Handling add ons

[tomstrees]

I have a customer who just wanted a pile of mostly tree length wood cut up and then later split.

So they called me last week after a major storm and said they had more. Most of these properties are million or so an acre.

So I got there today, worked a couple hours, had quoted them fifty an hour for most of the work.

They had some major oaks come down, and the big service ended up dumping some tree lengths, multi ton trunks near the other pile.

I don't have a saw for 40 inch wide tree lengths. How would you handle it? How much extra are major headaches like that worth? I have a friend who has some older Huskys that might be up to them but then they want them split. Typical city refugees that moved up for obvious reasons.

 

[Birdyman88]

I don't have a saw for 40 inch wide tree lengths. How would you handle it?

I'd find one. You can do it with a 24" bar if you have to, BTDT. Point is, you told customer you could cut it up, so make sure you follow through. For $50 an hour, on the ground, no felling, I'd happily cut that stuff up as long as they were paying. You could pay for half of a 661 with 36" bar in under 2 days. You'll find the new saw pays for itself quickly by opening some doors you couldn't open without it. That job is not out of your realm, you just need to buy the tool.

 

[tomstrees]

I agreed to do the smaller wood not those huge tree length pieces, so I didn't look at that until today and didn't agree to it yet. Thanks for the perspective.

 

[Reach]

Personally, I would not touch it, as we don’t do firewood. I see a couple options though: bid it based on buying the appropriate saw for the project, or renting a saw if that’s a possibility.

 

[Tom Lynch]

Explain that you need bigger equipment and adjust your price accordingly.

 

[Phil]

Quote him the same $50 an hour and use your top handle saw. You'll be employed for months. Joking of course. You can offer to do it for an elevated hourly rate explaining that you need to buy a bigger tool because if you use what you have now you can do it for $50 an hour but it will take twice as long without the new tool.

Personally, that's too much info/discussion for the homeowner. Charge whatever you're comfortable with and if they take it, great. I tend not to be bothered too much by add on ground work... especially if I'm paid by the hour. Hourly rates go up on the more technical work. i.e. I would charge more to climb, rig, work near power lines etc than I would if all I was doing was ground work like bucking logs.

If we're talking 5 or 6 logs and you have a saw that can pull a 25" bar, I'd give it a go with that...and a healthy supply of wedges. More than 6 and I'd seriously be looking to make a purchase. Maybe get one of the new fuel injected MS500i saws from Stihl and strut around the woods like a peacock showing off it's feathers.

 

[tomstrees]

I have a Jonsered 2077 which I use with a 20" bar; all I need for most stuff.

Went back there today to do the small tree lengths, they are going to have the service that dumped the wood and was still working in the area cut up the monster trunks. Then I'm doing to have to try to split it.

 

[Convict charlie]

I have a firewood business. Back when things were slow I used to advertise wood splitting. I don’t anymore but still on occasion I get a few calls a year. I charge $30 an hour with a two hour minimum. Then minimal gas and oil is on me also. I don’t exactly want their stuff that’s sitting around used in my stuff.
I have charged before if it’s excess distance for gas as well.
Here’s my thought process. It’s about $150 a day around here to rent a splitter. Max of five hours work they’re able to do as their body isn’t physically able to do it and start hurting. If I do the five hours of work I usually have much more experience and better equipment. They would pay me the same and they could sit around and do nothing.
I have a stihl 460 with a 20” and 28” bar.
The pricing would probably go way up next year as I don’t have a single stage splitter. Now have a Wolfe ridge that’s 4x as fast. I used to have a brave 34 ton.

 

[tomstrees]

I had a supersplit for a number of years, the flywheel unit definitely paid for itself; did both firewood sales and splitting for people. I worked for a contractor out of Norwalk, Harold Self, in 1993, he paid me around $10 an hour, charged the customer $65 an hour. He had a good schtick, drove a red truck, had a dog named Winston, and a business card indicating he sang songs while he worked.

I grew a tree and landscaping business, doing a lot of firewood into the 2000s; the problem with the supersplit is that it isn't much good on large and oversized wood. Hydraulics are good all around. I've made as much as $600 a day splitting logs, but I work all out and few around here can beat my estimates.

 

[southsoundtree]

Beating estimates is not as good as offering more, and getting more.