How much to charge...

[lmroy1979]

Hi,

I am new to this forum, so I am sorry if this question already been answered.
I have a tractor, trailer, winch, chainsaw splitter, etc and I will be using that equipment to cut firewood on a land that I don't own for the benefit of the owner. How much should I charge the owner if his selling price for a 8' cord is 90$.

Thanks, (sorry for my english, it is not my first language)

[beenthere]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

You haven't said where you are located, so can't take that into account.  (hint: add some location to your bio in your profile)

Your English seems just fine.

I wouldn't take that much of my own equipment and my labor for less than $50 an hour.
Then it would be up to the landowner to decide if I cut wood fast enough for him to afford the $50 an hour.
In my opinion, you don't need to figure in how much he gets for his wood. That is what he needs to do.

Now what more has been negotiated behind you wanting to prepare his firewood for him?

We'll be interested to hear about your equipment and  experience's plus we like pics.
Hope you pull up a stump and talk about it.

[chevytaHOE5674]

How much does it cost you to own, operate, and maintain each of those pieces of equipment per hour?

Without knowing that you have no idea what to charge.

[shelbycharger400]

Seems to me,  most that are still selling firewood is those who are accumulation of off materials,  such as logging or milling operation.  Not much profit in strictly firewood gig

[treechopper40]

for me and my skidder and saws I wouldn't do for less than $100 an hour 98% of my business is firewood I make a good living doing firewood and I can move all I can cut and firewood lots are a lot easier to find then log lots if theres logs I look at them as a bonus good luck

[Magicman]

I would tend to agree with beenthere's reply and Welcome to the Forestry Forum, lmroy1979.

[husky fan 500]

you have to look out for number one,,YOU!!!!    figure out what a fair price for your tractor per hour  your saw and splitter per hour  your fuel and above all your labor. i know youre worth more than 2 or 3 dollars an hour. add it all up and go from there. if the other guy dont like it thats his problem u can bargain some but dont cut your own throat

[lmroy1979]

Thanks for your answers.

Just to be more precise, I am in Quebec (updated my statu ;). My tractor is mostly user for snow removal in winter and mowing large field in summer. The firewood thing is more or less a side thing for a couple weeks per year to satisfy my love of working in the woods! I don't own a woodland right now but my father have one and I grew up doing firewood every year... I miss that... a lot. But even so I don't want to give away my time and equipement... I was going for 50-60$ the cord, but wanted some advices from you.

[shortlogger]

How long does it take you to produce a cord of wood ? I always figure what I think my labor is worth according to my skill at what I'm doing , then I figure how much my equipment it worth to operate per hour . I figure a smaller tractor that's not to hard on diesel at about 35 an hour  . You may try working a day and see if what you feel like what you earned adds up to a amount that that the land owner is happy with . Ultimately the only thing that really matters is that both party's are happy with the agreed amount .
But honestly I don't think I would cut skid and split it for 90 a cord unless it was just to get my firewood fix .and not to make money .

[Maine logger88]

I have done a couple jobs like that in the past I got 60 per cord to cut and yard tree length

[thecfarm]

How will you be hauling the wood out? I have a 3 pt winch on my tractor. I can bring out 6 trees and a few more if I double up on the chains. But that is small wood too. No bigger than a 8-10 inches across.

[husky fan 500]

just another idea one friend of mine has a wood processor he buys his logs and delivers on his own 1ton he gets $180 to $250 per cord depending on loyalty and distance. another friend buys his logs hand cuts and splits hauls 2 loads on a pickup to make a cord and charges about the same. obviously friend 1 deals in a much larger volume