What is fair wage for a helper splitting wood ?

[sirbuildalot]

A friend of mine has a large tree removal/cordwood business. He pays his firewood splitters $12/hr. cash. That's to run a Supersplit all day, and throw the wood in a large pile.

To a high school kid, that's a lot money.

I'd say $10-$12/hr. cash would be fair for all involved.

To the guys who keep saying 12 pack, or beer, remember he said high school kids. Unless you enjoy jail time that is.

 

[chucker]

A friend of mine has a large tree removal/cordwood business. He pays his firewood splitters $12/hr. cash. That's to run a Supersplit all day, and throw the wood in a large pile.

To a high school kid, that's a lot money.

I'd say $10-$12/hr. cash would be fair for all involved.

To the guys who keep saying 12 pack, or beer, remember he said high school kids. Unless you enjoy jail time that is.

? you really don't think adults here would condone giving beer to a minor do you for real! come on.. root beer by the 12 pack is a reality! not alcohol of any sort! this "wood knot" be a good choice for either !

 

[kyle1!]

I work an extra part time job and if I could make $12/hr cash splitting wood I would be all over that. I might be a little different but I find cutting the tree up and making rounds the worst part of firewood followed by stacking.

 

[cantoo]

I sell a bit of firewood and I wish I was making $12 cash an hour doing it. My expenses outweigh my sales by a lot. I have a problem with my arms waving at auction sales.

 

[chucker]

I sell a bit of firewood and I wish I was making $12 cash an hour doing it. My expenses outweigh my sales by a lot. I have a problem with my arms waving at auction sales.

there's a cure for that!! there called "wrist weights at 25# each, 50 pounds to a set … and they are ambidextrous.... lol

 

[cantoo]

Chipper, I usually just raise my eyebrows to bid. I follow several Auctioneers around to their sales and they know I maintain eye contact to bid. I also start most bidding using my fingers. And there is no cure for the sickness I have. It's auction season. My buddy spent $168 G at the sale yesterday so I'm not doing that bad. He owns part of this business and is running the auction on Saturday.
https://stewartsequip.com/ Here a picture of one of his yards.
https://www.google.ca/maps/uv?hl=en...hUKEwiT_ZuG1pThAhUIw4MKHVipDqMQpx8wC3oECAoQCw

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I agree with you to a point. You have to find kids that want to work , going to a school and picking up the couch potatos isnt going to work.

Haven't had the greatest luck with ones that came by looking for work either.

I think the education system and parents have seriously failed many kids. Sorry but by the time one is early 20s, should be able to do most things a normal adult can.

IE, using hand and power tools, understanding fairly simple machines, like a lawn mower, how to cook basic meals, how to put in a decent day of work, etc. Understanding normal adult responsibility... like having a job, saving $$, paying bills, not doing drugs, etc.

Maybe it's just me, but if you are well over 18 and basically living in Mom's basement and the main goal in life is leveling up in Ninendo games, you might just end up maxing out with a career of the fry guy at McDonald's, putting in 20hrs a week.

Have one that "works". I'd have fired them long ago, but they have my buddy wrapped around their finger somehow.
A welfare rat of at least 2 generations and it's sickening the "I deserve" attitude. Does very minimal but has it in their mind that without them the place would come to a crashing halt.

Anymore I pretty much just ignore them.

 

[T. Mainus]

To everybody on here talking about paying guys cash for working, what is your plan if the kid gets hurt? Are you carrying workers comp insurance on the worker? Are you operating as an LLC? I think your just asking for trouble and a possible law suit if the guy were to get hurt and you don't have insurance on them. If your not an LLC they can sue you personally and end up with your house etc... Accidents do happen. Don't get me wrong, I would love to pay a guy straight cash to avoid all the headaches, but you better have a plan if something were to happen.

 

[jrider]

Haven't had the greatest luck with ones that came by looking for work either.

I think the education system and parents have seriously failed many kids. Sorry but by the time one is early 20s, should be able to do most things a normal adult can.

