# How do u charge for spliiting wood



## treebutler (Nov 25, 2011)

I dropped two oaks 20" in diameter approximatly 50' length. Already been paid for that, now customer wants me to split it and is supplying the splitter.. I cut it into 18" lengths. not sure how to charge. He might not want all of it so I think I need to charge by the man hour. Not sure what the going rate for something like that is. This is in Chattanooga, TN. Any info would be greatly appreciated.


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## 76mark (Nov 25, 2011)

I do $50/hr with my splitter. I've also seen rates of $75-100/hr for 2 workers and splitter. I always charge hourly for splitting with a 2 hour minimum.


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## zogger (Nov 25, 2011)

treebutler said:


> I dropped two oaks 20" in diameter approximatly 50' length. Already been paid for that, now customer wants me to split it and is supplying the splitter.. I cut it into 18" lengths. not sure how to charge. He might not want all of it so I think I need to charge by the man hour. Not sure what the going rate for something like that is. This is in Chattanooga, TN. Any info would be greatly appreciated.



That isn't that much wood, shouldn't take you very long with a power splitter. Maybe like $20 bucks or something like that, whatever. Don't know what you need to make to make it worth your time, but I know if it was close by, a short drive I mean, under a gallon fuel both ways, I'd bust it up for someone for 20 bucks. 

If you lived in one of the more completely ridiculous expensive places to live in this nation, it would be five times that or something, so it just depends. I live not that far from you and know for a fact I could hire that much wood split for 20 dollars. Heck, I was checking out more on the craigslist ads and found cut split and stacked down to a hundred a cord even!

The economy is not doing real well, not around here it ain't, another big factory shut down a few weeks ago, or will, another thousand dudes out on the street looking for *any* income they can scrounge up.

I know there are any number of guys here who would say something like "I ain't even gettin outta bed for less than blah blah many hundreds of dollars a day"..well, that ain't everyplace and once you don't have a job that tune changes fast, as soon as the savings run out and you pass the one hundreth resume submission with not even a tire kicker second interview. 

I have a crap job. I am keeping it. It is better than having no job. Guys stop here all the time asking me if my boss is hiring, happens almost daily, and all he has is crap paying jobs. Other guys stop by want "free" scrap steel or anything made from metal. I see families, I am not kidding, families, with like mom driving some vehicle, and dad and kids spread out on the sides of the road scrounging cans.

A recession is when you are reading about the economy and going "tsk tsk", a depression is when you are living in this economy with no income.

Take what you can get and be happy with it, if you got the spare time and energy.


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## Wood Doctor (Nov 25, 2011)

*$50 an Hour?*

For splitting firewood? Are you kidding me? $50 an hour?

I'm in shock.


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## Tazfreak (Nov 25, 2011)

treebutler said:


> I dropped two oaks 20" in diameter approximatly 50' length. Already been paid for that, now customer wants me to split it and is supplying the splitter.. I cut it into 18" lengths. not sure how to charge. He might not want all of it so I think I need to charge by the man hour. Not sure what the going rate for something like that is. This is in Chattanooga, TN. Any info would be greatly appreciated.



here in aus, 35$ /hour to cut, 50$ per hour to split ,stacking 35$ per hour.min charge 2 hours plus travel.split ironbark,. a premium hardwood sells for around 185$ per m3 delivered.common hardwood sells for 100$ per m3, min 2 m3 delivered.20kg bags w/sale 6$,retail15$ min 20. there are woodcutters and then there,s real woodcutters,don,t sell yourself short.


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## SierraWoodsman (Nov 25, 2011)

*Log Splitting Charge.*

We'll since he's supplying the equipment I think I would do it for $25.00-30.00/Hr. It's a Different story when it is your splitter, and your responsible for the Maintenence on the machine. I Charge $50.00/first hour-(cover your fuel costs), and $40.00 each additional hour after that Up to 3-hours. That about as low as I would ever go, and at that rate there is not much profit in it. Don't know about you guys, but after 4 hours of busting hump on a fast splitter, I am pretty much wore-out!. In fact thats what I did today! Whew!... Mabye I am just getting old.


