has anyone hired you to cut wood?

[LHJim]

Got a question for you boys n' girls. Thanksgiving I went up to Medford, NJ for my inlaws dinner. While up there my wife said her mom hired someone to cut her wood for her. She lives in the sticks but there arew other houses around. Most of the trees appear to be some kind of pine trees. I think she got her trees from fell down trees but would have to ask my wife. Anyway her mother got someone to come and cut up the trees last spring I think. I am thinking if you gonna pay someone to come cut up the trees you might as well as have them devlier the firewood as it would cost about the same. I never asked her mother (or the wife) what she paid to have someone come cut up the wood but I know it cannot be a hack with a Home Depot saw as the area is rather expensive (suburban Phila) but I could be wrong.

Now here is the question. Has anyone ever asked you to come cut up their wood and if so what do they pay (hint...if your a good negotiator you can get $20/hr). Does anyone advertised that they WILL COME TO YA to cut your wood for X amount or X/hr amount?

I am thinking I will prolly tell me wife that next time she needs some wood cut up I will come do it and put her grandchildren to work LOL.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

This could be a huge thread.....there are so many things to consider.

If you hire a handyman......is he insured to be doing tree work? What happens if he drops a tree on your house.....or your neighbors house....who is going to be stuck with the repair bill? Maybe even worse if he drops a tree on himself or a neighbor.....who is going to be paying the medical bills or for support of the injured persons family?

It used to be a pretty simple world - and you could hire a local guy or kids to come cut your lawn, rake your leaves or plant a bush with little worry about it being legal. When you start talking about trees and work that is best done by professionals with proper training.....the issue is not nearly as clear cut.

 

[indiansprings]

We have one wood customer that hires us to come on his place and cut his wood. We charge him 25.00 a face cord to cut it and split it to OWB size, we have done enough for him he trust our piles to stack out to 24"wx8'lx48-52" high, we just pile it, don't stack it. It actually works out to about 50.00 an hour if we get with it. I really don't mind it as we don't handle the wood near as much, he marks the trees he wants taken down with ribbon. Actually we are cutting his next years wood. He leaves it in the little piles for a year and then burns it. He's got a tractor and trailer and when he needs wood he just goes and loads himself a pile. I actually wish we had a few more customers that would let us do it this way. We try to haul our equipment to his place when we know we can stay there for three or four days and knock it out.

 

[wdchuck]

Yes, folks have hired me and the terms are agreed to beforehand.

 

[indiansprings]

Not only do you want to know if it's their property but ask if any liens prevent tree falling. We started to cut on a piece of property last year, dropped 8 or 9 big oaks. The place was being owner financed, the owner/finacier drove by and saw us sawing up the trees and had a **** fit. He drove in and asked who gave us permission, I told him xxxx the owner, the guy informed me he had the place financed and it was in the agreement no trees were to be cut or logged until it was paid for in full. He understood we had no idea and let us cut up what was on the ground but no more. I totally agreed with his position.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Piles of tree length

I cut and split loads of tree length for a couple of people that no longer wish or are able to cut the pile on their own. I charge a straight $30 per hour for man and machine. If they want to help I should get $40 an hour for the aggravation.

Take Care

 

[GoRving]

Around here, you can get a decent p/u load of seasoned oak or other hardwood delivered for 50.00 to 80.00 per load. Gotta know who to get it from, though, as it may look like lightweight balsa wood if you're not careful.

 

[branchbuzzer]

I've done it a few times. I mostly suggest it as an alternative to buying the finished product to someone with land, charge is $25 per rick or load.

( j/k , per 1/3 CORD! ).

I only offer it to known good customers so I know what I'll be dealing with, price adjusted to the specific situation.

 

[BPS. LLC]

I charge $40 an hour to split wood with my splitter. I'm insured. I don't cut many trees down for people, but I know my buddy that owns a tree service isn't cheap. $400 an hour for a crew of three isn't unheard of. He's in Maryland and is required to have an arborists' license as well as insurance. Its not cheap to be legitimate.

 

[Wife'nHubby]

Well, to put a different swing on the question: I hired a list member to noodle 30"+ rounds which I knew I couldn't get up on my splitter. A tree cutting service dropped them here so I'd never handled them. I offered a set amount to do the job and it was agreed upon to be done at their timing preference.

It was kind of interesting: What could have been done in a short days work ended up being done in two visits due to a major health emergency (911 type, ambulance, EMT's, etc.) for hubby. I'm a firm believer in not cutting alone which required the second visit.

I'm still have bags of those noodles and use them as fire starters.

Shari

 

[ryan_marine]

I have been hired to cut dead standing trees up for fire wood for the land owner. I made sure all trees that were to be cut were in no danger of landing on anything of value. Or else I would refuse to cut them. Also the land owner signed a relese that relesed me of any liability of injury to his kids if they wondered in to the woods where I was cutting and I signed the same if I got hurt. I have my own health ins. I charged $70 per cord, cut and stacked. It was an easy job. I took my spliter but mainly used my splitting maul. Most of the wood was ash. I was cutting about 2.5 cords per day. Not bad as far as I am care.

On another job I put a quote out for there was a couple of limbs that needed trimmed about 40' up for dish network to work. I told the land owner $50 and I drop the trees, keep the wood, and pile the brush. Or $250 to trim the offending limbs with a saw. Option 3 was bring out the 12ga with last springs turkey loads and blow off the limbs for $100. I did not get the job. I found out who did. It was a buddy of mine he quoted them about 25-50 bucks higher than me. But he climbs trees where I rent a lift to get the job done.

Ray

 

[LHJim]

maybe I am not clear on one thing

Thanks for all of the replies. I think maybe I am not clear on one thing though. From the first post to my query...the trees were already on the ground. I think the common area behind my mother in laws (mil) house belongs to everyone so I doubt she got someone to cut trees down. I think she hired some landscaping or logging company to work on the side to come and cut/split the wood. She cannot do these by her self and her nephews are worthless to say it mildly. I think she prolly contacted someone who referred a guy or two come come and cut up the wood that was already on the ground.

I ask this question because folks are cheap now days...I know because I advertise for a little work on weekend and everyone wants to pay you $12/hr or in that range and you drive 45 mins (one way) to their place and do all of the work and you have overhead expense like gas and an expensive cancer cure saw. I just cannot see working 5 hours for $60 bucks and after all is said and done with gas and lunch...you have $45 left over. WTF... LOL maybe I am imaginating things but jobs today is expensive.

I know my neighbor had a tree struck by lighting and split the trunk somewhat. She said she paid a lil over $1000 to get two guys come and do the job and the job took like 4 hours. But they did grind the stump and were/appear to be professional.

About 3 years ago I got someone asked me if I would come myck their stall...in other words remove their horse ####. I said yeah I can do it. Whatcha pay and thei said $50. I asked how long it will take this and she said 2 hours and gave me the address. When I got there it was a big barn and they had 5 horses...I told her I cannot do it for that...I ain't no farm hand. To top this off...they live in Middleburg, VA which is an area of large farms and maincure lawns and its worth $Mil...folks are really cheap.

Anyway this is why I asked. I figured my mil probably got one or two guys to come and cut the wood already on the ground and gave them $75 for 3 hours work and she could have gotten a cord for $175...

 

[Billy_Bob]

Another way is to give away some of the wood in exchange for cutting the wood you will keep.

 

[WidowMaker]

Yea, everyone that buys a cord of wood from me...