# Going price for cutting wood?



## MikeZ (Apr 17, 2010)

Hi there!
I have 12 1/4 cords of fire wood. The wood is easily accessible. No stacking or splitting needed. I am trying to find out what the fair price is for someone to cut it - per hour? Per Cord? 
Thanks for your input.


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## fatjoe (Apr 17, 2010)

I would want around $100.00.00 a cord to cut and split it.Or $20.00 an hour.Maybe you could do it yourself and save a LOT of money or pay a kid to do it.


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## banshee67 (Apr 17, 2010)

MikeZ said:


> Hi there!
> I have 12 1/4 cords of fire wood. The wood is easily accessible. No stacking or splitting needed. I am trying to find out what the fair price is for someone to cut it - per hour? Per Cord?
> Thanks for your input.



i dont understand the question, at all

are you saying you have 12 cords of logs in a pile and you want to pay someone to cut them into firewood lengths ?


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## wdchuck (Apr 17, 2010)

Depending where you are in Wisconsin, there are guys on Craigslist offering just such a service. 

$20-$35 / hr.


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## MikeZ (Apr 17, 2010)

banshee67 said:


> i dont understand the question, at all
> 
> are you saying you have 12 cords of logs in a pile and you want to pay someone to cut them into firewood lengths ?


Banshee: Just that! You got it right.


I don't have the time myself. I'll split it, no problem. Basically, trying to help whoever will cut it earn a couple of bucks without me being ripped off. 

I think Craigslist might be a good way to go.


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## Maplekid (Apr 17, 2010)

*15*

I'm paying $15 an hour for someone to cut wood for me. Me and my dad keep him plenty bizy. We are very good to him and give him some chainsaw chains, maple syrup and when he does treejobs he dumps brush on our farm. I have him cut for me because it's easyier and more efficeint for me to just pay him to cut and mom gets mad when I run chainsaws. I split and sell wood infront of my house and it keeps me busy and out of trouble.


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## fatjoe (Apr 17, 2010)

MikeZ said:


> Banshee: Just that! You got it right.
> 
> 
> I don't have the time myself. I'll split it, no problem. Basically, trying to help whoever will cut it earn a couple of bucks without me being ripped off.
> ...


 That changes things drastically.Just cutting the wood into blocks is a whole different story.You could probably find someone to block it for a couple hundred bucks.Splitting is where the time and work come in.


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## YarraValleyDude (Apr 17, 2010)

I charge $50/HR to cut and split here in Victoria Australia, I'm very busy at the moment as were coming into winter.
Any less and its not worthwhile as some jobs are an hour away and then theres the cost of advertising, fuel for the splitter and saws, ongoing maintance, insurance costs etc. Its also darn hard yakka on your own and not many people doing it.I enjoy the solitude and being my own boss and not to forget its all cash:greenchainsaw:


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## chucker (Apr 17, 2010)

i charge 35.00 an hour plus chains where needed and bar oil... splitting is a flat 50.00 an hour with my splitter and gas...so figureing 2 cords an hour bucking? say 6 hours thats 210.00 total!! then for splitting this is another whole story! just want them done in usual 1/4,s not a problem.. now just say you want a 12" block split into 6ths .... maybe more time then it worth to you!! so an easy answer 1 cord an hour at 50.00 thats an easy 500.00 total there for a grand sum of 710.00 little washingtons..... thats what i charge for a long days work for 2 hard workers...... or there abouts depending on the wood size!


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## fatjoe (Apr 17, 2010)

chucker said:


> i charge 35.00 an hour plus chains where needed and bar oil... splitting is a flat 50.00 an hour with my splitter and gas...so figureing 2 cords an hour bucking? say 6 hours thats 210.00 total!! then for splitting this is another whole story! just want them done in usual 1/4,s not a problem.. now just say you want a 12" block split into 6ths .... maybe more time then it worth to you!! so an easy answer 1 cord an hour at 50.00 thats an easy 500.00 total there for a grand sum of 710.00 little washingtons..... thats what i charge for a long days work for 2 hard workers...... or there abouts depending on the wood size!