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## MNGuns (Nov 25, 2011)

Wood Doctor said:


> For splitting firewood? Are you kidding me? $50 an hour?
> 
> I'm in shock.



For man and machine..? I was gonna say $40. You have to take in account wear on the machine, wear on the man, transport of the machine. Zogger, if you want to haul a splitter up here and run it on my pile for $20 an hour, you're hired....


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## shane438 (Nov 25, 2011)

zogger said:


> That isn't that much wood, shouldn't take you very long with a power splitter. Maybe like $20 bucks or something like that, whatever. Don't know what you need to make to make it worth your time, but I know if it was close by, a short drive I mean, under a gallon fuel both ways, I'd bust it up for someone for 20 bucks.
> 
> If you lived in one of the more completely ridiculous expensive places to live in this nation, it would be five times that or something, so it just depends. I live not that far from you and know for a fact I could hire that much wood split for 20 dollars. Heck, I was checking out more on the craigslist ads and found cut split and stacked down to a hundred a cord even!
> 
> ...



Under a gallon of fuel means $3.25 out of your pocket which make it $16.25 in your pocket. Two 50' logs that are 20" diameter and cut to 18" means you are gonna be bustin approx 67 chunks which is a bunch of wood. I say since Zogger is so cheap, you charge the guy a flat $75 and sub it to Zogger for the $20 bucks he'd do it for. Hell I'd even give him an extra $10 for gas and you both are happy then.


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## zogger (Nov 25, 2011)

MNGuns said:


> For man and machine..? I was gonna say $40. You have to take in account wear on the machine, wear on the man, transport of the machine. Zogger, if you want to haul a splitter up here and run it on my pile for $20 an hour, you're hired....



He was saying the *homeowner* would supply the splitter, not that he had to provide his own splitter, BIG diff there. And, by my math, at the most, that's 67 chunks to bust up, just ain't gonna take that long, two hours maybe? Hour and a half?

Around here, if it was your splitter, you would have no problem getting guys to run it for ten an hour, let alone 20. Their splitter, don't know, your splitter just show up with your hands and go to work....line out the door folks looking for a paycheck.

Different areas of the nation are having different economic realities, one size does not fit all situations or areas. Heck, look on the market report threads, what firewood goes for in different areas, there's a fair "split" there, pun intended. Some areas are relatively unaffected by the economic downturn-yet-other areas are getting to great depression levels of unemployment, folks on food stamps now, etc, homeless people, all of that. If that isn't the case in anyone "you"s area, swell, nice to still have old fashioned healthy middle class mericka, other areas are being strangled, wiped out slow and steady. Wages drop then, and more dudes looking for work at any level.

Got some friends of mine forced by health and age issues to buy their wood this year..they live way out in teh boonies in WV..they got cut/split/delivered/stacked for 90 a cord! Not no about face half a pulp load truck ricked and ranked loggers cord, a full cord. Why? They live in an economically distressed area, tons of guys desperate to make a buck, so they got wood, they sell wood, at whatever they can get. How much they making an hour?? Irrelevant in their situation, they are making *something*.

Coming soon to the rest of the nation around you, just give it some more time, you'll see.


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## MNGuns (Nov 25, 2011)

zogger said:


> He was saying the *homeowner* would supply the splitter, not that he had to provide his own splitter, BIG diff there. And, by my math, at the most, that's 67 chunks to bust up, just ain't gonna take that long, two hours maybe? Hour and a half?
> 
> Around here, if it was your splitter, you would have no problem getting guys to run it for ten an hour, let alone 20. Their splitter, don't know, your splitter just show up with your hands and go to work....line out the door folks looking for a paycheck.
> 
> ...



