Milled some oak this week

[Woodsrover]

Probably not a huge deal to some of you big boys but I'm pretty new at this and this was the first decent amount of hardwood I've done so far.  (I've cut probably 4-5k of white pine and a bit of oak and a small amount of cedar so far.)  A buddy of mine that farms beef needed some oak boards for the corral where he loads them for slaughter.  Seems they get a little excited and tend to break pine.  Can't say I blame them.  Anyway, he dropped of 13 logs at 10'6" for me to get what I could out of them in 2x6s.  Some of them were pretty crooked and a couple were pretty small but there were a few really nice logs too.  In the end I got 170 boards out of it.  Some are a bit warped as there was a bit of tension in a few logs but all-in-all I'm happy with what I ended up with.

I'm not charging him to do this as he gives me a fantastic deal on 1/2 cows of grass-fed beef every year or so and he lets me hunt his land as well, but I'm curious...If you guys were doing this job what would you have charged?  He delivered the logs, I cut and stickered them and he's coming back this week and will help me load them.  It's just over 1300bf.

Photos:

[hamish]

That many 2x6 at 10' should be closer to 1800bf, well worth the value of a free cut and wrapped beef cow.

[Brad_S.]

Nice stack of lumber.
I realize this is a temporary stack, are you going to add more stickers when it reaches it's final resting spot?

[Delawhere Jack]

Nice job! I'll probably end up doing some milling for my brother in law for free, he lets me hunt on his farm.

I'm too new to offer advice on billing, I've done two jobs for hire so far and WAY under bid both of them......  :-[ Lucky for me they were both good honest types and they were generous. I think they both enjoyed working with me, (I let them cut a few boards), and they appreciated the amount of effort I put in.

I'm figuring more like 1800bf as well.

[bama20a]

Free is good(for the other fellow) ;D,But as you said, he does let you hunt his land,& I wouldn't be surprise the next time you need beef.That the favor is not returned.

[rambo]

$540.00 just for the milling. I don't know how to charge went it comes to stickering. Anyone else have a pricing system for stickering?

[laffs]

I get 0.30 ft delivered to my mill. I'l cut them stickers from edgings for free but i dont sticker lumber

[Woodsrover]

Nice stack of lumber.
I realize this is a temporary stack, are you going to add more stickers when it reaches it's final resting spot?

That's up to him.  I've got two per and only planned on having them here a day or two.  Weather turned nice and he's making hay until probably the middle of next week or I would have stickered them better.  I wouldn't be surprised if they end up in a pile in the corner of the field waiting to be screwed to fence posts.  Being straight isn't a big concern in this application.  It's a shame though...There was one really nice log, 26" and maybe an inch of taper in ten feet.  I felt terrible cutting it into 2x6s.   :-\

[Magicman]

I felt terrible cutting it into 2x6s.   :-\ 

No need to feel that way.  No matter what a log/lumber "could" have been used for, when you are sawing a customer's logs, you saw what they want.  I have sawed many thousands of feet of White Oak that could have built beautiful furniture.  Instead it went to floor a cattle trailer.

[thecfarm]

Should of asked him to park a trailer next to the mill. I'm only kidding,but I would be gone when he comes to pick up the lumber. I had one of my friends come over and help me on my building, What a diffeance some help makes.

[macpower]

I always like sawin' for the local farm boys. Doesn't really matter what you charge them, (they do love to think they got a good deal). It always comes back good for me. They seem to appreciate hard work and honest labor, and I have always gotten great returns beyond the pay check.