how much would you charge?
- Thread starter mga
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Is he saying he wants the entire woodpile split and HE estimates it at 4 face cord. Or he has a woodpile and would like about 4 face cord of it split. Could be a substantial difference in the amount of work to be done.
Oops, see rarefish already raised that issue.
Oops, see rarefish already raised that issue.
mga
wandering
"run out of money"? being retired, i don't compare what i do with those who might have to work for a living. this is strictly play money for me. whether or not i do the job isn't effecting my life one way or another. house is paid for, all vehicles paid for and we buy every thing with cash, so no credit bills what so ever. life is good here.
when i do odd jobs, ie: small remodels, i charge my rate what i was paid as a tool maker: $25/hour plus, but holding onto a lever hardly requires much cerebral work...right?
like i said, cash jobs are strictly my own play money and nothing more, so i won't be calling you for your "bunch of money".
Like I am supposed to know all that!
greenskeeper
ArboristSite Operative
I'd to the $80 if he did the splitting and I sat and drank beers while he used my splitter.
reddogrunner
ArboristSite Operative
That kind of work should be billed by the time it takes and not a "lump sum" payment. Not in my opinion. I would bill it out at something like this. $50 for one hour. $25 every hour after that.
mga
wandering
perhaps, but people can really milk that per hour wage. if my splitter has problems, do i still charge per hour while i fix it? or, am i expected to show up with working equipment?
should i slow it down slightly and take 30 seconds per log? i'm being facetious, but i've heard of horror stories of painters paid by the hour lol and some others.
as i said before, i'll check it out before i make a commitment and we can wheel and deal on a price and if i'm comfortable with it, i'll do it.
reddogrunner
ArboristSite Operative
You do what is right in all of those situations. Should not even be a question.
But hey, you do what you want. You did ask for advice.
But hey, you do what you want. You did ask for advice.
troylee
ArboristSite Guru
Once I get all my wood up from my friends timber, I will be going into the free lance splitter business. I will also be open to payment in wood. Here is a craigslist ad from the Chicago area I found:
I am a traveling log splitter. I will come to you and split up all the wood you want. Are you getting a tree cut down and want to keep the wood but have no way to split it up, then I'm the guy you are looking for ! Do you ahve trees laying around on your property and need them cut up and split let me know I will come take care of it for you. My splitting rates are $35.00 per hour with a two hour minimum. Fuel surcharge of $1.00 per mile will be added if you are more than 10 miles from 60042 zip code
Don't want to pay the gas station or home center prices for firewood or if you need a lot of wood and don't want to go get it yourself then let me know I also sell firewood. Free delivery with in 10 miles of 60042 zip code. $1.00 per mile over that for delivery or firewood splitting. 1/4 face cord $50.00 1/2 face cord minimum.$70.00 or $120.00 full face cord.
A face cord is 8 long by 4 high. My logs very 13" to 17 " long and I mix up the the diameter so you have choices for the type of fire you want to burn. One reason to buy from me unlike most people on craigs list I keep my wood covered so you don't have to worry about getting rotted,decomposing, or wet wood from me. Yes wood that gets wet will dry enevtually but it also burns faster due to the break down of the wood fibers from getting wet over and over and repeated drying out.!
All my wood is mixed hardwoods---oak, maple, cherry, ash, elm, boxelder etc. NO PINE.
NO CHECKS CASH ONLY NO TRADES
I am a traveling log splitter. I will come to you and split up all the wood you want. Are you getting a tree cut down and want to keep the wood but have no way to split it up, then I'm the guy you are looking for ! Do you ahve trees laying around on your property and need them cut up and split let me know I will come take care of it for you. My splitting rates are $35.00 per hour with a two hour minimum. Fuel surcharge of $1.00 per mile will be added if you are more than 10 miles from 60042 zip code
Don't want to pay the gas station or home center prices for firewood or if you need a lot of wood and don't want to go get it yourself then let me know I also sell firewood. Free delivery with in 10 miles of 60042 zip code. $1.00 per mile over that for delivery or firewood splitting. 1/4 face cord $50.00 1/2 face cord minimum.$70.00 or $120.00 full face cord.
A face cord is 8 long by 4 high. My logs very 13" to 17 " long and I mix up the the diameter so you have choices for the type of fire you want to burn. One reason to buy from me unlike most people on craigs list I keep my wood covered so you don't have to worry about getting rotted,decomposing, or wet wood from me. Yes wood that gets wet will dry enevtually but it also burns faster due to the break down of the wood fibers from getting wet over and over and repeated drying out.!
All my wood is mixed hardwoods---oak, maple, cherry, ash, elm, boxelder etc. NO PINE.
NO CHECKS CASH ONLY NO TRADES
Sawdust inspector
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I didn't know boxelder was a hard wood
troylee
ArboristSite Guru
Never caught that, and I have seen his ads a lot
woodchuck357
Addicted to ArboristSite
Hardwood is different from HARD wood! Hardwood means deciduous as opposed to softwood like pine.
I'd charge by the hour. With my Super Split, I could do 3 face cords in an hour, if it was easy wood. But that doesn't include the time to get the splitter to where it needs to be, set up, etc., nor does it include fuel cost. I'd suggest you go $40/hour.
This does bring up something I have been thinking about. I have used my splitter to split other folks wood, but have never charged for it. I have a buddy that sells firewood and sometimes I get him to bring his 390 husky over to saw up some of the wood I get. He never charges me, and I sometimes take my splitter and split some of the large stuff he gets. I have a winch and boom on my splitter to pick up those large rounds and a 6way wedge to make little pieces out of big ones. Nobody trying to get rich off the other. I'll help my neighbor with his wood, he usually already splits the small stuff and I just help with the big stuff. No money involved. With big rounds, I can produce a lot of firewood in a short time. I have considered hiring out some, just to get some pocket change, but didnt know how to charge. Hourly, My rates would have to be high because of the amount of firewood I could produce in a short time. Cord rates would also have to be high to make it worth my time. I wouldnt want to show up and just see one cord, or a facecord laying on the ground, I would take me longer to get there and set up than it would to split the wood. In the same thought, I dont want to show up and see a log truck load of wood scattered or in a big pile that has to be sawed into rounds before splitting. Would one charge a different rate for bucking and a different rate for splitting. A log truck load already bucked would be an ideal situation for me, along with not having to stack. I can scale a log before its processed to determine how much wood I am working with, measurement should be accurate enough to satisfy the customer. But how would you measure a truck load of rounds before you split. Would just measuring the width and height of the pile of the loose wood using a standard loose cord volume (180cuft) be acceptable.
I am also building a firewood processor, mostly for my own use, but have thought about making some side money with it. This would make processing log lengths a lot easier, but also comes with additional cost. I am planning on a knuckleboom built on the processor for loading logs, this would eliminate needing a fel or other piece of equipment on site. I guess one would just have to figure out how much firewood they can produce in a given amount of time, figure out the cost of owning and operating a processor, and then decide how much you need/want to make to make it worth ones time to fool with it.
I am also building a firewood processor, mostly for my own use, but have thought about making some side money with it. This would make processing log lengths a lot easier, but also comes with additional cost. I am planning on a knuckleboom built on the processor for loading logs, this would eliminate needing a fel or other piece of equipment on site. I guess one would just have to figure out how much firewood they can produce in a given amount of time, figure out the cost of owning and operating a processor, and then decide how much you need/want to make to make it worth ones time to fool with it.
