How to charge for portable work.

[Taylortractornut]

I did a search on  charging for portable work and cant   pin point the answers Im looking for.       Since  I m in the middle of buying a mill.     Since Im looking to do mostly portable work Im trying to figure  what to charge.     Heres my basic questions


1. How do you charge for travel?   Free within a certain  distance and any thing over that  charge by the mile.
2.  What to charge for handling the logs.    I have a skid steer with forks and also  12k excavator with thumb. 

I dont know if I missed anything here or not.       Id like to be able to  rat hole enough for  payments, insurance, and  upkeep and consumables for the mill.           I think saw dust is more addictive than some dope lol. 

[T Welsh]

Taylortractornut, I do mostly custom on site sawing
1. 25 mile radius free after that its a $50.00 move in charge.
2. If equipment is needed on the job site,I charge what the rental center charges for the time needed or maybe a little less if it suites me.
3. As for costs of doing business, only you can answer that question. there are so many variables to consider and what you local economy is like. hope I  helped! Tim

[zopi]

Setup fee of twenty five bucks, if they are within 35 miles...seventy five cents thereafter...
And do have some sort of minimum charge for mobile sawing...by the time you hook up, load up, get there and set up, you have to recover that time and effort in dollars or dollars amd lumber...If I go out to saw one log, I have blown several hours that I could have been making money elsewhere...

[CalebL]

I don't charge for bringing the mill out to them if it's within a 50 mile radius, however, I have a 1000 bdft minimum charge. 

[Tom the Sawyer]

I charge $1.50 per mile, one-way, by MapQuest with a $25 minimum.  The vehicle I haul my mill with gets 10 mpg, at 3.50 per gallon that is .35 per mile just for fuel.  Add the return trip and you are up to .70.  I don't travel to a site unless I have previewed it and the vehicle I use for that costs .19 per mile each way so now I am up to $1.08 not counting my time to drive there and back.  Site visits are free and some don't result in a milling job but it seems that $1.50 per mile covers my costs and when they consider what it would cost to load their logs on a trailer (if they have one and/or the equipment to load it) and the value of their time and gas to bring the logs to me, it is quite reasonable for them.

[Chuck White]

I feel the same as CalebL.

If I don't bring the mill to the customer, I can't saw their logs.  So, no mileage fee, and no setup fee!

I also have a minimum charge at the rate of 1,000 board feet.

If the guy just around the corner has a couple of logs to saw and I have the mill at home, I'll go in and saw them, no problem.

Most of my jobs are within 20 miles.

[zopi]

Well...to be fair, I am a bit flexible with the setup fee...but not the minimum...this is a business, and has to make money, but I tend to pad in some flexibility for the customer...mostly for dealing with >ahem< holes. There is a charge for dealing with difficult people...but most folks get the benefit of the doubt...honestly, I think Tom's model is about the best I have seen for a small mobile sawing service.
Any chance we might preserve his website on the forum? Too much great knowledge there...and a fitting memorial to a great guy...
Sorry to hijack..

[Bandmill Bandit]

I charge $500 moving and set up fee within 100 miles including the first 1000BF. after that its $100 bucks an hour or $.35BF, which ever is the the greater number. A good customer can reduce the number at the bottom of the final invoice up to 30 % if he follows instructions and has a nice clean pile of logs all staged and ready to go with 4x4 set for the lumber stacks and a rack or some such facility for the slabs/firewood/waste material.

If I dont have to pull out my chain saw to get the first log on the mill the bill will be a lot lower.     

[Banjo picker]

Taylor it looks like you have got some pretty good responsces to your questions ....I can't add much.  I would say we are only about 2 or 3 miles apart the way the crow flies  ;)  and I am set up stationary as you know.  I currently charge $250.00 a th.. for sawing pretty good logs... If I don't like their logs I get $50.00 an hour... I handle the logs after they get them here with the 210 C and the loader.....  I may go mobile after I retire form MDOT.... If I do,  will charge either a min. or a set up fee.... Charging a min. looks the best right now...  I have had several people who will bring one good sized log that may scale out about 500 bf...and want it sawn... If I would have been mobile they would have had me come to their place for the one log...with a set up fee of $50 bucks and $125 for the sawing =  $175.00....You would be $75.00 doll hairs  :D ahead to charge the $250.00 min.... 

The last time I asked Chad about his rates  (Car Quest--Timber king B-20) they were more than mine) its been an uphill battle.   Caro was charging about $150.00 a th.... for so long....  Don't start out too cheep...Blades and diesel will eat you alive....I will help you any way I can...I think you know that...Tim

[Taylortractornut]

I didnt know that Chad had a mill.    I dont do much business there anymore.     This is all  good advise, Wallace gave me some more advice.  What portable work he did do  a way  to handle the logs Tractor/ loader or lift   was in the price.   

I got to saw some today.  First investment on the mill  will be a metal detector.       I found out that a  WM blade will saw through a 1/2 inch lag eye bolt.      Wallace told me that he would be  glad to give me  his old customers.    I hope to work around  Belmont and Redbay.   I may even get to set up a site at work.   

[pnyberg]

Officially, it's $1 per mile from the first mile.  Unofficially, if it's within 5 miles I usually forget to charge for travel.  Jobs that close are pretty rare.  Hourly charge of $60 per hr starts when I start to set up the mill and ends when the last log is done. 

--Peter