. Take the extra time looking at the size and quality of logs when considering how to charge. I have had my best luck pricing by the bdft and working hard and efficiently.
By myself I am able to cut and stack on average 2000 bd ft per day of 1 inch material from 24" and larger logs that are at least 16' long. If cutting 2" stock this will go up as high as 3000 bdft but the material is much harder to handle and you must have your stacks close. It is easy to go on burn out if you don't have an efficient operation or extra help.
Find out what your competition charges.
To establish a completive price call all the other sawyers in a 100 mile radius and ask there fees including any special pricing, like setup, moving, and blades, and how much per thousand bdft. Be sure to check there production rate and compare that to your own. This will give you a starting point for how you set your fees.
Supplying the logs / lumber.
Here you will have many extra costs to add on top of your milling. It take time to find and establish working relationships with loggers and learn all the finer details of quality grading, scaling and buying logs.
You will need to closely assess your operating costs to move the logs if your picking them up yourself (truck, insurance, loading, unloading, fuel, etc). If you are buying them delivered this will make it easer to determine the cost of logs. Then there may be the need for support equipment. Most of the work I do is custom on site milling.
The lumber I keep in stock I cut on site and transport it with my pick up or trailer and again I work by myself and keep my overhead to the bare minimum. Don’t forget if you are storing, drying and moving the lumber more than once this is a lot more work on your part or your paid help. This adds up even more if you pick through the stack with customers and need to restack it again after a sale.
I have been running a WM LTG40HD '95 model for over 12 years. What kind of mill you have should determine if you will have similar performance and production. I charge $450.00 per thousand for clean log decks ready to mill and $85.00 an hour for oak and hardwoods.
The first thing I would consider are your operating expenses.
When I run the mill all day I use about 10 gallons of fuel. If the logs are clean I use 4 or 5 blades per day. That is one blade sharpening for every 300-700 bd ft of lumber depending on the species and size of lumber you are cutting. This can vary tremendously, based on whether you are cutting 1 inch or 2 inch lumber, clean or dirty logs, rocks or metal, etc. I get between 5 an 10 sharpenings per blade. New blades cost $25,00 after shipping. A re-sharpening service is around $6 each plus shipping both ways. I sharpen my own blades.
What is your time worth?
Mostly I work by myself and try to be as efficient as I can with every move I make. I stack every thing out of the way of incoming logs and keep the worksite area clean. I do this while the mill is cutting and I am not right at the controls. It takes practice to know your logs and how to set the feed rate. Your skill as a sawyer and your physical ability's to preform all the labor of stacking and clean up will show in the total bdft at the end of the day. It is important to keep lumber stacks and tailings near the mill so you don't need to walk very far. Having a helper or the log owner to take care of stacking, clean up and staging logs is an alternative to working alone. Sometimes I will give a discount for help and keep the cost for cutting down. But only if this will help me to have a higher production rate. Some operators of mobile mills have different rates, one for bringing paid labor and one with the owner working. (Warning: insurance and liability issues here.)
Plan on 1 to 2 hours of time spent discussing cutting, stacking, drying and tallying up the lumber, as well as setup, breakdown, and travel time to and from.
How much can you cut in a day?
Production rate depends on several factors:
Quality of logs, size, type of timber, ie oak, pine, walnut, maple etc, this will have a lot to do with how I price a job. Logs that are 20 inch diameter and larger that are straight and true at 16 foot lengths will yield considerably more lumber per hour than 8 inch diameter 8 foot stock. Straight, knot free logs cut faster than knotty ones. Defects like a rotted heart or split and wind check will force you to work around the defect, slowing you down. You need to spend the extra time to get quality lumber with poor logs. Take the extra time looking at the size and quality of logs when considering how to charge. I have had my best luck pricing by the bdft and working hard and efficiently.
By myself I am able to cut and stack on average 2000 bd ft per day of 1 inch material from 24" and larger logs that are at least 16' long. If cutting 2" stock this will go up as high as 3000 bdft but the material is much harder to handle and you must have your stacks close. It is easy to go on burn out if you don't have an efficient operation or extra help.
Find out what your competition charges.
To establish a completive price call all the other sawyers in a 100 mile radius and ask there fees including any special pricing, like setup, moving, and blades, and how much per thousand bdft. Be sure to check there production rate and compare that to your own. This will give you a starting point for how you set your fees.
Supplying the logs / lumber.
Here you will have many extra costs to add on top of your milling. It take time to find and establish working relationships with loggers and learn all the finer details of quality grading, scaling and buying logs.
You will need to closely assess your operating costs to move the logs if your picking them up yourself (truck, insurance, loading, unloading, fuel, etc). If you are buying them delivered this will make it easer to determine the cost of logs. Then there may be the need for support equipment. Most of the work I do is custom on site milling.
The lumber I keep in stock I cut on site and transport it with my pick up or trailer and again I work by myself and keep my overhead to the bare minimum. Don’t forget if you are storing, drying and moving the lumber more than once this is a lot more work on your part or your paid help. This adds up even more if you pick through the stack with customers and need to restack it again after a sale.
Last edited:
Burlhunter13
ArboristSite Operative
Thanks for that info TB! 
woodshop
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks for all that insight and detail Tree bones... interesting.
Backwoods
ArboristSite Operative
One thing that needs to be at the top of your list is the quality of lumber you are producing. The customer will notice even if they do not say anything to you about it.
I am milling over 10,000 bft of red cedar for a new customer because the last sawyer he had do milling for him was cutting wavy lumber. Both of us charge 30 bft and run larger woodmizers and have to travel, but quality was the deciding factor as to who got the job.
I am milling over 10,000 bft of red cedar for a new customer because the last sawyer he had do milling for him was cutting wavy lumber. Both of us charge 30 bft and run larger woodmizers and have to travel, but quality was the deciding factor as to who got the job.
weisyboy
ArboristSite Member
dont know about over in the us but round here they charge by the log cube (that is volume of the log in cubic meters) for a swingsaw like the lucas/peterson you are looking at around the $200/cube mark. withc is pretty good money cosidering they can mill up to 3.5 cube a day.
John Bartley
ArboristSite Lurker
With respect,
I read your web page. You present yourself very professionally and if I was looking for a sawyer, I'd sure be giving you a call, which is why I have to wonder...you're both charging $0.30/bdft...but you're both working, and you are doing better work then the other guy, so shouldn't you be charging more than him? One thing I learned from being self employed for many years was that "good" customers will seek out "good" businesses and will pay more for quality.
Just a thought, not a criticism.
cheers eh?
EPA
ArboristSite Member
I read all these posts saying 40,50,60$ per hr is what I saw for /// I cut about 90% pine-- Most consider it Good stuff// the market will stand about .50$-.60$ BF no mater what I would like /// .25$-.35$ bf cutting your logs dropped off here // I add an extra .05 to stick it and try to get .40$ per sticker if they keep them//// EPA
Backwoods
ArboristSite Operative
I still have some slack times, and until I get to busy to keep up I plan to keep my prices competitive. I have considered the option of increasing the mileage charge but for now, I am watching to see what the economy dose in response to the gas prices.
I do not want to be known as the sawyer who charges too much. So for now I will continue to work on establishing a good reputation.
I do not want to be known as the sawyer who charges too much. So for now I will continue to work on establishing a good reputation.
John Bartley
ArboristSite Lurker
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