First BIG Mobile Sawing Job

SawyerTed · May 06, 2018, 02:24:49 PM

Was on the way to a job on Friday and got a call inquiring about my mobile sawing. Went to see the job last evening. What I saw was about one third of the logs, I went to talk with the owner a little while ago. He showed me the other logs.

While none are big logs there are a lot of them. My best count will be 105 logs 12" and larger the largest is 20" at the butt. The logs are all pine and poplar.

The photos only show the first few before bucking and staging. The owner agreed to buck to length and stage according to our discussion. Not all pictured will be sawn, some are pecker poles and firewood.

The advantage is the job is less than a mile from my home.

U

Magicman · May 06, 2018, 02:31:18 PM

I like.

What will the cut list be?

SawyerTed · May 06, 2018, 02:43:03 PM

I asked for a cut list. He has no preference on the lumber produced. He asked for most to be 4/4 and widths as the logs allow. He said he will let me know if he wants any 8/4 lumber. The only use he has for the lumber is siding for livestock shelters, mostly board and batten. I figure some of the smaller logs can be stickers and timbers to stack the lumber on.

ladylake · May 06, 2018, 02:53:42 PM

Timbers work good out of small logs, for stickers I like wide boards as you don't get many stickers out of narrow boards

Steve

WV Sawmiller · May 06, 2018, 04:04:15 PM

Looks like a lot of 1X6's and 1X8's. Is the customer providing a helper to stack or are you stacking too? Good luck and I trust all will go well.

SawyerTed · May 06, 2018, 07:36:37 PM

I see lots of the same WV.

The customer will pay my helpers. He readily agreed to using my helpers since he's a fireman in a city about an hour away and won't be here all the time when I saw. This job is one I couldn't do in a timely manner by myself. I hired one of my helpers for this job a few minutes ago. The helper has been a farm hand on our farm for about 8 or 10 years. He's in college now.

I realized today that I'm booked sawing the next two weeks before I can get to this job. Going to have to have a helper more and more I think. But the customers will be paying them instead of me.

WV Sawmiller · May 06, 2018, 08:57:10 PM

Ted,

Paying help would be an interesting thread by itself, assuming there are not already several out there. I try to avoid hiring help because of the legal, tax and insurance issues. I ask my customer to provide the helper. I did bring a young helper several months ago and the customer paid him which worked well for both of us.

One of, if not the first, big jobs I took reminds me of this one you describe. There were probably a hundred or so logs. Mostly red and white oak, 8' long 12-18 inches in diameter with a few 10-12 ft logs in the mix. Almost all 4/4 boards. The customer said he could not get dependable help so agreed to pay me a nickle a bf extra (My quote - not his suggestion) for me to stack and sticker them. That was a mistake on my part as way underpriced IMHO but I finished the job for that rate. I think I moved the mill 3 times to different stacks of logs in the immediate area - the logs were all on one lot. Because of weather and other issues it took me 3 weeks to finish and I did not get paid till the end of the handshake deal so I was getting a little nervous as I had never met my customer before. I tried a couple times to get helpers but they were no shows when the rubber met the road. When I did finally finish the customer promptly paid every penny owed and I moved the mill to a friend of his for another days sawing there and have since sawed for another neighbor he referred me to. The problem for me was instead of one mile it was 45 miles away.

A couple things I learned was to push harder for the customer to provide the helper, even if I need to help him find them, and to charge more if I have to do the stacking and be sure to get progress payments. I tell customers weekly or end of the job, whichever comes first which seems to be working okay. I often get customers offer daily pay and I probably should take it but when I know it is only another day or so I tell them okay to wait till the end of the job.

SawyerTed · May 06, 2018, 09:13:14 PM

I appreciate your experience and wisdom. I've had to deal with owner provided helpers when the owner couldn't help. Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't. I'm thinking I might be better off choosing my helpers and arranging them to be paid by the customer. I'm going to try it on this job since the customer can't be there.

I did arrange an hourly rate for the helpers.

Magicman · May 06, 2018, 09:19:33 PM

I do not provide any help that I pay. There are times that I may find or bring the help, but the customer pays them. There have been times where the help was exceptionally good and improved the production such that I have tipped them out of my pocket.

If I have to do any slab/lumber handling I quote an hourly rate job.

WV Sawmiller · May 06, 2018, 09:26:28 PM

Lynn,

You know to do that now but I bet somewhere in the distant past there was a special job that prompted you to develop your current practice(s) on help and hourly vs bf charging. ;)

Magicman · May 06, 2018, 10:09:31 PM

Oh absolutely. This portable sawing is not a destination, it is a journey.

My actions have contradicted my words many times and occasionally still do. That is why you have seen me say; never say "never" and never say "always". You guys would shake your head and not believe what I sometimes do that never reaches these pages. Sometimes I do not believe it myself. :

PC-Urban-Sawyer · May 06, 2018, 11:32:21 PM

MM, now you've done it!

Time for a new thread: "MM, the untold tales..."

Inquiring minds want to know.

Herb

Magicman · May 07, 2018, 08:52:00 AM

OK, here is one that I did not tell the "rest of the story".

Whatcha Sawin' ??? in Sawmills and Milling

Due to the customer having a long school bus run each weekday, it had to be done on a Saturday. I drove 64 miles and was setup and sawing by 8:00am. I was finished by noon so it was a 4 hour job sawing some Sinker Cypress for a lady craftsman. Wednesday before I sawed it I found out that her husband had just been diagnosed with MS. This ~40 year old lady now has the weight of the world on her shoulders with children in school, driving a school bus to make ends meet, and now being faced with the uncertainties of dealing with her husband's MS.

I sawed the job and when she came out with her checkbook and asked "how much?", I replied, "no charge". So I don't always saw bf, or hourly, or charge for a damaged blade. Sometime I just do what I do and choose not to tell anyone.

Whitetail_Addict · May 07, 2018, 09:16:06 AM

Lynn
Of all the lessons many of us have learned on this forum this may be the most powerful and helpful.

pineywoods · May 07, 2018, 10:10:33 AM

Quote from: Whitetail_Addict on May 07, 2018, 09:16:06 AM
Lynn
Of all the lessons many of us have learned on this forum this may be the most powerful and helpful.

AMEN brother. Add to that the austin black project, the willie steel project, and undoubtedly others that I don't know about. When it comes time for me to stand before the final judgement and account for my life, I really don't want to follow the magic man..

78NHTFY · May 07, 2018, 11:07:32 AM

X2...that's what this site is all about. Sorry, gotta walk away, blow my nose. All the best, Rob.

Crossroads · May 07, 2018, 11:37:11 AM

Congratulations on the job Ted! If I could stack up a few jobs like that I would have to consider going full time.
That's a great story MM, sometimes the none monetary payments are more rewarding than the green could ever be. I'm sure that was a welcome sliver of light for that lady in an otherwise trying time.

Southside · May 07, 2018, 02:26:00 PM

Something is wrong with my computer, the screen is all blurry suddenly. :embarassed:

Chuck White · May 07, 2018, 08:13:48 PM

Way to go Lynn, done that a couple times myself!

SawyerTed · May 07, 2018, 08:41:30 PM

On a recent job I followed a tree service that took down some trees for a widow, they cut them down and bucked them to 9 feet at her request. They cleaned up and left. She never saw them leave.

I got a call from her neighbor to come saw the logs, she had the trees cut and the neighbor requested the logs. When I arrived the widow asked me how to contact the tree service. I found the guy and called his cell number. He told me he never charges widows no matter what. We talked a little while and he advised me his business was about the people he meets everyday and mine should be too.....

Same lesson Lynn just shared!