I just finished a 7 large log job (40"+ dia) and the customer felt that he was greatly overcharged. He says he normally uses a sawyer that charges him $125 per 1000 BdFt and that includes an off bearer. That's about 3 24" logs and that would take me about 3 to 3.5 hours on my LT28 with a paid off bearer. fuel and blades come out of that also. That's if the logs were straight and good. So about $180 if I don't hit metal. I've got about $200,000 in equipment to pay for before I really make a profit. Is anyone really charging less than I am? This is not a pathway to become a millionaire. Good thing I just love to saw. BTW I charge $45 per hour for me and the equipment and I pay an off bearer $10 per hour if one is not provided.
Quinton
Qweaver,
I charge 35 cents per bd ft. I would not do it for any less. I would suggest that he goes to back to his other sawyer if he can get it done for less.
No point of working that hard otherwise.
Ron
His sawyer could not saw 40" dia x 20' long logs. We lost about 1/3 of his logs due to rot. It takes longer to saw the bad out of the way then if the log was fully sound.
The local Mennonite sawmill won't even saw them that cheap... and you take the logs to them...
Sounds to me that other sawer probably got tired of his complaining and refused to saw them. Just told him they are to big. ;D
Tell him you have the capacity and you charge for the capacity.
Some folk just cant help but complain.
200,000 in equipment charging 45 an hour? You have a much sharper pencil than I do. At 125mbf custom sawing I don't believe you will have competition to long.
I would charge him what ever you think is right and never look back. If he could have had it sawed for anywhere near what he claims he would never have called you. The way I do things, would be to never saw for him again at any price.
I am not that far from you and similar market I am sure. I charge $.30/bf with the customer providing the helper, more if I have to stack. I charge $60/hr if small or special orders which would include under or over sized logs that would slow me down. Minimum order 1,000 bf/$300 plus mileage for me to move my mill - no minimum if they bring their logs here. With logs that big I would have refused or insisted he split them as too big for my mill too.
My opinion is if other people charge less than me they know what their work and time is worth. I have watched many piles of logs rot or get worm infested waiting on some of my bargain sawyer neighbors wait to get around to sawing them.
As long as the customer knows up front what you are charging and accepts you should not worry about charging him accordingly. I offer a copy of an International 1/4" log rule and have one on the back of my business card so the customer can estimate. I tell them with good logs we will beat that. I finished an order yesterday where the customer used the log rule and estimated 3400 bf and finally tally was 3825 plus whatever short boards he wanted to salvage out of the scrap pile. He was well pleased and no surprises.
Pretty much what Starmac said.
Related info, it took me quite a while to learn this way back when I started...heh...most folks wanted "by the board foot" pricing. I would, like an idiot, charge them for whatever was in the pile of lumber i cut from their logs......that dont work. They would get me to cut cull logs or some weird shaped rotten butts and if I didnt get hardly any board feet, it was no sweat to them. I was so busy and I was not makin a cent. Now I charge by the volume of the piece. Log quality improved drastically when I implemented the new pricing.....The Queaver customer clones were angry at me but since they left, my bottom line has improved. That customer was just trying to bully a deal.
Somebody (but I forget who - maybe cwimer? They say your memory is the second thing to go and I can't remember what the first was) recently posted his policy of charging a flat rate fee per each log and had a specified size restriction on how big the log could be based on his mill constraints.
I still keep kicking that around and if anybody else is or has been doing so I'd love to hear an update. Both the customer and the sawyer know exactly how much it will cost before the first board is ever cut.
I sawed the left over scraps for him this AM and made 6 2 x10 boards and plenty of stickers. Spent 3 hours of time. I did not charge him and told him to never bring me any more logs. He still has some 40" logs and I have no clue who can saw them around here without splitting them. How long does that take?
Quote from: Qweaver on November 13, 2017, 02:31:24 PM
His sawyer could not saw 40" dia x 20' long logs. We lost about 1/3 of his logs due to rot. It takes longer to saw the bad out of the way then if the log was fully sound.
I can always saw way over scale, so I know Im an efficient sawer, but if they bring me hollow logs, I charge either Bd/Ft for log scale or Bd/Ft for lumber produced, whichever figure is larger.
If they bring me a big ol heavy pile o garbage, would it be fair for them to pay for only a few boards and make me deal with a huge mess and extra work? Rotten wood also dulls teeth faster.
This is cedar country (pnw) and I regularly deal with rotten cored cedar and most of it can produce some of the highest quality CVG boards around and are well worth sawing usually.