I was raised in Virginia and have lived in the Carolinas, and know well the difference in wage between there and here. At the same time, the machine costs the same, the fuel is similiar, and making *something* and just passing dollars sounds a whole lot a like. Markets are definetly getting better regardless of what you may see on the evening news. Seems to me as if the only people in trouble are the ones that put themselves in a bad place to begin with.


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## JRepairsK70e (Nov 25, 2011)

with their equipment and gas i would charge 25.00 an hour for the 1st man 15.00 an hour for a helper and a 2 hour min if it looks like more than a cord yield and would schedule the work on a day when we arent doing full pay work


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## treebutler (Nov 26, 2011)

SierraWoodsman said:


> We'll since he's supplying the equipment I think I would do it for $25.00-30.00/Hr. It's a Different story when it is your splitter, and your responsible for the Maintenence on the machine. I Charge $50.00/first hour-(cover your fuel costs), and $40.00 each additional hour after that Up to 3-hours. That about as low as I would ever go, and at that rate there is not much profit in it. Don't know about you guys, but after 4 hours of busting hump on a fast splitter, I am pretty much wore-out!. In fact thats what I did today! Whew!... Mabye I am just getting old.



THANKS TO ALL WHO REPLIED.....VERY HELPFUL
We're all getting old. )) Thanks for the input. This site is great. BTW, now customer is saying he might not want it all, and I'll have to haul away whatever he doesnt want. Even though our contract was to leave all logs haul all brush. His pockets are deep so he's always right, I just have to charge accordingly. :msp_unsure: Just glad to be workin........


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## 76mark (Nov 26, 2011)

Wood Doctor said:


> For splitting firewood? Are you kidding me? $50 an hour?
> 
> I'm in shock.



Dead serious. They'll pay $50/hr and I have plenty of work to keep me busy between tree jobs. I average a between 1/2 & full cord of split wood from a down tree in 2 hours, so worst case they're paying my normal price for split wood delivered. Typically they get much more wood and they get that tree that's laying in their yard cut up.


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## woodguy105 (Nov 26, 2011)

*Wow not willing to work for $25-$30 an hour?*

Surprised that so many are not willing to make some easy cash using someonelses splitter and fuel. I'd be happy to split for a few hours for $25 bucks an hour...do it @ home and enjoy it...get paid to do it, no problem. JMHO


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## BrokenToys (Nov 26, 2011)

Keep in mind too that using someone elses' equipment when you're all done the person doesn't come up with "hey the rod is bent what happened to my splitter" or "it didn't run like that before why is it leaking"...
Around where I live - I rarely touch anyone elses' machinery..had friends with some really crappy stories where their "100 bucks a day-just use my equipment" ended up cosing them 5x that if not more using "questionable" machinery.
Don't trust anyone or anything. Have the homeowner go over, run, show you how to operate the machine, let him/her process one or two to see the machine running..than go from there.

Back on topic; I charge $40 dollars an hour to split/stack wood though for people. With my equipment and if people have their own I offer to help them but will not take sole responsibility for the machine whatsoever. Plus; if that machine injures you while working...well, than what? They going to pay your doctor bills and recoup your loss of work the next few months and (hopefully never happen) loss of this kind of work the rest of your life?

Seriously. Using other people's tools is sketchy. You know how you keep your own equipment. Are they up to your standards?


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## woodguy105 (Nov 26, 2011)

zogger said:


> They live in an economically distressed area, tons of guys desperate to make a buck, so they got wood, they sell wood, at whatever they can get. How much they making an hour?? Irrelevant in their situation, they are making *something*.
> 
> Coming soon to the rest of the nation around you, just give it some more time, you'll see.



