Log splitter small business starting out

[Steve D]

My 16 year old son has been helping out splitting logs with me and loves it.

 

He is a tank of a lad for 16 and shoulder presses way more than I can!!!

 

He loves splitting wood that much he has offered his log splitting services out on Facebook and now has a couple of jobs lined up. 

He has never done this before and is wondering what to charge! Should it be priced on an hourly basis or volume of wood split, amount of rounds split etc?

 

He has offered to do the jobs for payment in wood aswell as cash (I would just pay him for the wood he brought home)

 

Im overseeing and helping him while he starts out so please don’t think I’m letting my son loose with a splitting maul all on his own. ?

 

one of his first jobs will be a 5ft round Oak. He has split 3ft rounds no problem but I’m guessing he will need wedges aswell as an axe for something this size!?

 

Anyone else start off doing something similar who then went onto setup their own arborist business?

 

any advice welcome.

 

thanks

 

[Treeation]

Id say best off hourly rate, Some wood will split very easily so you can get a large volume quickly, other, snarly old lumps you could be swinging your axe til the cows come home and you'd have one dissapointed son if he was charging from volume output.....as time goes on and he gets to know what will split easy and what wont then you might do it on fixed price but always a bit more risky....

 

As for the oak...depends how longs its been down, the longer - the harder to split....depends on what the wood is like....is it clean knot free (easier) or snarly twisted chunks with side branches which aren't worth attempting with a maul...really need a proper machine splitter for them...

[Richard Price]

Please tell me what area you and your son cover. I'm near Wallingford in South Oxfordshire and have a quantity of nearly three year old leylandii logs some to cut and most to split. If you work in my area, I'll send you some photos of the logs so you can give a proper quote. Otherwise do you know anybody who splits logs in my area?

[Steve D]

Hi Richard we’re in Kendal, Cumbria, so a bit far away. Thank you for the offer and hopefully there will be someone that sees your post and gets in touch. Thanks Steve

[Steve D]

1 hour ago, Treeation said:

Id say best off hourly rate, Some wood will split very easily so you can get a large volume quickly, other, snarly old lumps you could be swinging your axe til the cows come home and you'd have one dissapointed son if he was charging from volume output.....as time goes on and he gets to know what will split easy and what wont then you might do it on fixed price but always a bit more risky....

 

As for the oak...depends how longs its been down, the longer - the harder to split....depends on what the wood is like....is it clean knot free (easier) or snarly twisted chunks with side branches which aren't worth attempting with a maul...really need a proper machine splitter for them...

Cheers for the info, Just about to do his first job this weekend so definitely treating it as a learning curve and will accept whatever the client is willing to pay rather than negotiating a price. I’m glad there is work out there for him to do and get some experience. I’ve always found word of mouth is the best salesman and if he does a good job then hopefully the work will start coming in.

 

As for the big Oak, I’ve not seen it yet so def a play it by ear job. He may not be able to get through so much but is willing to give it a go!

[Vedhoggar]

Hourly rate £8.20/hr - £9.50/hr to begin with. Oak generally splits easy, start from the outside and work inwards, some wood will be difficult/impossible to split with an axe and with some logs steel wedges will useful at times. With some jobs consider hiring in a log splitter and charge it out on top of labour rate. Be aware of risk of injury to leg area when using an axe as well as eyes also if driving in metal wedges with a sledge hammer or back of a log splitting maul wear ear protection and of course wear steel toe cap boots .

[JaySmith]

If it were me I’d price it per job rather than hourly rate. With hourly rate if he works slower than the owner thinks they may feel hard done by and on the other hand if he finishes quicker than they thought he will do himself out of potential cash. Splitting logs is hard graft, especially if the timber is a bit gnarly and not a nice straight stem with little branch unions so shouldn’t sell himself short. As you say if he is just starting out then he can find his feet and get a feel for it. Maybe printing some cards/flyers up would be an idea and put them in the local shop and leave some with the people he works for to get the word spreading and some recommendations. If he’s serious about doing it then maybe out a bit aside from each job to buy a small petrol splitter to make things easier/more productive. Fair play to him though as most his age want sit about watching tiktok and the like so good luck to him and his attitude to a bit of hard graft should see him well [emoji106]

[Steve D]

33 minutes ago, JaySmith said:

If it were me I’d price it per job rather than hourly rate. With hourly rate if he works slower than the owner thinks they may feel hard done by and on the other hand if he finishes quicker than they thought he will do himself out of potential cash. Splitting logs is hard graft, especially if the timber is a bit gnarly and not a nice straight stem with little branch unions so shouldn’t sell himself short. As you say if he is just starting out then he can find his feet and get a feel for it. Maybe printing some cards/flyers up would be an idea and put them in the local shop and leave some with the people he works for to get the word spreading and some recommendations. If he’s serious about doing it then maybe out a bit aside from each job to buy a small petrol splitter to make things easier/more productive. Fair play to him though as most his age want sit about watching tiktok and the like so good luck to him and his attitude to a bit of hard graft should see him well

Thanks JaySmith, He is strong & takes to hard work like a duck to water, in fact he probably wouldn’t want do it if he had a petrol splitter (I’m sure he will change his mind as he gets older). He really does love seeing the wood split under the force of him swinging an axe. If he can combine that with making a bit of money then it’s a win/win. Don’t worry though, He’s still very much a typical teenager enjoying the Xbox & football (Girlfriends also seem to be appearing on the scene now!!! ?). Will take some pics of his first job and post on here. Thanks for the advice and I think you’re def right on pricing the job as we see it ??