Anybody charging by the (chainsaw) tank?

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Would you pay someone by the tank or for the job?
If I hired someone to get a job done, that is what I want.

Heck I'll pay ya for three tanks and then hand you a handsaw!

How many tanks of gas they use doesn't matter to me! I just want the job done!

The contractor should know what his operating cost is before he bids a job.

If he doesn't he should work for time and material.
 
i have contemplated doing this for cutting cedar trees. ive never seen anything worse to cut than a cedar. i should do this too

For sure, nothing is worse than cutting that damn eastern red cedar! (Juniperus virginiana for people want to look it up.)

I've had good luck cutting them down, piling 3-6 to a pile, then burn them about 8 weeks later.

Of course, if we had regular Rx burning, we wouldn't have a cedar problem.
 
The first time i had ever day waged I was recommended to do so by the boss, cause the first few days worth were all cedar. He was right, and it worked out in the end anyhow. They milled cross ties and cedar themselves during the winter, logged all summer, sold all the other products to mills. I walked as it approached winter, in good standing, they knew and I knew they couldn't pay my wage at the mill. Great folks though.

Hemlock is like a big cedar, limby as hell, though I've barely cut a few of those anyhow.
 
Would you pay someone by the tank or for the job?
If I hired someone to get a job done, that is what I want.

Heck I'll pay ya for three tanks and then hand you a handsaw!

How many tanks of gas they use doesn't matter to me! I just want the job done!

The contractor should know what his operating cost is before he bids a job.

If he doesn't he should work for time and material.

Yes, I would pay a guy this way. If I trusted him, worked with him before, and was on the job with him.
I'm unsure which contractor your referring to regarding operating costs? In this scenario, it wouldn't matter. The cost to the sub is your time with your saw.
We're all there everyday together, and they will be skidding the wood I produce daily.
 
Yes, I would pay a guy this way. If I trusted him, worked with him before, and was on the job with him.
I'm unsure which contractor your referring to regarding operating costs? In this scenario, it wouldn't matter. The cost to the sub is your time with your saw.
We're all there everyday together, and they will be skidding the wood I produce daily.


Anybody charging by the (chainsaw) tank?

Instead of charging per hour or per cord, it is many times easier and more preferred.

For production(piece) work. Cutting and bunching.

If so, how much?

The contractor would be the person that would bid the job.
(Hopefully a professional)

If you can sell the customer by the tank, I would be surprised.
I wouldn't hire someone to do a job by the tank, only time and materials,(if I trusted him) or the complete job.


If he wanted to do it by the tank, I would think he is nuts!
That's just my opinion though.

Asked a few of your customers what they think about the idea, and get there honest opinion about it.

I'm looking at from a customer stand point here, not the cutter though.
I'm curious what they tell you.
 
wow i find it interesting that nobody here is getting paid by the tank. i say that because I AM and its fairly common in my area, as far as i know. i cut for my cousin who runs his own loggin operation.

$15 dollars a tank. sometimes it can be annoying, especially on a slow day, but i guess it works out fair in the end. he trusts me to keep track of my tanks for the week. i work hard and dont waste gas so he treats me pretty good and we get along. ya hes had guys in the past that cheated him but they didnt last too long on the crew.
 
wow i find it interesting that nobody here is getting paid by the tank. i say that because I AM and its fairly common in my area, as far as i know. i cut for my cousin who runs his own loggin operation.

$15 dollars a tank. sometimes it can be annoying, especially on a slow day, but i guess it works out fair in the end. he trusts me to keep track of my tanks for the week. i work hard and dont waste gas so he treats me pretty good and we get along. ya hes had guys in the past that cheated him but they didnt last too long on the crew.

Interesting. I had no idea that this was such a common practice.

Does your cousin supply the gas or do you? On an average day, how many tanks do you use? To be fair on tank usage do you run the saw dry every time or just fill it when it seems right?

Do you run your own numbers (work as an independent contractor and pay your own taxes and such) or are you an actual employee?
 
he supplies gas and oil. the last job was a pretty sorry patch of trees and they had most all the good ones gone by the time i started cutting so i was only getting 2.5 to 3 tanks a day. pretty poor pay but i hope to get a better average on the job we just moved to. i work one other job and also have responsibilities on the family ranch so when i need to take a day or even a week off from logging, i can. thats the main reason im even working for him, the fact that i work whenever i can/want to.

i do run the saw till it dies. besides the fact that i want to do honest work, im usually near his son (we usually cut together), so it would probly get noticed that im getting more tanks than him.

i work as an independent contractor.

FYI im not seeing this as a long term career. its a learning experience for me and im making a little pocket money. i really enjoy it though and its basically a right of passage in my family to either log or drive truck. and its nice workin with family and not having to go out there and completely bust your butt to make somebody happy. the boss/cousin is pretty laid back and not out there for gold and riches, just payin the bills and supporting his family.
 
wow i find it interesting that nobody here is getting paid by the tank. i say that because I AM and its fairly common in my area, as far as i know. i cut for my cousin who runs his own loggin operation.