+1


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## zogger (Nov 26, 2011)

MNGuns said:


> I was raised in Virginia and have lived in the Carolinas, and know well the difference in wage between there and here. At the same time, the machine costs the same, the fuel is similiar, and making *something* and just passing dollars sounds a whole lot a like. Markets are definetly getting better regardless of what you may see on the evening news. Seems to me as if the only people in trouble are the ones that put themselves in a bad place to begin with.



Ten million plus jobs poofed away in the last decade or so. How is that someone putting themselves in a bad place?

And yes you are correct, equipment and fuel costs are the same all over, just if you get increasing competition locally for the same work it tends to drive wages down, that's stock capitalism at work. Less competition and demand rises, wages go up.

Adjusted for inflation, very broadly speaking, the US middle class has flatlined since the 70s. No real gains to speak of, just more debt. And if you go back to the 60s or 50s, it has dropped. What used to take one normal middle class wage to support, say a small family, now takes both parents working in a lot of cases to hit some sort of equivalent.

You can't wipe out huge swathes of a nation's wealth producing manufacturing jobs by offshoring, with adding an additional wage dropping influx of millions of people who will compete for what remains of service jobs, and not have a severe negative overall economic impact. They can try and make it look rosier with accounting tricks, but down where the rubber meets the road, it has gotten worse overall, very generally speaking.


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## treebutler (Nov 26, 2011)

*Forgot to mention...*

The homeowner is renting the splitter from the Home Depot. Also I carry a $1,000,000 insurance policy on myself. I hear what your sayin though. Now is that $40/hr just you or does that include you and a helper?


BrokenToys said:


> Keep in mind too that using someone elses' equipment when you're all done the person doesn't come up with "hey the rod is bent what happened to my splitter" or "it didn't run like that before why is it leaking"...
> Around where I live - I rarely touch anyone elses' machinery..had friends with some really crappy stories where their "100 bucks a day-just use my equipment" ended up cosing them 5x that if not more using "questionable" machinery.
> Don't trust anyone or anything. Have the homeowner go over, run, show you how to operate the machine, let him/her process one or two to see the machine running..than go from there.
> 
> ...


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## Hddnis (Nov 26, 2011)

Running a machine he rented makes it a whole different game, I'd do that. If it was a machine he owned I would have to be paid as an employee, as in all the proper forms, payroll tax withheld, etc.

I worked for an old lady once that had plenty of money. Owned a huge farm turning a good profit on some of the biggest money crops of the day. She wanted a huge hedge ripped out and I gave her a price that included our machines being hauled in. She didn't want to pay it and said "You can use my tractors, I have a whole shed full of them." So I said "Ok, I'll use the tractor with the tooth bucket on it." We set up what day I'd show up. When I got there the tractor had a wimpy brush carrier set up on it. I told her that it would not hold up, but she insisted that her foreman said that was what we needed and she wouldn't let us change back to the bucket. Needles to say, it took us longer than it should have because we were being careful and we still bent one of the points. She told me it was no problem and "You told me that could happen, I'll just have my guy fix it." A few days later I get a call from the metal shop saying "Mrs. X said you were going to pay for this repair we just did." 

Now the metal shop was one I used and he was in a tough spot, having been told I would pay for the work, so I just paid for the repair and tried to collect from the lady. She refused, saying her foreman said we had abused the equipment. I told her that her foreman was not a party to our contract, that she had signed, that said we were not liable for damage to her equipment. She still refused. I ate it on that job and have refused to run another persons machine since then, just not worth the potential trouble. After that she would bad mouth us to people saying we were not honest, even though I didn't make a dime on her job, and it didn't cost her a cent over the contract amount, and the metal shop had rebuilt the whole brush carrier better than it was when we used it, on my dime. Everyone around told me privately that they didn't believe her because she was just that way, but that didn't make me any money on the job.

Sorry to vent a little maybe, I hope it illustrates the potential pitfalls. But in the end I guess it was more than lady involved that made it a bad situation.



