Just got bit by no sight inspection

[Crossroads]

I guess 3 times in 6 years isn't to bad, but 2 of the 3 have been in the last month. When I scheduled the job, I explained that I needed a semi level spot that I could get the drivers side of the mill next to the log deck and the logs should be on level or slightly up hill from the mill. I called tonight to verify the date for tomorrow and let him know what time to expect me. First, he forgot I was coming, second wasn't going to be there, then admitted the logs were below the "setup" spot. After he sent some pictures, I called and we came up with a plan for him to move the logs tomorrow and be ready on Tuesday. Fortunately, I had him scheduled for 2 days, but now that I've seen the pictures, I'm pretty sure I can cut it in one day. It's not a big deal, because I need to fall some more trees at my place and this will give me the time to take care of that, in order to prepare the area that I'm going to be building a sawmill/planner shed. 

[Tacotodd]

Not trying to be mean here, but I hope that it'll teach both of y'all something, and both of you folks for nothing but general principles. I don't intended to offend, so please don't think as such. This is just a reminder that customers (usually) only half listen to what anyone in any industry (that knows what they are talking about) says. 30 years in auto parts sales says just that, us guys have  "tendency" for doing just that. 

Anyway, back to regular programming.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I'd call this a success, it got caught beforehand, you've got practices in place.  

It feels like I spend an inordinate amount of time with customers trying to make sure there are no surprises. I have a diagram and photos on my website which I refer people to in addition to verifying multiple times log prep, placement, helpers, plans for wood on and on.  www.terrifictimbers.com/getting-ready.

Only 3 times in 14 years have I had to turn around and go home.

But as TT said (wait I am TT too!!  :D), still finding customers dont listen or read agreement.  That's why I have a charging scheme to cover whatever happens.  The problem is trying to remain cheerful throughout the customer interaction.  You have to spend the whole day with them, offer good service, get paid, and hope they recommend you too.

[longtime lurker]

Way back when i tried portable sawmilling this kind of thing drove me insane. Seemed I could explain, draw a diagram, send a picture... and it'd still be somewhere between difficult and impossible on arrival half the time. Then we had the guys with a tractor... I'm sure there's some kind of law of the universe says the smaller the guys tractor the bigger the log has to be. Seems I've loaded logs to a mill with everything from a bag lifter to chained to the blade of a D10N.
Or I'd end up freighting my heavy machinery about and not getting paid for it. More productive perhaps, but not a winning proposition.

So I quit being portable, stayed stationary, and the rest is history. Sometimes I think I should have just bought a bobcat.

[mike_belben]

You want a grandslam portable sawmill?  

Mount it to a gooseneck so that your skid steer or loader tractor goes on back with you to every job. 

[Magicman]

The only time that I ever do a site inspection is if I happen to be close to the location.  I may loose an hour or so after I get there while waiting for the customer to do something, but it's not a deal breaker.  In today's age, I do regularly get pictures but even then the ground level might not be obvious and there could be some surprises but we still work it out.

I don't recall but one job that I left without sawing, and that is in 20 years.  I abandoned a job this year after I set up and started sawing but that was because the customer was not providing the help that he agreed to.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I do site visits if they are close and/or I am in the area or am excessively bored and looking for something to do. I still remember one job I probably should have abandoned simply because the customer flat out lied to me. I had visited the site, the logs were a windrow of pines along a fence/property line that had been bucked into 8' logs and were one long narrow row in a steep backyard with a 10-12 ft wide gate to jockey through. I showed the guy 2 spots for landings and agreed to set up on both to saw. His sons were to be my helpers. The day before the trip I called and the customer told me everything was set up as we had discussed so I came and when I got there I found absolutely nothing had been done since my first visit. I relented and set my mill up a little further down hill than I had planned and angled the mill a little. We were able to roll and turn about 60% of the logs down to the mill and sawed them there. The two grown sons were to move the logs with cant hooks and looked like 2 monkeys and a football working against each other till I'd show them which end of the hook to hold, which end of the log to hold steady and which to turn to point it toward the mill, etc. When we finished the logs we could access I hooked a snatch block around a stump uphill of the mill and took my long 1/4" cable and hooked to the logs further downhill and let one of the sons pull them up hill with his SUV - I'd loan them a cable and snatch block and show them how it worked but I refused to use my pickup and possibly tear it up or the yard or fence. We got about 30% more of the logs and enough the customer figured his cut list was filled. I told them if they wanted to pull the remaining logs I'd loan them my cable and snatch block and come back. We had a snow storm coming and if I did not get out that afternoon I would be stuck back there for days or possibly weeks so I left then. It turned out to be a decent job but I still wonder if, on principle, I should not have just turned around and gone home when I got there and found none of the promised work had been done like he said. I have no idea why the man told me the logs were moved when he obviously knew they had not been.

