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figuring out how to charge

Started by Qweaver, November 13, 2017, 02:24:35 PM

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Qweaver

I just finished a 7 large log job (40"+ dia) and the customer felt that he was greatly overcharged.  He says he normally uses a sawyer that charges him $125 per 1000 BdFt and that includes an off bearer.  That's about 3 24" logs and that would take me about 3 to 3.5 hours on my LT28 with a paid off bearer.   fuel and blades come out of that also.  That's if the logs were straight and good.  So about $180 if I don't hit metal.   I've got about $200,000 in equipment to pay for before I really make a profit.  Is anyone really charging less than I am? This is not a pathway to become a millionaire.  Good thing I just love to saw.  BTW I charge $45 per hour for me and the equipment and I pay an off bearer $10 per hour if one is not provided.

Quinton
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

ronwood

Qweaver,

I charge 35 cents per bd ft. I would not do it for any less.  I would  suggest that he goes to back to his other sawyer if he can get it done for less.
No point of working that hard otherwise.

Ron
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

Qweaver

His sawyer could not saw 40" dia x 20' long logs.   We lost about 1/3 of his logs due to rot.  It takes longer to saw the bad out of the way then if the log was fully sound.
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

TKehl

The local Mennonite sawmill won't even saw them that cheap... and you take the logs to them...
In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent. Loretta Lynn

rjwoelk

Sounds to me that other sawer probably got tired of his complaining and refused to saw them. Just told him they are to big.  ;D
Tell him you have the capacity and you charge for the capacity.
Some folk just cant help but complain.
Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

killamplanes

200,000 in equipment charging 45 an hour? You have a much sharper pencil than I do. At 125mbf custom sawing I don't believe you will have competition to long.
jd440 skidder, western star w/grapple,tk B-20 hyd, electric, stihl660,and 2X661. and other support Equipment, pallet manufacturing line

starmac

I would charge him what ever you think is right and never look back. If he could have had it sawed for anywhere near what he claims he would never have called you. The way I do things, would be to never saw for him again at any price.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

WV Sawmiller

   I am not that far from you and similar market I am sure. I charge $.30/bf with the customer providing the helper, more if I have to stack. I charge $60/hr if small or special orders which would include under or over sized logs that would slow me down. Minimum order 1,000 bf/$300 plus mileage for me to move my mill - no minimum if they bring their logs here. With logs that big I would have refused or insisted he split them as too big for my mill too.

    My opinion is if other people charge less than me they know what their work and time is worth. I have watched many piles of logs rot or get worm infested waiting on some of my bargain sawyer neighbors wait to get around to sawing them.

    As long as the customer knows up front what you are charging and accepts you should not worry about charging him accordingly. I offer a copy of an International 1/4" log rule and have one on the back of my business card so the customer can estimate. I  tell them with good logs we will beat that. I finished an order yesterday where the customer used the log rule and estimated 3400 bf and finally tally was 3825 plus whatever short boards he wanted to salvage out of the scrap pile. He was well pleased and no surprises.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Percy

Pretty much what Starmac said.

Related info, it took me quite a while to learn this way back when I started...heh...most folks wanted "by the board foot" pricing. I would, like an idiot, charge them for whatever was in the pile of lumber i cut from their logs......that dont work. They would get me to cut cull logs or some weird shaped rotten butts and if I didnt get hardly any board feet, it was no sweat to them. I was so busy and I was not makin a cent. Now I charge by the volume of the piece. Log quality improved drastically when I implemented the new pricing.....The Queaver customer clones were angry at me but since they left, my bottom line has improved. That customer was just trying to bully a deal.
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

WV Sawmiller

   Somebody (but I forget who - maybe cwimer? They say your memory is the second thing to go and I can't remember what the first was) recently posted his policy of charging a flat rate fee per each log and had a specified size restriction on how big the log could be based on his mill constraints.

    I still keep kicking that around and if anybody else is or has been doing so I'd love to hear an update. Both the customer and the sawyer know exactly how much it will cost before the first board is ever cut.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Qweaver

I sawed the left over scraps for him this AM and made 6 2 x10 boards and plenty of stickers. Spent 3 hours of time.  I did not charge him and told him to never bring me any more logs.  He still has some 40" logs and I have no clue who can saw them around here without splitting them.  How long does that take?
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

Chop Shop

Quote from: Qweaver on November 13, 2017, 02:31:24 PM
His sawyer could not saw 40" dia x 20' long logs.   We lost about 1/3 of his logs due to rot.  It takes longer to saw the bad out of the way then if the log was fully sound.

I can always saw way over scale, so I know Im an efficient sawer, but if they bring me hollow logs, I charge either Bd/Ft for log scale or Bd/Ft for lumber produced, whichever figure is larger.

If they bring me a big ol heavy pile o garbage, would it be fair for them to pay for only a few boards and make me deal with a huge mess and extra work?  Rotten wood also dulls teeth faster.

This is cedar country (pnw) and I regularly deal with rotten cored cedar and most of it can produce some of the highest quality CVG boards around and are well worth sawing usually.