Mr. HE


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## Wood Doctor (Nov 26, 2011)

Do the math:

$50/hr x 2080 hr/yr = $104,000 annual wage

To me, that's good business, even if I have to spend $2,000 for the splitter, $2,000 for fluids to run it, and another $2,000 for gas to get to the worksite and back home. Of course, if I only work 20 hours a week and sleep the rest, I may have to reconsider.


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## treebutler (Nov 26, 2011)

That sucks!! I've learned throughout the years(only a few) to have fine print on your contracts. The right to place a lean on property, cancellation fee's etc...the list goes on. I'm always very clear on what is expected. I have a spot on my contracts "personal notes on agreed specs" I fill out every possible detail related to job then have customer review and initial.


Hddnis said:


> Running a machine he rented makes it a whole different game, I'd do that. If it was a machine he owned I would have to be paid as an employee, as in all the proper forms, payroll tax withheld, etc.
> 
> I worked for an old lady once that had plenty of money. Owned a huge farm turning a good profit on some of the biggest money crops of the day. She wanted a huge hedge ripped out and I gave her a price that included our machines being hauled in. She didn't want to pay it and said "You can use my tractors, I have a whole shed full of them." So I said "Ok, I'll use the tractor with the tooth bucket on it." We set up what day I'd show up. When I got there the tractor had a wimpy brush carrier set up on it. I told her that it would not hold up, but she insisted that her foreman said that was what we needed and she wouldn't let us change back to the bucket. Needles to say, it took us longer than it should have because we were being careful and we still bent one of the points. She told me it was no problem and "You told me that could happen, I'll just have my guy fix it." A few days later I get a call from the metal shop saying "Mrs. X said you were going to pay for this repair we just did."
> 
> ...


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## Locust Cutter (Nov 26, 2011)

BrokenToys said:


> Keep in mind too that using someone elses' equipment when you're all done the person doesn't come up with "hey the rod is bent what happened to my splitter" or "it didn't run like that before why is it leaking"...
> Around where I live - I rarely touch anyone elses' machinery..had friends with some really crappy stories where their "100 bucks a day-just use my equipment" ended up cosing them 5x that if not more using "questionable" machinery.
> Don't trust anyone or anything. Have the homeowner go over, run, show you how to operate the machine, let him/her process one or two to see the machine running..than go from there.
> 
> ...



+1
This also goes for lending out equipment. I'll let 3 people run my equipment other than myself (until my children come of age): my Father, Brother and Best friend. I trust their judgement and equipment knowledge. Otherwise, no. I may come over and do it for you, (on the house if I'm feeling charitable, or for a non-profit), but I don't lend equipment and try not to ever borrow.use anyone else's w/o implicit knowledge thereof.


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## BrokenToys (Nov 27, 2011)

treebutler:
i usually have my nephew or son come along to help stack or roll logs to the machine. i am the only one working the splitter.
also if it looks like they have a very large pile to be worked (like 3-4 cord) .. i come up with a bulk rate and just go with that.


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## mga (Nov 27, 2011)

> How do u charge for spliiting wood



well, if i had to do it by hand, it would be $100 per hour.


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## zogger (Nov 27, 2011)

mga said:


> well, if i had to do it by hand, it would be $100 per hour.



--and guys wonder why big corporations ship as many jobs as they can to china...just sayin'

I was thinking about this before, I can split a 20 inch or so diameter chunk of easy splitting red oak in under or right at one minute with my fiskars. Two minutes if I am sluffing it. I have split three foot diameter rounds in around four minutes, and that includes picking up big chunks and re stacking them on the block, or moving them to another block with a truck tire on it.

Now not all wood goes that fast of course, but if I get in a batch of easy splitting, it goes really quick.

And I am not John Henry! I'm an older little guy!! What gives, why can I split like this, and from what I am hearing here it is like a near impossible job that takes so long and is so difficult that it is worth serious folding dollars per hour? 

