# What's a fair price for log splitting?



## Timberwerks (Apr 12, 2005)

I'll soon be running add's for log splitting service to offer homeowners and I could use your feedback on what a fair charge would be. I'm thinking in the $35.00 to $45.00 an hour range. $35.00 to split and pile $45.00 split and stack. Depending on the wood I can split an average of a cord an hour, Elm slightly longer.

Dale


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## Chopwood (Apr 12, 2005)

Around here, split and delivered wood is about forty bucks a face. I don't know if you are talking a full cord an hour or not, but 35 bucks to split someone elses wood is pretty steep.


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## Timberwerks (Apr 12, 2005)

Sorry, yes that would be a full cord. Full cord prices around here range from $190 - $250. I'm at $200.00 a cord and $75.00 a face.

Dale


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## rmihalek (Apr 12, 2005)

Why not just sell firewood?


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## Timberwerks (Apr 12, 2005)

I do that as well but I would like to get into this line of work full time so I'm looking into this and summer sales to campers and camp grounds. I also enjoy splitting and I think it might be a worthwhile thing to offer homeowners.

Dale


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## fwf (Apr 12, 2005)

Dale,

Hey, it never hurts to try. You just might find a gold mine. But around these parts it seems like everyone wants all or nothing -- they either buy it split and stacked, or find free wood and do all the work themselves.

As far as price, go with you feel it's worth. People will soon let you know if they think you are out of line.

Joe


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## Pacific (Apr 12, 2005)

In this area its about 30 dollars a cord for someone to split firewood usually a cord per hour depending on what species of wood. I hated splitting firewood when I was in the business I used to buck and have someone else split. If I did split I only did a little bit at a time my back can only take so much maul swinging. If the wood was really hard and it needed wedging then I took my time.


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## tawilson (Apr 13, 2005)

No harm to give it a whirl. Around here a lot of people get there own trailer load of logs then cut and split it themselves. It probably would be cheaper for someone to get the logs and then hire you to process it than to just buy the split wood. I dunno, that would take some cipherin to figure out. Course you would have to buck the wood up also. Let me think some more. Maybe there's a possibilty of you buying the logs, having them delivered to the homeowner, processing them there. It would save handling and transporting the split wood. Should be cheaper for the homeowner and less work for you. I'm just babbling now. Too much coffee. One thing I do know, when you're in business for yourself, even if the service you are offering doen't make a lot of money, a lot of times it will lead to something else just through the extra contacts


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## Timberwerks (Apr 13, 2005)

At this time I have two interested clients for splitting. Both have had trees removed over the last year and had the crew leave the wood for their fire places. One is a man who has rented a splitter and split wood in the past. The spliter rental was $55.00 and he would spend most of the day splitting and end up with maybe a cord and a half. The second client is a woman who had three trees removed a couple years ago and had the wood left there. She thought her son would split it for her but the wood is still un-split. I quoted both at $35.00 an hour and I will stack the wood in a neat pile near the area I'm splitting. $40.00 if they would like it in another area. They are both very happy that I provide this service and the service charge is more than acceptable.
I came up with this rate because a friend of mine does handyman work for a franchise called Handyman Connection. They base all their work on a $50.00 an hour charge. Even if he is sent to change light bulbs and paint a door it's all based on that $50.00 an hour scale.
Who know's maybe splitting wood for homeowners could be worth more than $35.00. I see a number of homes with large logs lying in the yard that are bucked but not split. This kind of planted the idea in my head as well. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

Dale


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## eyeinstine (Apr 13, 2005)

Dale,

Absolutely go for it! Its a great idea... I dont think you'll get rich doing it, but it will fill in some of the free hours you may have... 

Print up some cards, or small flyers, and when your out and about, and you see a pile of bucked logs in someones yard, drop in or drop the flier in the front door. 

honestly, i think your prices are a bit cheap! Most people will only have a cord, maybe two, sitting from a take down. They get a little better price from the tree guy if he can leave the wood, and they think they'll split it and burn it in their fireplace.. But there the pile sits.....

You gotta count your time getting there, and getting home.. and fuel for the truck and splitter.. If you do a cord an hour, and they only have a cord there, then 35$ hardly covers the fuel, oil, and wear on the splitter and truck.
Personally, i would say 50$ first cord (have to stack, or estimate a cord), 40$ second cord, 35$ there after...

Have fun and good luck,
Ron


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## spencerhenry (Apr 14, 2005)

$35/ hr sounds about right for your neck of the woods, but why would there be a difference in hourly rate for stacking vs a pile, stacked here vs there? sounds backwards to me. i assume you are using a splitter if you can do a full cord an hour. my rate would be higher if i was using my machine than if it was just my time.


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## Timberwerks (Apr 14, 2005)

spencerhenry said:


> $35/ hr sounds about right for your neck of the woods, but why would there be a difference in hourly rate for stacking vs a pile, stacked here vs there? sounds backwards to me. i assume you are using a splitter if you can do a full cord an hour. my rate would be higher if i was using my machine than if it was just my time.



The price difference is based on leaving a pile where I am splitting VS loading the wood in a wheel barrow and stacking it neatly in another area. What I have learned from last years sales is the wood I deliver to be stacked is almost always stacked in the garage. The homes I have done splitting at the logs have been left where the tree fell. This will most likely be the case for most jobs. Yes, I am using my splitter so a higher rate may be in order. I'll see how people react when I quote them.