Once in a while someone brings a POS with a big ol cat eye, tons of rot, ants climbing out and limb stubs all over and you tell them its not even good firewood. "Well just saw it up and see what we get anyways", they say.
After paying for scale on a 40"x12' rotten butt (700+bf) and getting only 300 bf of lumber they tend to get an education much faster.
Some folks you cant talk CENTS into until they see it on the bill.
I had a guy bring me ½ rotting logs and he payed .35 a BF for ½ rotting lumber.
I tell them rotting log make rotting lumber crooked logs make crooked lumber, And if the chain saw comes out it's $ 100.00 an hour. Softwood, Hardwood is more.
When I was on the road I'd tell the customer to cull the junk logs. I will saw what's in the pile, Ants, or rot you will pay for all the BF I handle. :D ;D
Tell him to pay up,
If you are only charging $45 per hour and paying a helper $10 per hour, that would equal out to about $125 per Mbf. :-\ I'd say that you are already on the fast track to going broke.
I charged $75 per hour today and the customer proved two helpers. I never had to touch a single board or slab. At an average of 2Mbf per day @ $300 per Mbf, it equals out to the same money. I will not saw for less.
I charge $45 plus $10 for one helper. so $55 per hour....plus blades...still not enough! But maybe I'm just slow.
OK, I misunderstood the way your last sentence was worded about the $10, but I agree that you are still too cheap. If he complains and can get it for $125, then he needs to do so, except that the cheap guy can't do it. ::) Surprise Surprise!!!
If you charge too much, it might be cheaper for the customer to sell his logs (or leave them standing) and go to an Amish mill and buy his lumber! Just sayin'!
$300.00 and up per 1,000 seems unreal to me! :o
I'm $250 for framing lumber and $300 or hourly rate for everything else. We don't have Amish.
Qweaver, is that 45 + 10 for sawing at your place or the customers?? If at your place how do you charge to clean up, slabs,junk wood,dust etc??
Here if we paid a helper 10 bucks, we would have to charge 20 to cover his wages, ss, wc, etc.
Is your mill manual or hydraulic, I am just trying to wrap my head around why 45 bucks an hour is all you can charge in your area.
A couple of years ago there was a young man here, bought a new manual lt28.
He was a hard working guy with a wife and baby to support. He started out charging 50 bucks travel and set up fee, then 35 bucks an hour, if you brought him the logs, it was just a straight 35 bucks. I told him I would be better off giving my mill away and hiring him to cut anything I needed.
He was planning on keeping his day job, at least till he built up a business, and said he might have to raise his rates after he got his customer base built up.
To my way of thinking, it is harder to raise rates once your customers are established though.
I'm at .35 a BF and you bring the logs to me + blades with no chain saw work, Hardwood is .45 a BF. Over 16' is $100.00 an HR all day.
Here is a pricelist for our only real source for rough cut spruce.
https://northlandwood.com/roughlumber/
All of our local mills are Amish and they all quoted me the same rate for custom sawing. 50 cents a Bft. And they keep the slabwood.
I only saw by the hour $65/hr for first three hours and $55/hr after that. That is the only system It is fair to saw by the hour as it compensates for the wide range of log quality. Otherwise I would have to have a different bf price for every job based on logs.
I had a guy ask if I can beat a quote, that seemed way low. I told him to hire the other guy and walked off. I don't work for people who only care about taking advantage of others.
Some wise man on this forum once wrote: "I never lost money on a job, I didn't do."
I call those kind of guys "tire kickers". They are just trying to see if they can get you to drop you're price even when they know they got a good deal especially when no one else in the area could even handle the job. Or didn't want to. Let me guess after you did the job he wanted you to saw more? When I get a customer like that I tell them to go back to their cheap Sawyer. They generally come back with their tail between their legs and have me do their sawing. And they are much easier to deal with from their on out.
If they give me too much hassle I just refuse doing any more work for them and I am better off. I know it is agrivating but sometimes their is nothing you can do. People are goofy. Sorry for the rant but hopes this puts you're mind at I ease. I don't think you are doing anything wrong except maybe not charging that guy enough😂😂
Peter, why the change to hourly over 16 foot? Is it just because it is more work to handle longer logs and boards, or does the longer logs slow down your board foot average. Just trying to learn something here.
A lot more work and heavy, Most times it's long timbers, Side boards are cut shorter.
Boxing the heart and stuff. Going slower that way. 8' to 16' I can jam. :D
I can understand that. I just had it in my mind that the extra board foot in the log would compensate for it taking longer, but I haven't sawn anything over 16 foot to speak of.