IE, using hand and power tools, understanding fairly simple machines, like a lawn mower, how to cook basic meals, how to put in a decent day of work, etc. Understanding normal adult responsibility... like having a job, saving $$, paying bills, not doing drugs, etc.

Maybe it's just me, but if you are well over 18 and basically living in Mom's basement and the main goal in life is leveling up in Ninendo games, you might just end up maxing out with a career of the fry guy at McDonald's, putting in 20hrs a week.

Have one that "works". I'd have fired them long ago, but they have my buddy wrapped around their finger somehow.
A welfare rat of at least 2 generations and it's sickening the "I deserve" attitude. Does very minimal but has it in their mind that without them the place would come to a crashing halt.

Anymore I pretty much just ignore them.

Some people can just see machinery/equipment and run it. Many can't. A good boss/leader shows people how to use something efficiently and without abusing it. There are a lot of little tricks to any job that make it go quicker and smoother. Why not take a little time to pass on your knowledge so they become better employees?

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Some people can just see machinery/equipment and run it. Many can't. A good boss/leader shows people how to use something efficiently and without abusing it. There are a lot of little tricks to any job that make it go quicker and smoother. Why not take a little time to pass on your knowledge so they become better employees?

Can explain dozens of times, it does no good. These are people that topped out at about 4th grade level and somehow the school system and their parents let them continue to pass on.
And no, not "special needs", just were brought up that laziness and mediocre is fine. Good luck undoing 20+ years of that.

The person I have helping out now can't even handle that 4 rows in the truck is a cord of wood, 8 is 2. I've told them easily 30+ times and that it's a cord, not a "quart" but it just won't sink in.
Only use 1 truck, and we load it everyday.

 

[chucker]

if I only had a dollar for ever "quart" of wood sold to these "citiodiots" … I "wood" be able to buy myself a "cord of pickles"! lol

 

[bitzer]

To everybody on here talking about paying guys cash for working, what is your plan if the kid gets hurt? Are you carrying workers comp insurance on the worker? Are you operating as an LLC? I think your just asking for trouble and a possible law suit if the guy were to get hurt and you don't have insurance on them. If your not an LLC they can sue you personally and end up with your house etc... Accidents do happen. Don't get me wrong, I would love to pay a guy straight cash to avoid all the headaches, but you better have a plan if something were to happen.

Absolutely right Tom. When you're trying to run an actual buisness you can't take that chance. I get a kick out of guys in the logging business that will pay cutters/skidder operators cash. You are just asking to get taken.

So you get all the wood I sent you split yet?

 

[captjack]

I'm not running a business. I have a small farm house i heat with wood. I have a ton of that needs to be split - I would not let the kids use a saw or tractor. just have them clear splitter table and roll rounds to the lift so I can keep the splitting going.

 

[rarefish383]

Yeah you have to be careful. My uncle hired a neighbor kid to rake up, just starting out groundie, no roping or running saws. He came from a family of 9-10 boys and he told my uncle he was 19. He filled out all the paper work for taxes and comp. The kid may have even lied and said he was one of his older brothers. I forget all the details, it was 30 plus years ago. Anyway, he wound up sweeping saw dust off a roof and passed out, fell and broke his neck. That was back when PCP was big. One of the other guys told the crew chief he saw the kid getting high behind the house. Turned out he was under 18, and in MD you have to be 18 to do tree work. The owners kids can start at 16, I think. Anyway, he lost the use of his legs, and my uncle had to send him to a rehab school out in Boulder CO. Because he lied his way into the job, my uncle didn't get into any big legal trouble, but he had to pay some fines and the rehab. It's not something you want to get caught up in. Another thing you NEVER want to do is let one kid run the levers while another feeds. The one on the levers gets into a rhythm, the one feeding has a piece slip, and before he can get a grip, fingers and hand gone. Since I've been on AS I think there have been 3 cases reported here of kids cutting off fathers fingers.

 

[Dogsout]

I encourage them to leave the phone in the truck.

You can encourage all you want but the youngsters today can't go 10 minutes with out taking a look. It is just like a drug addict they just have to have their phone fix.

