My neighbor has lots of hemlock, and he and I both need framing lumber for buildings. What's a fair arrangement for sawing on shares? His trees, my mill, his tractor and wagon to haul out the lumber, my loader to handle the logs. probably both of us providing labor. It's an easy site to access so we can move the mill right next to the trees. Would half/half be about right? in the past he has traded maple syrup for sawing, but I can 't eat that many pancakes, plus I really do need the lumber this time.
My only suggestion is be sure you have an agreement on who covers cost of damaged blades. The first 2 logs I sawed on halves ruined 3 blades- with no agreement! This may not apply to you, but you never know what's in a log.
Who is cutting and dragging the logs to the landing? How far away is the site? Who is hauling the lumber from the site and what would your cost be for your part if you do or were doing it?
How much would you pay for the lumber or the logs to saw it if you were buying/sawing it for your needs? (Include your cost for labor for stacking if that applies.) How much would you charge to move and set up to saw his logs?
How good a neighbor is he and how much would you be helping the other if only one of you needed the lumber?
I have sawed on shares before (as recently as last summer) and unless it is very unusual, the next time I will require the owner to bring the logs to me or at least transport the lumber to my home as I ended up with excessive transport labor and costs. We were both well satisfied with the split and I will make money out of it but I spent more than I had anticipated and wrote that off as lessons learned with no ill will involved.
The main thing I recommend is to be sure the neighbor feels you are being fair or knows he is getting an equal or better deal. The last thing you want to do is lose a good friend and neighbor over this deal. I'd let him propose what he feels is fair and accept or improve on his offer or decline the deal.
If it is his timber I would say 50-50 sounds ok, I would not worry over blades, he is hauling and supplying labor.
Shares and Hemlock....Who eats the shake is my first question? Scale the logs or the lumber? The answer to #2 determines #1. I have sawn on shares and at the end of the day can't say I was really satisfied with the outcome, no matter how it was split.
Maybe determine a sawing MBF rate and a lumber price you both are happy with and use that. This way you don't have to keep 3,000 extra feet of lumber nor do you saw 3,000 extra feet of junky wood neither of you want.
I'm with Wood pecker on this one and you would give a neighbor the benefit of any doubt.