How big would the bill be if you cut it?

hackberry jake · June 03, 2015, 03:50:58 PM

I got an order from an older gentleman wanting 500 square feet of 1/2" pine paneling. He said the width doesn't matter but the wider the better. Most of these are around 10" wide. I quoted him .50 a square foot so my bill to him is $250. He was pretty pleased with the price and now he wants 1,000 square feet of oak at .75 a square foot. Am I close to what you guys would charge?

sandsawmill14 · June 03, 2015, 04:44:27 PM

thats pretty much in line with what im getting for green log run lumber

Nomad · June 03, 2015, 06:20:05 PM

I'm doing a tiny little job for a guy in the morning, sawing a couple of sinker pine logs. Somebody else (I don't know who) said he'd do the job for $9.00 per B/F. That's the second time I've heard that quote for sinker logs. And not even the sawyer's logs! I don't know who this sawyer is, but I do believe he's delusional! I'll do this for my normal rates. Sinker logs make special wood, not special sawing.

drobertson · June 03, 2015, 06:21:30 PM

spot on there Jake, have to ask, his logs or yours? Might make a difference, depending on log cost.

CaseyK · June 03, 2015, 06:27:36 PM

Hi Hackberry Jake
Im glad you posted this because hopefully im going to be cutting some wood next hitch home for a guy and was wondering what the typical cutting rates were.
In the above example you said 500 square ft of 1/2"thick x 10"wide and I will assume 10ft wide would equal 250dollars / 60boards 10ft long x 10"wide = 4.16 per board
If you were calculating the 500 square ft into board feet would it be equal to (60 x 10ft long x 10" wide x1/2" thick)/12 = 250 board ft which would equal $1/board ft?
I am assuming that you supplied the logs, is that correct? If he supplied the logs and brought them to you what would you have charged assuming he wanted it all cut into 1/2" lumber?
How would the price differ if he wanted 1" lumber?
Or if he wanted it all cut into 2x material such as 2x12, 2x10, 2x4's ect?

hackberry jake · June 03, 2015, 06:51:37 PM

I supplied the logs, but all the pine logs I get are free. I have never bought pine logs. If he supplied the logs, I told him I would cut it for .30 a square foot. for 4/4 and larger I charge $1 a board foot if I supply the logs.

Peter Drouin · June 03, 2015, 07:02:06 PM

His wood $75.00 an hr . My wood $2.00 a sq foot

hackberry jake · June 03, 2015, 07:13:21 PM

Quote from: Peter Drouin on June 03, 2015, 07:02:06 PM
His wood $75.00 an hr . My wood $2.00 a sq foot

It's interesting to see different rates in different areas. I am sure cost of living affects sawing rate as well as local competition. If I had said $2 a sq ft, he probably would have just bought his lumber from the box store. I believe the box store is higher than $2 a sq ft, but it would have been a higher grade and kiln dried.

Peter Drouin · June 03, 2015, 07:41:40 PM

I can't see the grade in the pic. But when I cut ½" stuff It has to be high grade, Or it will fall apart.

WoodenHead · June 03, 2015, 09:14:47 PM

Our dollar is quite weak right now (about $1 CDN = $0.80 USD), so prices have been changing. Here's my Canadian prices at the moment:

If it is green or air dried pine I would charge $1 to $1.25/sqft for higher quality stuff. If it was kiln dried I would be around $1.50/sqft or higher. These prices may be going up if pine log prices change.

The oak price seems like a very good deal. I now have to pay $1 per bdft just to buy an average oak log. The good quality logs even higher. :-\

sandsawmill14 · June 03, 2015, 09:38:22 PM

down here we have a lot of red/white oak id guess at least half our logs are oak the lumber has went down to 550 a 1000bdft and it is hard to move at that :( that is for green log run lumber. i suspect the fas and veneer logs are still pretty good but havent heard anyone say lately ???

WV Sawmiller · June 03, 2015, 10:48:00 PM

Haven't sold any pine yet. I do have some excess tulip poplar and have sawed a couple of small orders of it for $.75/bf (I should say sq/ft as one guy wanted it 3/4" thick and I told him same price as 1" and he was happy with that). I also quote $.30/bf to cut their logs with them providing labor. I have neighbors cutting for around $.23/bf but they are stationary and I'm not inclined to lower my prices. Don't need the work that bad.

Brucer · June 03, 2015, 11:38:54 PM

For Douglas Fir up to 8" wide, I charge $0.90/ft² (that's about $0.72 US) for anything up to 1" thick.

Ljohnsaw · June 04, 2015, 12:15:03 AM

Interesting thread. My sister was thinking of making a rustic table with a live edge slab of some sort. There are a couple of millers around that advertise on CL. Bring your log, use ours or pick from the cut stock we have. So she called one looking for some walnut. They had some 2 to 2-½" stuff. They gave her a bd-ft price but she didn't really understand what that meant - thinking sq-ft. She figured for her little side table, it would be about $45 as it was about 3 sq-ft. Then I explained what a bd-ft was to her. They quoted her $15/bd-ft!!!!!