$15 dollars a tank. sometimes it can be annoying, especially on a slow day, but i guess it works out fair in the end. he trusts me to keep track of my tanks for the week. i work hard and dont waste gas so he treats me pretty good and we get along. ya hes had guys in the past that cheated him but they didnt last too long on the crew.

he supplies gas and oil. the last job was a pretty sorry patch of trees and they had most all the good ones gone by the time i started cutting so i was only getting 2.5 to 3 tanks a day. pretty poor pay but i hope to get a better average on the job we just moved to. i work one other job and also have responsibilities on the family ranch so when i need to take a day or even a week off from logging, i can. thats the main reason im even working for him, the fact that i work whenever i can/want to.

i do run the saw till it dies. besides the fact that i want to do honest work, im usually near his son (we usually cut together), so it would probly get noticed that im getting more tanks than him.

i work as an independent contractor.

FYI im not seeing this as a long term career. its a learning experience for me and im making a little pocket money. i really enjoy it though and its basically a right of passage in my family to either log or drive truck. and its nice workin with family and not having to go out there and completely bust your butt to make somebody happy. the boss/cousin is pretty laid back and not out there for gold and riches, just payin the bills and supporting his family.

If 45 bucks a day is your low, whats the most tanks you can run in a day?

Your low doesn't even meet Missouri's minimum wage.
If your top paying days don't do a lot better than that, You do need to find another career.
 
Now I remember, years ago a landowners' association in Central Finland had an odd system. The pay was fixed, but in order to get it a worker was obligated to run 4 tanks a day. I didn't work there, but a fellow I know did. He said everybody hated the system, and they changed it quite soon, for some reason...

I'm not aware of the expenses of an indy contractor across the pond (taxes, insurances, pension fund etc.), but 15$ a tank sounds, well, uh, let me put it this way: My income would at least go below zero.
 
The contractor would be the person that would bid the job.
(Hopefully a professional)

If you can sell the customer by the tank, I would be surprised.
I wouldn't hire someone to do a job by the tank, only time and materials,(if I trusted him) or the complete job.


If he wanted to do it by the tank, I would think he is nuts!
That's just my opinion though.

Asked a few of your customers what they think about the idea, and get there honest opinion about it.

I'm looking at from a customer stand point here, not the cutter though.
I'm curious what they tell you.

I am not the contractor(timber buyer) on the job. I am subbing for the guy that bought the job. He is paying for stumpage, trucking, etc. He is simply paying me (per tank) to put timber on the on the ground, buck the best grade, and bunch. That's it. I am not dealing with any customers, truckers, anybody. I am just in there subbing for a mechanized crew that is in the stand already working. This is when this works.
 
If 45 bucks a day is your low, whats the most tanks you can run in a day?

Your low doesn't even meet Missouri's minimum wage.
If your top paying days don't do a lot better than that, You do need to find another career.

the most tanks i can run in a day is about 5-6. another thing is the hours we work. we get in the woods by about 9-9:30 and leave about 4-4:30 so hours are pretty easy. and im not looking at this as a career. honestly right now its just something to keep me busy and make a little extra money.

and as i already said, its a learning experience. ive felled trees logging on other folks places that are much larger than the stuff we have on our ranch. we cut probly 40 cord of firewood a year from green standing trees so ive got felling experience from that but theres things that ive learned logging that i wouldnt have from felling firewood on our own place. and ive still got a lot to learn, im sure, so im gonna keep logging for "under minimum wage" and look at the other benefits that it provides for me besides money. and im young and single with no debt so it doesnt take much in the way of money for me to keep going.
 
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Way too many variables for charging by the tank.

Anyway here is a pic of my fuel bottle set-up. The mix is a 34oz. and the oil is 27oz. I could definetly use a smaller oil and larger gas bottle. Its funny everywhere I look I see these damn things now. $6 for a 41oz. at Walgreens. The gas does not seem to be degrading the seal yet and its been working for three weeks. The green bottle is my water and its all tied together with a shoelace that I sling over my shoulder. There is a $20 aluminum bottle made specifically for fuel at Gander mountain. It is vented and holds 20oz. I think. A little pricey, but may hold up longer. The plastic bottles I was using (originally for gear oil) kept getting dog holes in them.

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I am not the contractor(timber buyer) on the job. I am subbing for the guy that bought the job. He is paying for stumpage, trucking, etc. He is simply paying me (per tank) to put timber on the on the ground, buck the best grade, and bunch. That's it. I am not dealing with any customers, truckers, anybody. I am just in there subbing for a mechanized crew that is in the stand already working. This is when this works.

How many tanks can you run a day and how much are you getting per tank?

If you don't mind me asking.
 
Way too many variables for charging by the tank.

Anyway here is a pic of my fuel bottle set-up. The mix is a 34oz. and the oil is 27oz. I could definetly use a smaller oil and larger gas bottle. Its funny everywhere I look I see these damn things now. $6 for a 41oz. at Walgreens. The gas does not seem to be degrading the seal yet and its been working for three weeks. The green bottle is my water and its all tied together with a shoelace that I sling over my shoulder.

Hey Bitzer, it's good thing you have a colour code. Have you ever hoisted a wrong bottle? It's amazing how quick a human being can throw up.
 

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