I'm sawing framing lumber now. Big nice SYP.
Today I sawed 1000 BF of 2x12x12. Beautiful boards.
I charge .25 cents a bf or $250.00 / thousand.
Just me and my Backhoe with forks on it.
Each board cost him about $6.00. About 42 boards.
A 1-1/2" x 11 1/4" x 12 Pine board at the building center is $25.68.
Just saying.
Just like when I sell timbers, the customer pays for the whole log, not just the timber out of it in the price. Then I sell the boards again. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/SAM_1391.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1498516070)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/SAM_1445.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1501540588)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/SAM_1447.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1501948088)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/SAM_1449~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1502500941)
BAM!
Quote from: POSTONLT40HD on November 13, 2017, 10:02:42 PM
BAM!
But now it's easier, ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/SAM_1498.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1504824883)
I don't see how the OP is cutting many 40" logs on an LT28 unless he's splitting them first. Back with my LT28 those sized logs would take a half-day or more each. I'm $.50/bdft or $75/hr now, straight through. I decide which when I look at the job and see which works out the best overall. I like the idea of just going straight board foot pricing and scaling the logs instead of the lumber. With the often crooked and half-hollow hardwoods I cut that would improved the bottom line and make things simpler.
I wouldn't even turn my mill on for 12 cents per bdft.
:D :D
I charge 50 cents per bdft and turn people away from getting too much business. I refused two jobs today. I have more than I can do to feed my kilns anyway.
I was the highest guy around, everybody else charged 30 cents per bdft, and Craigslist was full of sawyers. Now, they are gone, out of business, and I'm the only one around, at least that's what the customers are telling me.
Charge what you are worth and what it takes to keep you in business, let the other guys race toward the bottom.
Don't let a customer make you feel guilty. Tell him to go buy a mill and give it a go.
A smart man told me years ago, "double your price, you will only have to do half the work for the same income and the customers you receive will be twice the quality of the cheap ones".
I cant/wont compete with low quality/price.
Chop Shop, Yellow Hammer, You guys are right on the money. smiley_beertoast
Yellow is right on the money...may become my new hero! :D
That's my model also. (particularly with my other business). Right now it's a race to the bottom over there, but our quality and top-of-pyramid paradigm remains. Customers migrate back once they feel the pain near the bottom. It can test one's patience in the meantime though. :-[
I can't imagine how you could possibly be making any money at that price. I'm not in the sawmill business but I am in the service business and I'd be bankrupt quickly at $45.00. I have a $4,000.00 pressure washer we use a lot and if I'm not making $125.00 an hour off of it and 1 man I leave it home. Even at $125.0 an hour, I'm not getting rich.
When I started the firewood business, I tooknall my cash costs my investment costs labour everything that cost me money. Then added profit. If they did not buy my product that was just fine I do not need to go broke because some one wants to do it cheeper. I see lots of guys on here doing things for next to nothing, maybe making a wage if that, a good product and good service will win over cheep price.
Quote from: RPowers on November 13, 2017, 11:24:08 PM
I don't see how the OP is cutting many 40" logs on an LT28 unless he's splitting them first. Back with my LT28 those sized logs would take a half-day or more each. I'm $.50/bdft or $75/hr now, straight through. I decide which when I look at the job and see which works out the best overall. I like the idea of just going straight board foot pricing and scaling the logs instead of the lumber. With the often crooked and half-hollow hardwoods I cut that would improved the bottom line and make things simpler.
I sawed them with a Peterson.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on November 13, 2017, 07:20:51 PM
Somebody (but I forget who - maybe cwimer? They say your memory is the second thing to go and I can't remember what the first was) recently posted his policy of charging a flat rate fee per each log and had a specified size restriction on how big the log could be based on his mill constraints.
I still keep kicking that around and if anybody else is or has been doing so I'd love to hear an update. Both the customer and the sawyer know exactly how much it will cost before the first board is ever cut.
Yep you're right on cwimer. He charges for a base price for 8' logs regardless of diameter. $100 I believe.