I can't imagine these charges you guys get or want for splitting. If you can get that sorta scratch, swell, more power to ya, have at it, spend it wisely, but I can't see it as being sustainable in this economy in the long run.

Note, I said in *this* economy, today, what is going on right now this second, hidden behind the holiday shopping frenzy news fluff articles. This economy, which is teetering on systemic collapse (it is already beyond salvageable, the only question now is how long can they keep kicking the can down this debt road), especially if the eurozone breaks up economically, because our big kahuna banks/investment houses/institutional investors (think pensions large and small, insurance companies who need the scratch, etc) are exposed there bad, so it will slop over to the US economy within minutes, let alone hours or days.

The flash trading using computer algorithms will force it. Even if they put emergency stops in, it won't matter, as soon as it opens up again, the same algorithms take over.

You are going to see increasing pressure to drop service labor prices (which by you guys pro admission is almost all the cost of firewooding, the wood is cheap, the money is in the processing and delivery, it's 95% a "service" job) as more and more guys lose their jobs and look for *anything* to make an honest buck. And then there will be an equal number looking to make a buck, no matter how they do it, with all the possible negative ramifications. Desperate people get desperate.

I already have a crap job, so my income can't drop much lower, it is below poverty level already, but I get to live on a farm with my own cabin and firewood and garden space. So I am keeping this job, because life necessities are important, as opposed to life's luxuries and excesses. I can make do through a complete collapse much better than 99% of the population, because I am already setup and running at such a low FRN level. I did this on purpose, due to some personal circumstances, i future proofed my reality because I saw all this crap coming, because analysis like this has been a hobby of mine for decades now.

Ya'all who need maximum FRN flow might be hurting, and soon, unless you are 100% out of debt (I hope you are), or you'll be forced to drop prices, one or the other. You might have good sales and price increases *now*, I just wouldn't count on it being like that forever.

Note, not wishing this on any of you, just stating modern global economic reality. This ain't the 70s or even the 90s, the first decade of the 2000s was the last of the "good old days" for widespread large scale middle class wealth enjoyment in the USA. You'll see by around 2020, barring a global war, the USA reduced to second world class styled economy and social structure.

It's like all the factory workers who made 80 an hour with bennies included..that lasted awhile, too....but they are going, and fast, daily. for every one new factory opened, like ten or twenty close, get offshored.

So, if anyone is getting 50 or a hundred bucks just to split wood now, hellya take the cash and don't look back, I sure would. Get all you can now, it ain't gonna be like that for all that long.

The crash of 2008 was a teaser, a joke, a pittance, when we have several *quintillion* in derivatives are out there, being traded. They ain't worth nuthin really, just our economy is tied to those big banker's ludicrous bets. Once they all get nervous with each other, and all globally and cross border, etc, and want real money instead of theoretical, crash, bang, boom, collapse. It's right there, right now. Not saying it is gonna happen tomorrow or next week, but I will say it is gonna happen, and things are gonna get beyond ugly in the US. Much worse than the so called "great" depression. We had 40% of the population still living on mostly sustainable (for them) farms then, now it is under 2%, and then ask, how many inside that 2% are out of debt, as opposed to in hock every season to big ag, big bank, big equipment dudes, etc?

We didn't have *near* the government (all levels) debt back then. Not even close. There wasn't much in the way of what we call derivative trading going on. Many, MANY homes were bought and paid for in cash, no 30 year mortgages, that was unheard of, it didn't exist. Local taxes were minuscule, and national federal income tax was really really really low (and they can't change that now, too many contractual promises have been made to too large a portion of the population). The US was still in the heyday of mass production manufacturing, and getting stronger, not weaker and losing manufacturing daily, like it is now. 

Just something to think about.


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## Booshcat (Nov 27, 2011)

Hope and Change, Hope and Change.

Words, just words.


