Pricing a small job

[MEdooGuide]

Hey guys. Far from a pro logger but i do enjoy running a saw. I was asked by a friend of mine to price out the widening of a road on his land. Probably 3/4 of a day of chainsaw work and then he wants the trees removed and the limbs gone. No worry about the stumps. I have access to a small morbark chipper I can use to get rid of the limbs and then i will have to buck the rest of the trees and transport them in my pickup. Mostly poplar so it's not worth the firewood. The work is on flat ground and access is easy with a pickup. Thoughts on how to price this????

 

[Red Elm]

I dont work for friends for money. Good way to end a friendship, seen it happen lots of times. If it were me I'd tell him, "you take care of the chipper expenses, if there is any, squeeze a little gas in my truck for me and when im all done how about us and our wives go out for supper on you, or just have us over for a meal"?

Friends worth more than cash any day.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I charge my friends a nice meal, complete with libations.

 

[MEdooGuide]

It's more of a business partner then a friend....so what's a fair way to charge a guy who you are friendly with but not best friends with

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just give him a fair deal - lowball it a tad.

 

[HuskStihl]

How many trees are you talking about, and how big? Do you have to pay to dump the rounds? Processing even 2 big trees is an all day event for me. Are the rounds going to need a tractor to get into your truck? I'd figure what it's gonna cost you, then add that to an hourly wage you're comfortable with

 

[northmanlogging]

Figure how much you need for a days honest wage, plus fuel for chipper, and factor in any disposal fees unless you can leave said chips there. For me it would be about $300 for an acquaintance (10 hour day)

If you need to remove said chips, then count on the cost going through the roof... even if you find some sucker to dump the chips on.

But if its someone I don't mind spending a day around, Beer/whiskey and cover fuel for said chipper. Maybe, just maybe grill some weenies and boogers...

Any more then a days work then it becomes an actual business deal and then I treat them as I would any other costumer, fairly but I gotta have my money!

 

[MEdooGuide]

Figure how much you need for a days honest wage, plus fuel for chipper, and factor in any disposal fees unless you can leave said chips there. For me it would be about $300 for an acquaintance (10 hour day)

If you need to remove said chips, then count on the cost going through the roof... even if you find some sucker to dump the chips on.

But if its someone I don't mind spending a day around, Beer/whiskey and cover fuel for said chipper. Maybe, just maybe grill some weenies and boogers...

Any more then a days work then it becomes an actual business deal and then I treat them as I would any other costumer, fairly but I gotta have my money!

Thanks for the info. Considering just having him pay for the chipper and then let his conconse be his guide on flipping me a few bucks. For me the experience is worth it. He wants the chips for erosion control which is nice....

 

[MEdooGuide]

How many trees are you talking about, and how big? Do you have to pay to dump the rounds? Processing even 2 big trees is an all day event for me. Are the rounds going to need a tractor to get into your truck? I'd figure what it's gonna cost you, then add that to an hourly wage you're comfortable with

All small stuff.... just a bunch of small touch ups and no hazard trees. Should be a cake job as far as trees go but like I said, I am a weekend warrior here not a pro... chipper is a morbark 30/36

 

[imagineero]

So how many trees, how many loads and how are you getting rid of the rounds? Or are we guessing the length of the string here? ;-) As a weekend warrior (who hasn't done any commercial work before?) it's worth reminding that trees are about 10x bigger laying down than they are standing up.

 

[kjp]

I charge 700 per day for me and my tractor with winch. if its just me and no equipment I charge 50 per hour. ive found that trucking the stuff is far more time consuming and costly than laying them down, keep that in mind. Hope that helps

 

[pro94lt]

How will you load and unload the logs?