YH Took the words right out of my mouth. I won't even walk down to the barn to hook the mill up to the truck for $.12 a board foot. You can't possibly stay in business charging $45 an hour with $200,000 in equipment unless someone gives you all your equipment. 😂 Doing wide slabbing is an altogether different animal... As you already know, few people can even saw that big, so not that you need to take it advantage of the situation, but you very easily could be charging at least 2 to 3 times what a standard mill fee would be. Your new customer is best off being your competitors customer at the rates mentioned... He clearly sees no value in your services or being able to saw as big as you can, or the 40 inch logs that he provided. Craigslist and the market in general is flooded with sawmills, new sawyers, portable sawmill services, wood slabs, rough cut lumber and related materials...at least in this area. It hurts us all to some degree, how ever the impact is relatively minor and short term. We are in it for the long-haul. There are plenty of guys out there charging anywhere from $30-$60 an hour to run portable sawmills. I've seen lots of them come... And lots of them go... And the cycle continues. We are double that price, and pretty darn busy. For wide sliding, we are triple the price... And pretty busy there too. Never compete on price alone. You will lose.
BK
First off, I don't have a mill. I have always wanted one, but physically I cannot do it. However, if I could, would it be, "acceptable" I guess would be a good word to use, if a new sawyer milled at a good bit cheaper rate to gain experience. In other words, let the customer know the only reason you are cheaper than anyone else, is because you are trying to gain experience, and as you gained experience, you would go up on your price. I don't know, but it seems that the type of folks that are really trying to get more than they are paying for, may not mind that they are not getting a well experienced sawyer as long as they think they are getting more than they are paying for. I hope this makes sense.
Lane,
Sure it would be okay. If a guy just wanted to practice I am sure he could post notices on local feed stores and trade papers and such and find folks who would be glad to let him cut free or pay a little. As long as you notified them up front should be just fine. If you screwed up on some wood could still use it for firewood or such.
If so I'd keep a log of what kind of wood and how many bf I had cut (I do that anyway) then when I wanted to start charging more I could use that as experience.
LaneC, I do not know what all your wants consists of, nor the extent of your physical capabilities.
That said, a hydraulic mill is not a lot of physical work, infact if you have or can get a helper, you can sit in a chair and do the milling.
As far as working (sawing) cheap to learn. The only thing I knew about a mill when I got mine was I wanted one, I was totally amazed at how easy it was to cut nice uniform boards pretty much from the very first cut. Now that said, our spruce is very forgiving and from what I gather from reading this forum is easy compared to other species. I do know I start with straight logs, and have never put any thing on my mill like some of the stuff I see pictured on here, I think my mill would quit me if I did.
Thanks for the replies. Sitting is about how I would have to do it most of the time. I just would not like to bid a low ball figure and knock someone out of an opportunity that did this for a living. Like WV. says, I could practice on their logs, but surely letting them know up front about the experience level, or lack there of I should say.
I had some experience milling my own logs before I cut my first customer log, but there was a learning curve and apprehension in possibly butchering up someone elses wood. The solution to initial success for me was to go slow and concentrate, something pretty much impossible if milling offsite at a customer property or a customer is present talking in my ear.
My solution was to have the customers bring their logs to me, I'd fit them in the line and call them when the lumber was ready for pickup, typically no more than a week or two. So I could take my time without bystanders distracting me. I charged by the bdft, so speed didn't matter, quality and yield was the goal.
I still mill all customers logs at my place simply because with all the support equipment I have to mill logs for our business, it's a lot easier and more efficient. I prefer to charge by the bdft because as my support equipment increased, my bdft per hour went up and I could make more money. The customers didn't have to pay more, I could just simply do more jobs in the same amount of time.
Quote from: starmac on November 13, 2017, 09:26:35 PM
... why the change to hourly over 16 foot?...
In my case, the price per BF starts to go up over 20' (which is the length of my mill). The price increases for every foot over 20' and takes a big jump at 26' (when the log is on the second 6' extension).
"How come?", customers want to know.
First off, the taper in the log means I'll be getting a disproportionate amount of lower value side lumber off a long log. A 30' D.Fir log with a 12" top will give me an 8x8x30' timber; or it will give me an 8x8x16' timber plus an 8x12x16' timber. 25% more high-value wood. And the price per BF for an 8x12 is higher than for an 8x8.
Second, I need auxiliary equipment (i.e., a front-end loader) to get the longer logs onto the mill. It takes extra time to jump on the loader each time I want to load a log. With shorter logs I just stage a bunch beside the mill and "Logrite" them to the hydraulic loader.
Third, there is a lot more work involved in dealing with 30' side lumber -- each piece has to be sawed into 3 shorter pieces. Same thing with slabs.
Finally, there is the matter of dealing with really long timbers. With ramps and roller tables I can handle a 20' 8x12 by myself without any machinery. A 30' 8x12 is going to require more time and some machinery.