 

[jrider]

Can explain dozens of times, it does no good. These are people that topped out at about 4th grade level and somehow the school system and their parents let them continue to pass on.
And no, not "special needs", just were brought up that laziness and mediocre is fine. Good luck undoing 20+ years of that.

The person I have helping out now can't even handle that 4 rows in the truck is a cord of wood, 8 is 2. I've told them easily 30+ times and that it's a cord, not a "quart" but it just won't sink in.
Only use 1 truck, and we load it everyday.

That’s different than what you were explaining in the post I responded to.

 

[grizz55chev]

Yeah you have to be careful. My uncle hired a neighbor kid to rake up, just starting out groundie, no roping or running saws. He came from a family of 9-10 boys and he told my uncle he was 19. He filled out all the paper work for taxes and comp. The kid may have even lied and said he was one of his older brothers. I forget all the details, it was 30 plus years ago. Anyway, he wound up sweeping saw dust off a roof and passed out, fell and broke his neck. That was back when PCP was big. One of the other guys told the crew chief he saw the kid getting high behind the house. Turned out he was under 18, and in MD you have to be 18 to do tree work. The owners kids can start at 16, I think. Anyway, he lost the use of his legs, and my uncle had to send him to a rehab school out in Boulder CO. Because he lied his way into the job, my uncle didn't get into any big legal trouble, but he had to pay some fines and the rehab. It's not something you want to get caught up in. Another thing you NEVER want to do is let one kid run the levers while another feeds. The one on the levers gets into a rhythm, the one feeding has a piece slip, and before he can get a grip, fingers and hand gone. Since I've been on AS I think there have been 3 cases reported here of kids cutting off fathers fingers.

I loaned out my small splitter to a friend, my wife’s business partners husband for a weekend of splitting. The only instructions I gave him was to never have someone loading and someone else running the lever. The next day, I saw where he posted on Facebook where his Son was loading, and his grandson was running the lever! He’ll never borrow my splitter again! I’ve seen too many mashed or missing fingers that way.

 

[muddstopper]

It dont have to be a kid running the levers to cut someones hand off. My buddy is 73 and used to be one of the smartest workers I have been around. Since he has been sick a lot lately, I gave him a load of wood and we fired up his splitter to bust up the rounds. He was running the lever and I was loading. He kept short strokeing the splitter, I finally had to tell him if he didnt stop trying to short stroke and rush the splitting, I was going to quit. Said if I didnt quit griping, he was going to run me off. I told him he couldnt run me off as I was the only friend he had. Anyway's, he started giving me a little more comfort room and we got his wood split. Point is, both the person loading and the person running the levers has to be watching what the other person is doing, kids are to easily distracted and the adult has to look out for them, as well as themselfs.

 

[grizz55chev]

It dont have to be a kid running the levers to cut someones hand off. My buddy is 73 and used to be one of the smartest workers I have been around. Since he has been sick a lot lately, I gave him a load of wood and we fired up his splitter to bust up the rounds. He was running the lever and I was loading. He kept short strokeing the splitter, I finally had to tell him if he didnt stop trying to short stroke and rush the splitting, I was going to quit. Said if I didnt quit griping, he was going to run me off. I told him he couldnt run me off as I was the only friend he had. Anyway's, he started giving me a little more comfort room and we got his wood split. Point is, both the person loading and the person running the levers has to be watching what the other person is doing, kids are to easily distracted and the adult has to look out for them, as well as themselfs.

My woodcutting buddy was told and he knew that it was bad practice, but his girlfriend wanted to help him. Only took about an hr. before she mashed his thumb, she don’t run the splitter no more. His thumb is still much bigger than the other one.

 

[cantoo]

mudd, when my Dad was still alive he used to want to help me split wood. He would run the lever and I would load the rounds. Every once in awhile he would get rammy and get real close to my fingers so every once in awhile I would "accidently" drop a round or a split and it would land on his foot. He would yelp and bitch and I would say "hurts don't it, could you imagine what that wedge is going to do to my fingers"?