what to charge

[phil c]

Hello I have a lt28 that I use for myself .One of my firewood customer wants me to saw some walnut logs.What do you guys charge.I have no idea--THANKS PHIL

[Nebraska]

Well, do you want it to be a business?? you might be better off with some sort of barter or shares....I've worked for pie many times, beer once or twice and beef is always ok.  You go down a slippery slope with taxes and liability once you start charging dollars. I think somewhere around 40-50.00$ an hour is reasonable depending on how many bf you can generate an hr.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Here in WV bartering is as much a social custom as much as an economic consideration. What skill or product does he have that you need or want? Be careful of trading for wood unless he proposes first as there is a good chance he will think he got shorted on the deal and you will lose a friend. 

   I charge $.30/bf for my sawing whether pine, oak or walnut. Some sawyers have different rates for different woods  but I don't. When sawing by the bf the time involved is less of a consideration, IMHO, than total output since you are using a manual mill. My hourly rate is based on what bf totals I would have produced with my hydraulic mill had I been doing normal sawing in good wood. Neither I or the customer gain or suffer significantly between hourly vs bf rates for me.

   If you do saw by the bf you can also determine the bf by actually measuring the finished stack of lumber or by scaling the log(s) before sawing, Both methods are used and are fair as long as you both understand and agree before starting. If you scale the log then encounter significant defect the customer loses. If you saw more than the scale estimate he wins. No big gain or loss either way. 

   BTW - be sure to include a blade damage cost if you hit metal. Good luck.

[cutterboy]

I charge 30 cents/bf for normal sawing. (boards)

[SawyerTed]

My rate is a touch higher than WV Sawmiller at $0.36/bdft.  

My rate covers most of the operating costs and overhead plus an hourly wage for me. I have an hourly rate based on my average hourly board feet production.  Most jobs are hourly jobs anymore.

I suggest you set your rate similarly.  Your costs may be higher or lower than others and how you value your time may be different.  Rates around here range from $50/hour to $85/hour for sawing only.

Barter and trading work is common so is sawing on shares.  If I saw on shares the split is 50/50.

[WV Sawmiller]

Ted,

   Good points and your rate still sounds very reasonable especially since you are much closer to a higher cost area (Winston-Salem) than I am and your market will stand/require a little more than mine. Chances are many of your costs are correspondingly higher so it works out.

[phil c]

thankyou much for the info guys