Dale


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## daddieslilgirl (Apr 14, 2005)

i get between 7 and 10.00 an hr depending on the bosses mood ( who also happens to be my dad lol) i can take breaks whenever for coffee a beer and a smoke, but ???? we cut alot of wood!!! on a good day i split a full cord. hes not pickey and im not pickey about the pay, but he has a real harry about not paying when you dont want to take it!! so its easier to humor him and not hurt his feelings. so i just split and split and split!! lol


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## spencerhenry (Apr 14, 2005)

my point about pay rate may have been missed. i you are billing by the hour what difference does it make if you are splitting, stacking, hauling, or cleaning up. on a bid rate or piece rate or flat delivery rate, it is obvious you dont want to spend time hauling. but if they are paying you for your time, it means that you have more time in the job if you are hauling to remote stack, ie more money.


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## Timberwerks (Apr 15, 2005)

spencerhenry said:


> my point about pay rate may have been missed. i you are billing by the hour what difference does it make if you are splitting, stacking, hauling, or cleaning up. on a bid rate or piece rate or flat delivery rate, it is obvious you dont want to spend time hauling. but if they are paying you for your time, it means that you have more time in the job if you are hauling to remote stack, ie more money.



Ok, I got ya. Good point, I guess it's my back that want's more money for stacking. Seriously, I will just bid one flat rate. After reading your post it makes sense. I'm still in the mind set that stacking is extra but this should not apply for splitting. Example I get $200.00 a cord free delivery $15.00 additional for stacking. Maybe $45.00 an hour will be a fair charge? This would include labor,gas,stacking and cleanup. I can burn a gallon of gas in an hour splitting. With gas prices the way they are thats $2.50 an hour alone.

Dale


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## spencerhenry (Apr 15, 2005)

exactly


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## daddieslilgirl (Apr 16, 2005)

spencerhenry, einstine, timberwerks and a few others cant remember all of your names...your private messages are coming to my email still. not a problem but iits too weird reading someone elses mail.


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## Timberwerks (Apr 16, 2005)

I think what you are getting is not a pm. Since you made a post in this thread you are now subscribed. This means any new post will be sent to your Email.

Dale


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## Chainsaw_Maniac (Apr 18, 2005)

I say take as much money as you can get. $45/hour is a lot of money, especially if you can string a lot of hours together. (Driving somewhere and spilitting for 8 hours and going home with $40/hour is better than driving somewhere and splitting for 2 hours and going home with 50/hour).

Around here I only get $30/hour *Candaian* (and that is penuts in US dollars). I should move to where you are. 

(I rarely split for an hourly wage because I can make more money in other ways).


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## Timberwerks (Apr 18, 2005)

I think jobs on average will only take 60 - 90 minutes. If I'm lucky I should get 2 - 4 jobs splitting a month. If I can make an additional $300.00 a month a couple months during the year I'll be happy.

Dale


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## Mike Barcaskey (Apr 19, 2005)

I charge $50/man hour for splitting and chipping services
that's forty for me and ten for the equipment 

I encourage the homeowner to help (if he looks the part) moving the split wood out of my way and stacking

if you can split a full cord of wood (128 cubic feet) in an hour, you're a better man than me
Want a job?


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## Timberwerks (Apr 19, 2005)

Mike Barcaskey said:


> if you can split a full cord of wood (128 cubic feet) in an hour, you're a better man than me
> Want a job?



It's not me, it's the splitter. I'm using a Timberwolf TW-5 with a 4 way wedge and log lift. If I can come up with the extra cash I may trade this in for a TW-6. The TW-6 is 18 hp with a 2 sec faster cycle time, larger fuel tank and it will handle a 6 way wedge. It does take me longer if there is more foot work involved.

Dale


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## woodho (Apr 19, 2005)

Timberwerks,
I'll second that. I also have a Timberwolf TW-5 and I have easily split a full cord in one hour. In fact with two guys and the pile near the machine I've done it in 40 minutes. I love this machine. 

Woodho


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## tawilson (Apr 19, 2005)

If you're splitting by yourself, do you think the extra 2 seconds is going to make much of a difference? Aren't you limited by how fast you can feed the wood to it? Instead of a bigger machine, maybe an autocycle valve would give you more bang for the buck. It did for me. It's almost like having an extra person. I'm finishing up adding a chunk holder and a small chute off the front(after destroying a couple of prototypes) and my next upgrade will be some kind of deck so I don't have to bend over.


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## Timberwerks (Apr 19, 2005)

Hi Tom

I do have the auto cycle on my splitter, it does work great like you said. I do find that I can load and un load a log faster than the cycle time I have now. Even though it doesn't seem like much the 2 sec faster cycle time will help me a great deal. Over all the 2 sec is not enough of a reason to move up to the TW-6 but the other features such as larger cylinder, larger fuel tank, 7 more hp and the 6 way wedge make a big difference. I am very happy with what I have but I am looking ahead to the future and I plan on doing this for awhile.

Take Care
Dale


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## Whiteindustries (Apr 20, 2005)

Hello Dale, You may have/make a nice little nich for yourself.The trick will be to print up some cards and get them to the Arborist in your area to hand out when they take down a tree....
Good Luck.
Allan


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