The little slab would be over $100! If they are selling at that price, I better get my mill up and running! ;)

WDH · June 04, 2015, 07:31:31 AM

For a thick walnut slab with good figure, that is not too bad.

sandsawmill14 · June 04, 2015, 07:33:25 AM

thats what i was thinking

red oaks lumber · June 04, 2015, 07:35:06 AM

we price "slabs" or mantles on a per piece price, not based on the board foot involved

WDH · June 04, 2015, 07:42:12 AM

I sorta do the same thing, but I use the BF price as a gauge. Right now, I am pricing 8/4 walnut at 1.5 times the 4/4 price. For a 9/4, live edge, wide slab, I am at 2 times the 4/4 price. This is for kiln dried slabs. So, if the 4/4 price is $6.50, then the wide, live edge slab would be $13/BF. As a piece price, say for a 20" wide slab that is 8' long, the price would be $390.

Hack,

For my pine, green off the saw, at your scenario, I would be at $.80 per square foot depending on the quality (age) of the log.

AnthonyW · June 04, 2015, 08:28:29 AM

My father purchased me a doyle based measuring stick. There is an eastern white pine log I am hoping to saw this weekend. According to the stick it contains ~730 bdft. Based on these prices, if I sold it at $1/bdft, that log would be $730? If I milled it for some at $0.50/bdft their bill to mill that one log would be $365? That seems like a high price to mill one log.

Magicman · June 04, 2015, 08:46:00 AM

To me, it's not the cost but the value added. If the customer is value ahead then it is a good deal. If he can buy it at an ~equal or lower cost then the value diminishes.

That applies to both sawing and selling. The greedy can overprice themselves out of business.

red oaks lumber · June 04, 2015, 10:01:52 AM

charging a $1 /bf for green pine isn't out of line. the cost of doing business keeps climbing higher and higher,faster and faster.
i buy pine logs around $.35 b.f. then i have to saw that wood so add $.18 b.f that totals $.53 bf not every board can be sold ,some is not usable or undesireable but, you still bought it and sawed it which add to the cost.
like i told my banker several yrs. ago .if i buy 10 pens for $1 and mark them up 20% i know my profit margin. now add this twist which applies to wood,those same 10 pens i bought for $1 lets say only 7 worked but you still payed for 10, the math becomes a little merky. then the next group only 6 work ,you kinda get the picture. a 1000 b.f. of logs won't always yeild you all sale able lumber .

Peter Drouin · June 04, 2015, 12:18:56 PM

Quote from: AnthonyW on June 04, 2015, 08:28:29 AM
My father purchased me a doyle based measuring stick. There is an eastern white pine log I am hoping to saw this weekend. According to the stick it contains ~730 bdft. Based on these prices, if I sold it at $1/bdft, that log would be $730? If I milled it for some at $0.50/bdft their bill to mill that one log would be $365? That seems like a high price to mill one log.

NH uses International ¼" log rule. ;)

AnthonyW · June 04, 2015, 01:24:48 PM

Quote from: Peter Drouin on June 04, 2015, 12:18:56 PM
Quote from: AnthonyW on June 04, 2015, 08:28:29 AM
My father purchased me a doyle based measuring stick. There is an eastern white pine log I am hoping to saw this weekend. According to the stick it contains ~730 bdft. Based on these prices, if I sold it at $1/bdft, that log would be $730? If I milled it for some at $0.50/bdft their bill to mill that one log would be $365? That seems like a high price to mill one log.

NH uses International ¼" log rule. ;)

Figures.

hackberry jake · June 04, 2015, 02:07:00 PM

Quote from: AnthonyW on June 04, 2015, 08:28:29 AM
My father purchased me a doyle based measuring stick. There is an eastern white pine log I am hoping to saw this weekend. According to the stick it contains ~730 bdft. Based on these prices, if I sold it at $1/bdft, that log would be $730? If I milled it for some at $0.50/bdft their bill to mill that one log would be $365? That seems like a high price to mill one log.

that would be over a 42" diameter 8' log. Also white pine is cheaper than SYP. Figure the labor involved in felling and limbing the tree. Bucking the log, hauling the log, and milling the log. That price doesn't seem out of line to me.

Deese · June 04, 2015, 02:19:55 PM

I charge .75 cents/bf for pine that I cut and sell, and that's probably a little higher than what others around here sell it for... But I've never had a hard time selling it either...
If I had to cut 1/2" boards, I would either increase my bf price or sell by sq foot...just like you did.
I would probably charge .85 cents----$1.00 BF for 1/2" boards.