These things all add up. I'd happily sell you a 30' 10x10 (to be supported by 3 posts), or 2 16' 10x10's for half as much money (to be supported by the same 3 posts). It's your money -- is the "wow" factor of that single long timber worth it? Some people think so, some don't.
15 years ago I was told to charge $1.00 per hour per horse power, 32 horse power total = $32.00 per hour, for the mill, then decide and add to that, what your time as a skilled tradesman is worth. I'm not sure that formula would hold true today with the increased costs of new equipment, but then again so have the earnings of a skilled tradesman.
Quote from: crowhill on November 19, 2017, 07:05:14 AM
15 years ago I was told to charge $1.00 per hour per horse power, 32 horse power total = $32.00 per hour, for the mill, then decide and add to that, what your time as a skilled tradesman is worth. I'm not sure that formula would hold true today with the increased costs of new equipment, but then again so have the earnings of a skilled tradesman.
Wow... My 13 hp Honda would send me to the poor house.
I charge $50 an hour and everyone is happy.
Qweaver has the the only swing mill I know of in this area. The problem he is fighting with is that many people don't understand that a swing mill can cut a lot larger log more efficiently than a band or circle mill large enough to do the same size log. Not handling a large oak is worth a lot of $$ and headache relief. This may need to be pushed as a value added aspect to sawing them with a swing mill.
We don't move logs very far if at all with our band mill. Especially if it's near the limits of what I can saw, 10 mins setup is a lot easier than 10 mins fighting a large log with the risk of injury. Dad and I cut and removed some large pine from a yard this year doing this and you couldn't tell we had been there other than the stumps.
There are small band mills scattered all around. I know a five in a less than 5 mile radius from my house. Circle mills are not all that uncommon either though the knowledge to run them well is fading I think.
If I had known a few years ago about a swing mill in the area I would have had a maple in a remote area of our farm cut up. It's to hard to get a tractor to but I could have hauled out curly maple boards for days with a four wheeler. It's spalted curly maple now on its way to becoming to rotten now though.
I found this a while back when I was looking at the purchase of a mill.
It's not the ultimate, but it can help guide on expenses, costs and profit.
Yellowhammer and Chop shop make very good points, I was the same when I worked regularly
in the Survey Industry, do half the jobs for twice the profit,
best
D
Charging a fair price for quality work is always hard. Our current price structure is 120.00 per hour with all equipment and man power supplied, or 1.50 per board foot. We try to give the customer the most bang for his buck and send them home happy. We operate with a TimberKing 2000 and a Peterson ASM. Moving of anything heavy is done with a Kubota 95 HP skid steer. pallets are provided if needed.
I just learned the "charge more for big stuff" lesson this week. A nearby municipality ordered dump truck side boards for six trucks, including 2 tri axles and decking for 3 20 ton trailers. They were o.k. with red oak because the town employees smash the heck out of everything well before it rots. I had plenty of logs and agreed to do it for the 2.00 bd ft they were used to paying. I didnt think too much of it when they called and asked to make the side boards 3" x 12" instead of 2", I thought "Cool, more bd ft." Note to self, a 3"x12" x 17ft soaking wet red oak board is very, very, heavy
I have been thinking more and more here lately of going to an hourly rate instead of a BF rate. For the fact that it would take into account half rotted, crooked, long, or very big logs and if they want to take a chance on them then that is on them. I have been charging $.30 a bf at the customer's site and they provide the help in off bearing and get the logs to the loading arms. There have been many cases where the owner of the logs is there helping and their neighbors come over and talk then there is no help and I am doing it alone or they say on the rotted or ugly logs lets just see what we get out of it. If they were being charged hourly they would think twice on these things or be charged accordingly. That's not counting if I have to split a huge log or price for hitting metal in their logs, that would be extra. In this business we got to make money to pay for our equipment and our time. If not then we might as well all be sitting at the barber shop talking about the days we used to saw because we wont be in business long.
When I'm charging by the bdft, every time the saw head moves down the rails I'm getting paid for it, whether it's a nasty log, rotten or otherwise. That's because when the customer drop the nasties off, I get to look at them as I'm unloading them, and I point out the ones that are not any good, give them the option to not saw, and also give them the option for me to use my best judgement. If they want an estimate, I have a can of marking spray paint and mark the ones to be skipped with a big pink "X" on the side and skip those for the estimate.