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## Wood Doctor (Nov 27, 2011)

*And, at $50 an Hour...*

I would make $400 each day while splitting and stacking 2 cords of wood a day, working 8 hours solid--a reasonable objective. (Big thrown piles still have to be stacked.)

That assumes, of course, that the wood supplied is in rounds that I can handle and are already cut to a good length and ready to split. Working continuously, I would be processing and stacking 10 cords a week. Assuming no vacations and continual workflow, I would accumulate about 520 cords a year for the company to sell, sometimes working in the rain and snow and perhaps subzero temperatures.

If all my split firewood were sold at $200 a cord, I would generate $104,000 in sales revenue for my company. If the company paid me $50/hr, there would be nothing left for anyone else, including all the guys that cut down the trees, cut the rounds to correct length, loaded them, hauled them to my log splitter, and unloaded them.

$104,000 - $104,000 = $0

Anyone got the picture?


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## SierraWoodsman (Nov 27, 2011)

*Jobs are getting scarce.Here's a craislist ad I just came accross for wood splitting*

I was going to put an ad on craigslist for firewood splitting in my area until I saw this ad from a guy just down the road 10 miles for me.

Firewood Splitter use

No way I'm going to be able to compete with 15/hr supplying the splitter and fuel to and from the job.
At those prices, I don't know how equipment rental company's charge $80.00 for 4 hours or $100/day,
but from what I hear they have a waiting list to rent them this time of year.


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## cantoo (Nov 27, 2011)

Just so I'm clear. I buy a 28 ton wood splitter ($1550 for mine) and $200 for a conveyor ( my used hay elevator) and I can charge upwards of $100 per hour? Sign me up. And I can fix or replace anything I break so no problem there. I've seen prices on here for as low as $100 a cord for split wood, what do you think the guy who split it made? I find it hard to believe some of the prices quoted. I cut grass and we don't make near that kind of money and I have some pretty pricy equipment. Bobcat riders and Walker front mounts run over $10,000 here.


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## Dalmatian90 (Nov 27, 2011)

> It's like all the factory workers who made 80 an hour with bennies included..that lasted awhile, too....but they are going, and fast, daily. for every one new factory opened, like ten or twenty close, get offshored.



Not quite.

American manufacturing output expanded steadily at about 1% per year from 1980 to ~2008. 

American productivity expanded at 3% per year. 

Real rough numbers, 28 years of that increases output 28% and reduces employment 56%. *Even without NAFTA or free trade, most manufacturing jobs were going to be gone*...if not by outsourcing, then by automation.

The impact on the economy of that difference was exacerbated by broad cross section of employers who forgot Henry Ford's basic idea that in a consumer driven economy you needed workers able to buy what you were making...and that required three things -- leisure time, good salaries, and efficient manufacturing. 

So they used the surplus of workers to suppress wage growth, which is finally suppressing demand now that the credit bubbles have burst. 

==============
$35 to $50, you providing machine, fuel, and operator is not unreasonable IMHO if you're using production quality machines -- machines that are capable of putting out 2 cords/hour.

$50 for the splitter & operator, plus two laborers provided by the customer for $15/hour to keep up with the machine...you're talking $40/cord for splitting and stacking.

I'm thinking the whole math in my area would be:
Wood: $100/cord log length delivered
Bucking: $40/cord for an operator & saw
Splitting & Stacking: $40/cord for splitter, operator, and laborers

You'd be neck and neck with the costs of having split green wood delivered at those rates. If you substitute your own and family labor for the bucking and laborer work, you're well ahead of the game...even paying $50/hour for production level splitting.


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## William Cormier (Aug 23, 2016)

I love up in maine and I charge $25/hour. About $75 per cord to cut and split the wood.


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## svk (Aug 23, 2016)

William Cormier said:


> I love up in maine and I charge $25/hour. About $75 per cord to cut and split the wood.


That's a very fair rate.