Once in a while someone brings a POS with a big ol cat eye, tons of rot, ants climbing out and limb stubs all over and you tell them its not even good firewood.   "Well just saw it up and see what we get anyways", they say.

After paying for scale on a 40"x12'  rotten butt (700+bf) and getting only 300 bf of lumber they tend to get an education much faster.

Some folks you cant talk CENTS into until they see it on the bill.

Peter Drouin

 I had a guy bring me ½ rotting logs and he payed .35 a BF for ½ rotting lumber.
I tell them rotting log make rotting lumber crooked logs make crooked lumber, And if the chain saw comes out it's $ 100.00 an hour. Softwood, Hardwood is more.

When I was on the road I'd tell the customer to cull the junk logs. I will saw what's in the pile, Ants, or rot you will pay for all the BF I handle. :D ;D
Tell him to pay up,
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Magicman

If you are only charging $45 per hour and paying a helper $10 per hour, that would equal out to about $125 per Mbf.   :-\  I'd say that you are already on the fast track to going broke.

I charged $75 per hour today and the customer proved two helpers.  I never had to touch a single board or slab.  At an average of 2Mbf per day @ $300 per Mbf, it equals out to the same money.  I will not saw for less.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Qweaver

I charge $45 plus $10 for one helper.  so $55 per hour....plus blades...still not enough!  But maybe I'm just slow.
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

Magicman

OK, I misunderstood the way your last sentence was worded about the $10, but I agree that you are still too cheap.  If he complains and can get it for $125, then he needs to do so, except that the cheap guy can't do it.   ::)  Surprise Surprise!!!
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Chuck White

If you charge too much, it might be cheaper for the customer to sell his logs (or leave them standing) and go to an Amish mill and buy his lumber!  Just sayin'!

$300.00 and up per 1,000 seems unreal to me!   :o
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Magicman

I'm $250 for framing lumber and $300 or hourly rate for everything else.  We don't have Amish.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

starmac

Qweaver, is that 45 + 10 for sawing at your place or the customers?? If at your place how do you charge to clean up, slabs,junk wood,dust etc??

Here if we paid a helper 10 bucks, we would have to charge 20 to cover his wages, ss, wc, etc.

Is your mill manual or hydraulic, I am just trying to wrap my head around why 45 bucks an hour is all you can charge in your area.
A couple of years ago there was a young man here, bought a new manual lt28.
He was a hard working guy with a wife and baby to support. He started out charging 50 bucks travel and set up fee, then 35 bucks an hour, if you brought him the logs, it was just a straight 35 bucks. I told him I would be better off giving my mill away and hiring him to cut anything I needed.
He was planning on keeping his day job, at least till he built up a business, and said he might have to raise his rates after he got his customer base built up.
To my way of thinking, it is harder to raise rates once your customers are established though.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Peter Drouin

I'm at .35 a BF and you bring the logs to me + blades with no chain saw work, Hardwood is .45 a BF. Over 16' is $100.00 an HR all day.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

starmac

Here is a pricelist for our only real source for rough cut spruce.

https://northlandwood.com/roughlumber/
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

ButchC

All of our local mills are Amish and they all quoted me the same rate for custom sawing. 50 cents a Bft. And they keep the slabwood.
Peterson JP swing mill
Morbark chipper
Shop built firewood processor
Case W11B
Many chainsaws, axes, hatchets,mauls,
Antique tractors and engines, machine shop,wife, dog,,,,,that's about it.

GDinMaine

I only saw by the hour $65/hr for first three hours and $55/hr after that. That is the only system It is fair to saw by the hour as it compensates for the wide range of log quality. Otherwise I would have to have a different bf price for every job based on logs.

I had a guy ask if I can beat a quote, that seemed way low. I told him to hire the other guy and walked off. I don't work for people who only care about taking advantage of others.

Some wise man on this forum once wrote: "I never lost money on a job, I didn't do."
It's the going that counts not the distance!

WM LT-40HD-D42

PAmizerman

I call those kind of guys "tire kickers". They are just trying to see if they can get you to drop you're price even when they know they got a good deal especially when no one else in the area could even handle the job. Or didn't want to. Let me guess after you did the job he wanted you to saw more? When I get a customer like that I tell them to go back to their cheap Sawyer. They generally come back with their tail between their legs and have me do their sawing. And they are much easier to deal with from their on out.
If they give me too much hassle I just refuse doing any more work for them and I am better off. I know it is agrivating but sometimes their is nothing you can do. People are goofy. Sorry for the rant but hopes this puts you're mind at I ease. I don't think you are doing anything wrong except maybe not charging that guy enough😂😂
Woodmizer lt40 super remote 42hp Kubota diesel. Accuset II
Hydraulics everywhere
Woodmizer edger 26hp cat diesel
Traverse 6035 telehandler
Case 95xt skidloader
http://byrnemillwork.com/
WM bms250 sharpener
WM bmt250 setter
and a lot of back breaking work!!

starmac

Peter, why the change to hourly over 16 foot? Is it just because it is more work to handle longer logs and boards, or does the longer logs slow down your board foot average. Just trying to learn something here.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

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