If they want me to saw the uglies anyway, (some people are like that, and if the logs or sticks are real bad or too small I just refuse) I'll do it and stack the garbage wood along with the good stuff. Then when they pay, I tell them how much money they could have saved if they had been more judicious and not have me saw their nasty logs, and only saw the good ones. So next time they show up, they only bring me good logs. :D
Either way, I don't saw for free, or even at a reduced rate, it's my mill and I get to make the final decision. I once had a customer bring me a trailer load of some nasty logs and they were so bad I refused to mill them outright. He started complaining so I told him to drive them down the road to another mill about 10 miles away. He said he just came from there, and they refused him, also. He said thought I would do it, even though the "real sawmill" up the road wouldn't.
:D :D :D That's awesome. There's a dude local that saws for people with a similar demeanor, yet he's raised the bar by making them take the slab wood too unless they PAY him to dispose of it. *DanG...I'm doing it wrong. (not really since I just saw for myself) :o
Quote from: YellowHammer on December 05, 2017, 05:05:08 PM
When I'm charging by the bdft, every time the saw head moves down the rails I'm getting paid for it, whether it's a nasty log, rotten or otherwise. That's because when the customer drop the nasties off, I get to look at them as I'm unloading them, and I point out the ones that are not any good, give them the option to not saw, and also give them the option for me to use my best judgement. If they want an estimate, I have a can of marking spray paint and mark the ones to be skipped with a big pink "X" on the side and skip those for the estimate.
If they want me to saw the uglies anyway, (some people are like that, and if the logs or sticks are real bad or too small I just refuse) I'll do it and stack the garbage wood along with the good stuff. Then when they pay, I tell them how much money they could have saved if they had been more judicious and not have me saw their nasty logs, and only saw the good ones. So next time they show up, they only bring me good logs. :D
Either way, I don't saw for free, or even at a reduced rate, it's my mill and I get to make the final decision. I once had a customer bring me a trailer load of some nasty logs and they were so bad I refused to mill them outright. He started complaining so I told him to drive them down the road to another mill about 10 miles away. He said he just came from there, and they refused him, also. He said thought I would do it, even though the "real sawmill" up the road wouldn't.
I observed with a fellow member recently (who shall remain nameless :)) who scaled every log before sawing and that is what he customer paid for whether it made good lumber or scrap.
I normally scale the finished lumber and charge based on that in hopes I will beat the scale estimates. But if they are small, crooked logs or special cuts I bill by the hour. I might start just scaling the logs before cutting as mentioned above.
We have mentioned several times throughout this and similar threads all methods are fair as long as you explain up front and the customer understands and agrees prior to starting to saw his logs.
I try to be as fair as possible, and final tally and charge after sawing. However, since people bring their logs to me, I have everything setup to saw as efficiently as possible. I tell folks I will mill the logs as if they were my own, which generally means a lot to most customers, because they can look at the wood in our showroom and see that I will get the best I can from their logs. However, this is a full time business for me, and I'm losing money if I'm standing around or having a customer tell me to put a doubtful log on the mill and "let's see if it's worth sawing". So I tell them everything is free until the log goes on the mill, then it's going to get sawn, whether it's good or bad because although mills are designed to load whole logs, they are not designed to unload whole logs. So once the log goes on the mill, its going to get sawn and if nothing else come off in smaller pieces. Then I hand them the pink spray can and most times they get the message and go back to their stack and start putting a few X marks on them.
I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that customers have no idea how much money is invested in a serious a sawmill operation, so don't realize what they are asking. I had one guy not too long ago say he loved my mill and stuff, and he then asked me if it was more than ten grand. I told him ten grand wouldn't even pay the taxes.
Quote from: YellowHammer on December 05, 2017, 11:19:01 PM
I had one guy not too long ago say he loved my mill and stuff, and he then asked me if it was more than ten grand. I told him ten grand wouldn't even pay the taxes.
That's beautiful! :D
I think it's inerrantly built into most people to devalue the work/equipment/achievements of others, and that propensity increases many-fold during a purchase transaction.
I recently had a dude who wanted to buy some of my most premium figured 12/4 curly maple. It's not cheap and I don't really care if it sells or not. During the haggle-cycle, he said, "Well, I could just get a mill, buy the logs, and make me own.". So, I responded, "Yes, you surely could have,
but you didn't, which is why you are here.". While I'm usually always willing to adjust according to logic, volume, barter, etc. The "devalue haggle method" rewards zero return...in fact, it has the opposite effect. ;D
A wise man once said, "Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."
Ask him whether he likes to go out to eat or does he prefer to buy the restaurant instead.