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## blades (Aug 24, 2016)

CL ad here ( not me) to split wood $35/hr. I do not know any more than that. I know I ran an ad for the same thing several years back at same rate ( my machine) no takers at that time. I do get help calls after a service/ mother nature has brought something down. maybe 2 or 3 a year. I do not do this a regular thing and I look it over and discuss, then a written contract for what they want done. Call it anti litigation insurance.


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## Woody912 (Aug 24, 2016)

treebutler said:


> I dropped two oaks 20" in diameter approximatly 50' length. Already been paid for that, now customer wants me to split it and is supplying the splitter.. I cut it into 18" lengths. not sure how to charge. He might not want all of it so I think I need to charge by the man hour. Not sure what the going rate for something like that is. This is in Chattanooga, TN. Any info would be greatly appreciated.



I'm retired, I'd run his splitter all day for $15/hr as long as I did not have a long drive to get there. If it is red oak I'd tell him to save the splitter rental and do it with my maul if he'd wait for cool weather


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## rarefish383 (Aug 24, 2016)

I haven't split wood for hire in many, many years. When I did, I charged half the going rate for a cord of hard wood, Joe.


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## cantoo (Aug 24, 2016)

If I could get $25 an hour and my fuel paid I would split wood all day with my big 4 way splitter. Built it myself so know what will break and can fix it easily/cheaply so not concerned about maintenance expenses. It's fairly easy on the body to run and no headaches like the day job.


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## lknchoppers (Aug 30, 2016)

I would charge him $100 to cut and split each tree with his equipment, then charge him $50 to haul off what ever usable split wood he doesn't want. Brush and small stuff extra. It will take you at least a day to split that much firewood. I would probably just buy a used splitter for $400-$500 and charge him as a rental. At the end of a days work you will have a splitter that will pay for itself many times over.


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## muddstopper (Aug 30, 2016)

For a 5 year old thread, this one seems to keep growing so I will add my small cents worth.
No way I would ever contract a hourly rate to split my wood. Someone could show up with a piece of junk splitter that works at a snails pace and expect good money for poor performance. Only way I would pay someone to split wood for me would have to be for production. You split 1 cord and I pay you x amount. Hourly rates dont apply evenly when compared to equipment used and work ethics of the operator. Lots of box store splitters out there and they all pretty much work well, but would you rather pay someone the same hourly rate if they show up with a single wedge splitter, with 5hp motor and 11gpm two stage pump, than you would some one that shows up with a 4 way or six way splitter, a 16hp engine and a 28gpm two stage pump. Even if the operators worked as hard as possible, no way the little single wedge splitter is going to split more wood that the guy with the multi wedge splitter, and we havent even discussed someone showing up with a supersplit. To many factors to even start to price wood splitting by the hour. On the other hand, production is what it is, you split 1 cord I pay you this much and I dont care how long you take as long as you get it done.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Aug 30, 2016)

William Cormier said:


> I love up in maine and I charge $25/hour. About $75 per cord to cut and split the wood.



Where at in Maine? I grew up in Van Buren, still visit the family every few years.


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## Full Chisel (Aug 30, 2016)

I'm usually busy splitting my own wood but I did get a lead on a job a while back splitting up a pile of ash. I charged $75 to split roughly a face cord by hand.


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## cantoo (Aug 31, 2016)

Full chisel, what is the price for a face cord of split wood there?
Face cord of 16" wood here is $70 to $85, sometimes even delivered for that. And the Amish are cheaper and will do delivery and stacking if you are only a couple miles away and pay cash. They send 3 or 4 little kids in bare feet with horses and a wagon load of wood and know that the buyer is going to tip them well. My niece used to fill them up with ice cream, pop, give them her kids old rubber boots/ shoes and give them money.


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## Full Chisel (Aug 31, 2016)

Anywhere between $50 and $80 for quality hardwood. Keep in mind that I had to drive 40+ miles each way to get there...it was for one of my mom's co-workers that lives in St. Louis on the other side of the river.


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