Portable, how far will you travel?

[TGS]

Just curious. I stay mostly in a one county radius but I've been contacted by someone that's about 100 mi away. Ill probably pass but got me to thinking, how far is too far?

[SPD748]

I think Magic has made some marathon runs. I'm sure he'll chime in soon.

-lee

[Ga Mtn Man]

Depends on the size of the job.  I recently drove 190 miles one way for a job.  MM has gone much further.

[Ga Mtn Man]

Depends on the size of the job.  I recently drove 190 miles one way for a job.  MM has gone much further.

...and how much you need the work.

[T Welsh]

I do not like to travel more than an hour away from home base. Anything further than 30 miles radius from home base gets a fuel charge that's fair. Tim

[GeorgeK]

I'm new so have not traveled but I would think mileage if a long way and other expenses if more than one day of work?

[Too Big To Fail]

I traveled 104 miles last week on a 3 day job.  I undercharged for mileage and will need to adjust upward next time.  I had the customer put me up in hotel.  We milled a little of this and a little of that, including a couple 32" x 10' red oaks.  I like to stay close, but you do what you gotta do and I think he'll be a repeat customer down the road. (so to speak ;)) 

[Gasawyer]

in the past 150-200 miles but that was before fuel went out of sight. lately been less than 100. but don't skimp on the mileage, even for local jobs trucks don't run for free. if the customer will pay I'd go most anywhere in the southeast.

[terrifictimbersllc]

If you don't charge for mileage you're slowly giving away your truck.  Figure how much you want to make for a given distance and set a minimum or charge more accordingly.  In the end it's just wood and that together with the customer's other options will sort things out.

[Magicman]

Websites will generate sawjobs that are normally out of your normal travels.  I made several over 150 mile trips and one over 200 miles this year.  I adjust my sawing rate up and charge mileage @ $1.25 per mile one way, one time.  The customer is also responsible for my lodging, which, so far, has been in the customer's spare bedroom, etc.  I also have always been fed three good meals each day.  Ironically, I also have gotten nice tips from most of the road trip customers. 

The customer needs to have at least a full week's work to justify the additional travel expenses.  I did a repeat (two different trips) on one saw location this year that was 160+ miles away.

I have two on the schedule for after the first of the year and both are over 200 miles away.

[customdave]

Well my longest road trip was close to 500 miles oneway, & the pay was a kiss & a hug  & it was worth it, she's very good lookin ;) . Plus she is one of my favorite cousins ;D....


                                 Dave

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Well my longest road trip was close to 500 miles oneway, & the pay was a kiss & a hug  & it was worth it, she's very good lookin ;) . Plus she is one of my favorite cousins ;D....


                                 Dave

That's why you're called CUSTOM DAVE.  :D

[Chuck White]

I'm with Tim on this one!

I don't want to travel over an hour with my mill.

The furthest I've traveled is 36 miles and that's far enough!

[swampbuggy]

I pull my mill 2600 miles north in the summer and then 2600 miles back south for the winter. I think my mill is about as large as the Tacoma wants to pull. I like to find a Werner or Schneider truck to follow and it helps the old girl to keep on trucking at 66 MPH. Helps with the gas mileage too.

[TGS]

He has offered 2 spare rooms for my helper and me but I just can't see being all that comortable. If I take the job I'll be looking for a cheap room in an area motel. With nice weather the job is a solid 5 - 6 days and would gross around $4400. He has a tractor with a loader that he stacked the logs with so I wouldn't have to take anything but sawing equipment when I went. I'm giving him another week or two to find someone else before I commit.

Maybe its just me but sawing 100 miles from home would seem to add a level of stress to finishing quickly that I don't normally have. Rain delays would just be awful.

[captain_crunch]

M_M
What be rate to come to Oregon  ??? ??? ??? Ifn I could afford it would be worth it to meet you in person

[terrifictimbersllc]

Maybe its just me but sawing 100 miles from home would seem to add a level of stress to finishing quickly that I don't normally have. Rain delays would just be awful.

Not just you. It's worst when it's only one day's work, and equipment is more of a concern to me than rain.   Up at 4:00, there by 7:30, setup by 8, then get the job done.  Don't like to do over 50-60 miles on Saturday because Wood-mizer tech support not there all day. 

Very important to clearly understand those 100 mile one day jobs before leaving home.  The best are ones that I can finish in an hour less than my minimum charge for that distance.

Just got myself some Grunden's raingear so looking forward to the next downpour.

[Nomad]

     I recently did one at 355 miles, each way.  For one big, sentimental oak log. 
     I really didn't want that job.  But because of the log's size and location there was no way it could be done with any bandmill; it was either a swingblade or firewood.
     I drove up on a Thursday, positioned the log, cleaned a lot of gravel out of the bark, and set up the mill. Cut Friday, finished up Saturday morning and broke down the mill, and drove home.
     The customer paid mileage, lodging and meals, blade damage, hourly for log handling and cleaning, and my usual bf rate for sawing.  Money wise I did just fine.  I got real close to 1300 bf from that one log.
     That said, I'd be just as happy if next time they can find somebody closer than me to do the deed!

[Magicman]

My first "road trip" sawjob was over 160 miles away.  My blade tensioner seals had just failed and been replaced the week before, so I was thinking about another $15 breakdown that would stop the sawing.  My comfort level was clearly exceeded.  I had a Debarker bearing failure on one trip this Summer.   I had a tire to separate internally and started to wobble badly.  I replaced it and now carry a spare.

The possibility of a mechanical failure is foremost on my mind.  I also rescheduled one job twice until the weather forecast looked more favorable.

[Delawhere Jack]

Be sure that you know what your gas mileage is when towing your mill. I normally get 17MPG in the Jeep, so when the low fuel light came on, history tells me I had 85 miles left, and was only a little over 50 miles from home.

WRONG!!! :-[

Turns out I only get 9-10MPG towing the mill. I had a can of gas but no funnel. Luckily it ran dry only 1/2 block away from a PepBoys store so I was able to get a funnel and be back on my way.

[sigidi]

Four and a half hours driving each way for my longest job so far, Weisyboy and I set up camp in the bush and cut for 3-4 days at a time.

I dont worry about having breakdowns with my Lucas, more concerned with leaving something at home

[WindyAcres]

I do not like to travel more than an hour away from home base. Anything further than 30 miles radius from home base gets a fuel charge that's fair

Is that just a saying in English or do you actually just calculate fuel? I am asking because I know that with my truck the fuel is not even half of the cost/km. I have a Toyota Tacoma that needs about 10l/100 km. The price of regular gas is about 1.30 CAD/l right now (has been as high as 1.45 this year, so about 5.5$/gallon  >:(), so it costs about 13 cents/km for my truck. Now thats without towing my mill. I am not sure but you can probably add 2l/100 km for towing, so that makes around 16 cents/km for the gas.

Now the real costs are the vehicle itself, insurance, new tires, vehicle registration, inspection, repairs, oil change,etc.. I have to check again (that might not be enough) but it is around 50 cent/km for travelling. Now 30 miles is about 50 km so thats 50 bucks for travelling.

What are your real costs for traveling?

Cheers!
Fabian

[Magicman]

Yup, a four thousand pound sawmill will wreck your fuel mileage.   :-\

[WDH]

The Internal Revenue Service rate for charging business miles as an expense for 2013 will be 56.5 cents per mile.

[Magicman]

Wow, a whopping one cent increase.   :