Do you give discount when your taking the wood?

[sgreanbeans]

I ask them up front if they want the wood. I offer no discount for it if they do tho, most of the time they want it cut to manageable sized pieces and that means really small, that equals a lot of time and clean up. You can make a mountain of sawdust cutting up a large tree so they can move it by hand. So if that is what they want, I bid it accordingly. If they want me to leave it in the sizes that it is when it hits the ground, sure. But most of the time they do not have the means to deal with any type of big wood, so if I leave it, most of the time I have to cut it. Some say "just leave it at the base of the tree" I will not do this, I want the work area clean so no one is trying to step over logs and junk as we work. You can burn more time cutting everything up than loading it out. I explain the time thing to them and most of the time they understand. But then you get the occasional idiot who thinks that I am going to make a mint with "their" wood and wants every bit of it, wants it cut and stacked so they can recover some of the cost of removal, then calls later to have it removed after they figured out that they were wrong. I give wood away all the time, works great. I get it out of the work area to a safe area and let my "smurfs" have at it. I just finished a 40" DBH pin oak that was 36" at 20'. Lots and lots of good leader and branch wood. Smurfs took every bit of it, as long as they could fit it in their trucks. I took just the trunk.

 

[Toddppm]

No, I only give a discount if I'm giving the wood.

 

[cedar]

I usually charge more to cut and stack the wood than to remove it. As others have said, cutting wood, stacking it, and cleaning up take time. I do have a mini-skid and grapple. Most homeowners want to know what you are going to do with the wood and when I tell them good hardwood gets cut, split and sold it can be a problem. They think you are getting paid twice - once to remove the tree and then to sell it as firewood. I try to explain that there is not a lot of money in firewood but it is helpful on rain days or slow winters to keep my employees busy. This explanation helps sometimes but not always.

 

[Slvrmple72]

When customers wanted firewood most of the time they just kept the tops cut up to firewood length and i would take the log. If I was asked to turn the tree into firewood it was two guys with a saw and logsplitter for $75/hr. We would turn the pile of rounds/limbs/log into a pile of firewood that they need only stack. Whatever it is woodwise... if I am moving it then I will be paid to do so. Don't get me started about Black Walnut....

 

[capetrees]

I give a discount if it's good firewood, locust oak or maple but to cut it and stack it for the client it's charge charge charge all day. Just did a job for a friend, eight oaks came down, no charge and I made it into 4 cords of firewood to sell next fall.
I got busted once though. Gave a discount to a woman, repeat customer who wanted a big oak taken down. Priced it to take the wood away and she agreed. The husband came out the day we did the job and told us no doubt about it that he wanted the wood. Pissed off, I left the wood for the 70+ year old guy, 18" rounds, 4' long right in the front yard.

 

[Knobby57]

No discount !! And always have a contract in writing of what is expected . Not every situation is the same and bid accordingly . Sometimes its easier to drop large logs on the flatbed . And others you have to hump stuff through a 36" gate or around a house and up steps. Im not there for charity and expect to get paid for my labor .As far as I'm concerned wood on the ground isn't worth a penny until you handle it 5 times moving and splitting and stacking and storing it. Busting my but by myself working off a log pile that's already in 18" rounds I may be able to split and stack a cord in a hour . I would rather go start another 800-1000$ job There is no money in firewood but it does keep the guys busy on slow days and keeps the help happy with a paycheck. If life was perfect I would never deal with firewood ever .

 

[137cc]

I tell the homeowners that the wood is theirs, if they don't want it I'll take it. I get to many people with the line "if I give you the wood then you can remove the the tree for free". This helps avoid the homeowner trying to short change me. If the homeowner is really stingy about it, I tell them they can sell the wood on craigslist themselves to cover the cost, only then will they realize the wood isn't even close to the price of removal. Even when the homeowner doesn't have a wood stove, they usually have a neighbor, friend or family member that does. I've seen bitter neighbors become friendly once again over a little firewood. A tree service I used to work for would charge extra for wood removal, if the homeowner didn't know anybody we just told them to fly an ad on craigslist and the wood would be gone soon.