Day Rate for static milling?

[Ilnumero]

I run a mobile Lumbermate .

 

Just as an example. I did a job onsite recently. As it was fairly local, I set the mill up the evening before.

 

Started at 8.30, had three men on hand and a Manitou for handling.

The job was milling oak 6x6, 6x2 and random 65mm boards for wind braces. Total at the end of the day was 36, 6x6s, 34 6x2s and a huge pile of random 65mm boards.

 

To be fair, all the logs were bent, tapered, generally poor quality. One of the guys who builds oak buildings was complaining about not getting enough yield from each log, but he is used to buying dead-straight french oak, not hedgerow stuff and odd logs they got hold of.

We never stopped all day, worked our socks off and finished at 8pm - long day.

 

Used about 3 gallons of petrol so very economical to run. Did use 7 bands that cost £9 each to sharpen and they gave me £40 for the bands, which I was fine with. They have since delivered 8 ton of milling timber to me (sold a small part of that for £500 so far), so it's not always about getting the last penny out of the customer

 

It was still better than buying in the finished product, although I couldn't give you any figures for that job.

[Ilnumero]

Another job last week - two 8x8x8 feet oak posts. Took just an hour to mill them from some scruffy looking logs I had in stock. Came out really well, charged £180 for the pair. Easy money for an hour's work.

That's the sort of jobs I like.

[Ilnumero]

I was asked by a local timber merchant if I would supply their oak sleepers in packs of 50. 

 

I worked out it would cost me £10 to produce one, which includes materials, time, transport, band sharpening etc.

 

They were offering £14.50 each so it wasn't worth my time to work for £4.50 a sleeper. In the end, I found a supplier for them who charged £17 each. 

 

The sweet part was seeing them in the yard, waney-edged, twisted, full of sapwood and shake. I certainly wouldn't supply them like that, they got what they paid for.