Need help pricing for slab cutting services.

[J & L Creations]

Hello all, l was hoping some of you could tell me what you are charging to cut slabs of wood. Also do you have a flat rate per hour, charge by the linear foot or have some other means of charging for slab cutting services? I own a mobile band sawmill.

 

[Wagnerwerks]

I always paid by the foot but I can't recall what I last paid. It's all about your time to load the log on the mill, then time and expenses.

 

[Iron.and.bark]

I charge by the cubic meter. In Australia so diff pricing amounts.

For structure though, charge for these.

Travel time

Firing up and using machine

Actual amount yielded.

What you charge for lumber yielded should cover -
Cost of running
Yourself a wage
Profit from work.

 

[Ryan Browne]

I have a mill too. I've found customers to be extremely reluctant to pay me what my time is worth.

I have a decent sized mill, a timberking B20. To buy a similar mill new would cost $30k+. I also need to bring about $1000 worth of tools. And have liability insurance. And a pickup truck, which takes gas. Plus fuel and blades for the mill. I figure my wage has to be $50/hour, otherwise, I'll stay home and do something else.

You wouldn't believe how many people have told me that they expected me to say $25/hour.

If milling is what you love, that's great. Figure out what your costs are and add your desired wage. Doing it for what the Amish guy in the next town, or some guys on the internet charge is a good way to go broke. I realize you're probably only trying to compare prices to get an idea, but be careful, costs add up quickly.

 

[exSW]

There's a guy near me that charges a flat rate per day. That leaves it to the customer as far as help, equipment and efficiency.

 

[J & L Creations]

Thanks guys, I'm thinking charging by linear feet would be the way to go for tracking purposes of blade/machine ware and slab cutting, along with a minimum charge.

 

[J & L Creations]

I have a mill too. I've found customers to be extremely reluctant to pay me what my time is worth.

I have a decent sized mill, a timberking B20. To buy a similar mill new would cost $30k+. I also need to bring about $1000 worth of tools. And have liability insurance. And a pickup truck, which takes gas. Plus fuel and blades for the mill. I figure my wage has to be $50/hour, otherwise, I'll stay home and do something else.

You wouldn't believe how many people have told me that they expected me to say $25/hour.

If milling is what you love, that's great. Figure out what your costs are and add your desired wage. Doing it for what the Amish guy in the next town, or some guys on the internet charge is a good way to go broke. I realize you're probably only trying to compare prices to get an idea, but be careful, costs add up quickly.

Yes I agree, cost can creep up quickly. Truck and trailer, hauling a 40,000 dollar tractor. But the good news is we built the sawmill, don't have much in it at all, our time was worth something though. So a mobile sawmill, tractor, trailer, two trucks, chainsaws, all the tooling to a remote location, liability insurance for two men, the price just multiplied exponentially. I'll stay home to if a customer wants to low ball me.

 

[J & L Creations]

I charge by the cubic meter. In Australia so diff pricing amounts.

For structure though, charge for these.

Travel time

Firing up and using machine

Actual amount yielded.

What you charge for lumber yielded should cover -
Cost of running
Yourself a wage
Profit from work.

You know the more I think about charging by the cubic meter might be the better way to go, diameters matter, as to ware on the saw blade, along with added ware on the machine with larger diameters.

 

[blackop555]

Dropped a large curly maple log at a guys place to have sawn he said 10 bucks I gave him 20. 10 wouldn't even cover his gas

 

[peter92]

I have a mill too. I've found customers to be extremely reluctant to pay me what my time is worth.

I have a decent sized mill, a timberking B20. To buy a similar mill new would cost $30k+. I also need to bring about $1000 worth of tools. And have liability insurance. And a pickup truck, which takes gas. Plus fuel and blades for the mill. I figure my wage has to be $50/hour, otherwise, I'll stay home and do something else.

You wouldn't believe how many people have told me that they expected me to say $25/hour.

If milling is what you love, that's great. Figure out what your costs are and add your desired wage. Doing it for what the Amish guy in the next town, or some guys on the internet charge is a good way to go broke. I realize you're probably only trying to compare prices to get an idea, but be careful, costs add up quickly.

yep you can get a lot of wood cut in 1 hour , good value , if they have to buy each piece at a shop

 

[Marshy]

A small private local band saw mill near me gets $0.22 bdft. Another local mill owned by the Amish gets $0.12 bdft. A mobile Amish owned band saw that comes to your location gets $0.45 bdft. Cost of travel is in his price but needs to have a min bdft to mill to make it worth his trip.