[Don P]

When we were travelling around the country building I had clear requirements of what needed to be done and ready prior to our arrival and a penalty clause, basically a per diem if we got there and they weren't ready. People ain't gotta clue sometimes. A few flat out lied but most were just ignorant. "No a semi isn't going in there and its too narrow for me to carry bundles sideways, go call everyone you know and start lining up haywagons". We never actually billed them but I sure choked it down a few times. I think the longest was camped out for 30 days in the rain, remember that summer in the 90's when the upper midwest went underwater? A beautiful meadow 2000 miles from home waiting for it to dry up enough to get the concrete trucks in... all of which was supposed to be done before we arrived. "You'll have some of that on these big jobs."

[LeeB]

Good thought n mentioning the logs need to be on the "driver's side". I hadn't thought of that because I've always been able to access from either way. I need to mention it to a prospective customer that has a job for me coming up in a tight place.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Yes, I always tell the customer my loading arms are on the driver's side so I have to be able to drive up beside or back into the site directly beside the log pile and that the logs need to be level or slightly uphill from where the mill is going to be. I also tell them to center stack the logs rather than lining up one end and also to stack them on some small runner logs to help keep them cleaner and make them easier to roll. I tell them if possible start the log pile with the longest loads to be sawed first but this seldom happens.

[alan gage]

When we were travelling around the country building I had clear requirements of what needed to be done and ready prior to our arrival and a penalty clause, basically a per diem if we got there and they weren't ready.

I forget the rock band but they were famous for insisting in their contract they have a bowl of green M&Ms in their dressing room.
One day I heard the story behind this as told my someone in the band's management. Seems their live shows called for a lot of special things visually, acoustically, and lighting-wise and it was written into the contract that these things needed to be taken care of by the venue and it was apparently a pretty long list. Among the things in that list was the green M&Ms.
So if they arrived at the venue and found a bowl of green M&Ms they could be relatively confident the contract had actually been read and followed. If there was no bowl of green M&Ms they knew they better double check everything before showtime.
Alan

[Tacotodd]

I'm fairly certain that it's Guns N Roses. I remember hearing something about that on the radio. I thought that it was ridiculous, but now that I read this post, I understand why.

[DixieReb31]

Green m&m's. Pretty ingenious.  I need to include that in my contract when I write one up.

[Tacotodd]

OR, whatever your favorite color is. But remember 2 things: 1 it has to exist 2 it's YOUR choice and not theirs 😂

[LeeB]

Van Halen and brown M&M's.

[quadracutter222]

This is a good reminder to set-up a set of standard operating procedures, and work the system for each job.  

I am going to add this one to the list.  So far the bigs one are:
- look and measure the logs before accepting a job (easy for me, small geography)
- no helpers at the mill except my dad, who understands where to stand, what to do, how to move around the mill.

I broke one of those this weekend, resulting in now having a saw that needs re-tipping.  

[moodnacreek]

Mobile sawing here would never work. Any who tried where never seen again. The logs.... no that is pieces of trees will be down the hill, across the stream in the swamp and never near a place you could drive anything . However it they are brought out you could never saw them as they will all be cracked and jammed with dirt and gravel.

[Crossroads]

It's a calculated risk that I'm willing to take, most of the time things are pretty close to what I've explained. The next time I update my website, I have some pictures of good setups that I will add. I will also start referring people to my website for the added directions. No job today gave me a chance to finish falling the trees and clear the brush and logs from the area that I'm going to build the saw shed. That all went pretty well until I broke a track on the excavator 🙁

[Skip]

Bummer :( :-[ :

[WV Sawmiller]

The worst case I had that I mentioned above I had made a site visit and laid out what we needed and the customer agreed and told me it was done but it was not. I don't plan on getting in the habit of doing multiple site visits to verify what we already agreed to. Most are pretty much in line with what we discussed and some far exceed my expectations. The rest we can generally make right in pretty short order.

[Crossroads]

The worst case I had that I mentioned above I had made a site visit and laid out what we needed and the customer agreed and told me it was done but it was not. I don't plan on getting in the habit of doing multiple site visits to verify what we already agreed to. Most are pretty much in line with what we discussed and some far exceed my expectations. The rest we can generally make right in pretty short order.

For the most part this is my experience as well. Most of my jobs are at least an hour away and I'm at a point in life that I'm not interested in driving all over the place to look at what can typically be addressed over the phone. The setup today wasn't perfect, but it was very workable and we completed the cut list with just a couple stragglers that will become firewood. At the end of the day, I got a $200 tip 👍🏻