Rates for Self Employed Handcutters

[Big J]

Whenever I used cutters on my own jobs, my start point would always be to ask what their day rate was. We usually settled on £125 to £150 depending on experience and qualifications. 

 

I wouldn't work for less than that so why should I expect anyone else to? You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. You want a job well done, you need happy subbies, and a job well done gets you more work. Shafting your subbies only works once.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Big J

[Matt GT]

On 12/29/2016 at 10:44, Stephen Blair said:

I think it needs to be made clear, hand cutting in the woods is the hardest lowest paid option with a chainsaw, hence why we all mess about in gardens where the money is at.

Buy a hedgecutter and you will be minted by the end of the summer

That is just not true! Perhaps in the past yes but the past few years it has changed.

[Matt GT]

On 12/28/2016 at 21:48, MattyBuist said:

Hi,

 

I'm a self employed hand cutter based in Aberdeenshire.

Fully insured and ticketed with all my own gear!(CS-30,CS-31,CS-32,CS-34/35)

I'm fairly new to it but I have about two years full experience.

Most of work is cutting edge trees and oversize.Although a fair lot of hardwoods and the occasional steep bank to fell.

 

What should I be charging per hour and per day?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

Heya Matty, we might have worked with each other  

I would advise you to be looking for £150+ day rate. or £20 per hour minimum.. Forestry is booming right now and brexit is about to shake up the workforce ;/ sad but true. Expecting roughly 60 harvester drivers to be gone by 2019  

I would seriously advise against a 200 quid micra to get you and yer gear in and out of sites.. that is not gonna happen you are just gonna break down (come winter you are stuck at home) and piss everyone off hahaha. You need to be reliable and dependable. And it would mean traveling and breathing petrol fumes.. f!"£$ that!  

 

love and peace

M

[departed]

Heya Matty, we might have worked with each other [emoji4] 

I would advise you to be looking for £150+ day rate. or £20 per hour minimum.. Forestry is booming right now and brexit is about to shake up the workforce ;/ sad but true. Expecting roughly 60 harvester drivers to be gone by 2019 [emoji33] 

I would seriously advise against a 200 quid micra to get you and yer gear in and out of sites.. that is not gonna happen you are just gonna break down (come winter you are stuck at home) and piss everyone off hahaha. You need to be reliable and dependable. And it would mean traveling and breathing petrol fumes.. f!"£$ that!  
 
love and peace
M

How do you get into operating harvesters?
I'm sure it's a pretty demanding job with few 'apprenticeship' jobs going.
Is it good money compared to say excavator driving?
Cheers.

[Gray git]

Don't think I know a single harvester driver who hasn't spent time on forwarders and 360s first, definitely not a machine you can just jump on and have a go with and most owners cannot afford to pay for you to learn to be efficient with crane on such a high value machine where the rates are so tight.

[Jimbo 76]

P