Like I said, you could probably get someone to block it for a couple hundred bucks.Splitting is where the time and money come in.One cord an hour is pretty fast.


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## Rick Alger (Apr 18, 2010)

I used to do quite a bit of this years ago. I found that I had to rough pile the blocks to make enough room to do the job, so it involved more time and effort than just running the saw.

I have done 12 cords this way in a very long day, but a cord an hour cut and piled is a more reasonable average. I used to get $12.50 a cord back when minimum wage was around $4.00, so $25 an hour sounds about right to me - at least for my area.


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## MikeZ (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks Everyone. Your answers gave me a good idea what to offer!
Mike


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## stihlcrazy20 (Apr 19, 2010)

guy on craigslist gets 35/hr here in WI he has a processor all you have to do is feed him logs.
firewood processing (state wide)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2010-03-24, 3:20AM CDT
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


looking to cut your firewood for you . Have a small processor that can take up to a 16 inch log by 10 feet long. can cut up to 1.5 cords an hour. has a four way wedge to get the wood the right size . Cutting on saturdays and Sundays. . 35.00 an hour Travel fee after 50 mile radias from Wautoma. call Joe @ 920 787 0040


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## blackdogon57 (Apr 19, 2010)

Careful hiring strangers to cut wood. I only use guys who a) are not likley to hurt themselves and b) if they do hurt themselves they won't be looking to sue me. I have a long standing joke with one of my regulars that if he gets hurt bad I will drag him out the the road before calling 911 and swear that he got hit by a car.


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## stihlcrazy20 (Apr 19, 2010)

+1 :agree2:

i make everyone who is doing anything on my property sign a waiver stating that everything they do is at their own risk, also agree that if they get hurt they cant sue me all in writting


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## Rudedog (Apr 19, 2010)

12 pack of Miller Lite and $10 bucks an hour. Thank you Mexico!


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## chucker (Apr 19, 2010)

stihlcrazy20 said:


> +1 :agree2:
> 
> i make everyone who is doing anything on my property sign a waiver stating that everything they do is at their own risk, also agree that if they get hurt they cant sue me all in writting



"GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PAPER WORK"!! why do you think liability is so high??


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## bowtechmadman (Apr 19, 2010)

I get 35 an hour for just cutting. Last job I did the woman was so happy w/ how much that got cut she gave me an extra hour's worth (35 bucks) as a tip. She got 3 solid hours cutting, not sharpening etc...


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## indiansprings (Apr 19, 2010)

If the logs were all piled in one location, and we could just pile the wood where we split it, just for cutting to lenth and splitting we'd do it for around thirty five to forty a cord. If we had to drop them and pull them out and cut them up it would be in the neighborhood of sixty a cord. We prolly charge an extra five to seven a cord to stack. It should only take a crew of two a couple of days to finish twelve and a half cord if it is really easy to get to.
I'd look at it as we would be there only two eight to ten hour days if everything went right. Thats two guys with saws and maybe I'd bring a third person just to run the splitter on the second day if the wood had to be stacked.


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## flyfshrmn (Apr 20, 2010)

*firewooding for dollars*

I don't know as I would cut firewood for cash. I usually do it to get the wood for myself and my cutting partners for our wood burners. I have used my splitter on already cut stuff and the fee is straightforward - 50% of the wood. Commonly, if we take trees off of someone's property because they want them out, we take all of the wood. 

I can think of few more dangerous or difficult jobs than firewood cutting. I know no one in the entire surrounding area who makes a living at it, and I'm pretty familiar with just about all the local guys who cut. If anyone makes any cash at it, it's supplemental income, and the costs are so high that doing it as a business would be prohibitively difficult. If I do sell on the side, I look at it as a way to reduce the cost of my own cutting, not as a way to net cash income.

The economics and efficiency of cutting logs, hauling them and piling them, then cutting to length, and then splitting and hauling or splitting and stacking are also questionable. We try to cut and split on location, haul and stack split wood. Each additional step adds time and effort.


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