Felling day rate

[gdh]

1 hour ago, JDon said:

I'm guessing you own a harvester, do you not add the cost of a cutter and a little more on to the job?

 

Also what would you expect out of a cutter on 250 a day in Sitka/outside edge trees? I.E how many per shift etc. 

 

I got you and @Pete Mctree mixed up I think. 

Haha, I wish. I'm mostly firewood processing, we just do a few smaller hardwood felling jobs in the summer with a digger, winch and forwarding trailer. I hire extra cutters when needed but I'm normally buying the wood so I only pay the customer for the standing timber.

[Whoppa Choppa]

21 hours ago, Ledburyjosh said:

Not needed for this job. They're after 1-200 ton a year to feed the estate boiler

 

21 hours ago, Ledburyjosh said:

And is that what is paid to the cutters or charged to the customer?

 

Still shouldn't be day rate. Tonnage or volume rate. Only fair. And appropriate.

[openspaceman]

7 hours ago, Whoppa Choppa said:

 

 

Still shouldn't be day rate. Tonnage or volume rate. Only fair. And appropriate.

I always worked piece rate and it was good for a long while, on average earning 30% more than day rate and that's how things should be. Things get tight and firms reduce the rate till it's nigh impossible to earn a living.

[devon TWiG]

4 hours ago, openspaceman said:

I always worked piece rate and it was good for a long while, on average earning 30% more than day rate and that's how things should be. Things get tight and firms reduce the rate till it's nigh impossible to earn a living.

I have known guys who worked really hard and were making very good money on piece work , the customer ( big forestry company ) thought these guys are earning too much so reduced the rate !!!  other guys who did not beast themselves every day could not make a living then !!  shot themselves in the foot , this scenario happens quite a bit in other industries as well ....

[Whoppa Choppa]

8 minutes ago, devon TWiG said:

I have known guys who worked really hard and were making very good money on piece work , the customer ( big forestry company ) thought these guys are earning too much so reduced the rate !!!  other guys who did not beast themselves every day could not make a living then !!  shot themselves in the foot , this scenario happens quite a bit in other industries as well ....

Euroforest 100%.

 

Tilhill after that 

 

Absolute scum.

[openspaceman]

6 minutes ago, devon TWiG said:

I have known guys who worked really hard and were making very good money on piece work , the customer ( big forestry company ) thought these guys are earning too much so reduced the rate !!!  other guys who did not beast themselves every day could not make a living then !!  shot themselves in the foot , this scenario happens quite a bit in other industries as well ....

 

 

I started out in forestry planting, 1p per plant, basic wage was £15/week for general farm worker and £19/week for forest worker. I planted 1000 trees most days so doubled my wages.

 

Then came weeding and cleaning, I cannot remember the rate but £15/day became the target. Then it all went wrong, we were cleaning with long handled hooks, cutting willow and coppice chestnut which the 245t had failed to kill in a douglas plantation. The piecework rate was reasonable but a struggle for the two older guys. I had a word with the local dealer and bought my first power saw a, husqvarna 165r (still have it), for which the shop threw in a chainsaw hat and a file because I was too naive to ask for discount. That blew £200 quid of my woman's maternity grant  . Even with the cost of petroil I was ripping through it making a small fortune but the two fifty something guys were more than disgruntled, they were sent elsewhere the next week and the piecework rate dropped. I never did make the purchase money back on that job and gave it up to work on a relatives farm for 18 months.

 

After that it was  piecework felling intermixed with working for a couple of arb firms. £6/tonne cutting and extracting one metre pulp onto artic trailers by hand. £4/tonne fell, sned and crosscut; £2/tonne extract and load.

 

I think a brickie was on about £100/week and we would be aiming for £200 but it didn't take long for that to reverse. I moved on to fell and extract hardwood timber.

[topchippyles]

4 hours ago, openspaceman said:

 

 

I started out in forestry planting, 1p per plant, basic wage was £15/week for general farm worker and £19/week for forest worker. I planted 1000 trees most days so doubled my wages.

 

Then came weeding and cleaning, I cannot remember the rate but £15/day became the target. Then it all went wrong, we were cleaning with long handled hooks, cutting willow and coppice chestnut which the 245t had failed to kill in a douglas plantation. The piecework rate was reasonable but a struggle for the two older guys. I had a word with the local dealer and bought my first power saw a, husqvarna 165r (still have it), for which the shop threw in a chainsaw hat and a file because I was too naive to ask for discount. That blew £200 quid of my woman's maternity grant  . Even with the cost of petroil I was ripping through it making a small fortune but the two fifty something guys were more than disgruntled, they were sent elsewhere the next week and the piecework rate dropped. I never did make the purchase money back on that job and gave it up to work on a relatives farm for 18 months.

 

After that it was  piecework felling intermixed with working for a couple of arb firms. £6/tonne cutting and extracting one metre pulp onto artic trailers by hand. £4/tonne fell, sned and crosscut; £2/tonne extract and load.

 

I think a brickie was on about £100/week and we would be aiming for £200 but it didn't take long for that to reverse. I moved on to fell and extract hardwood timber.

Penalised for working hard it happens a lot on building sites a lot to. 

[topchippyles]

3 minutes ago, topchippyles said:

Penalised for working hard, it happens a lot on building sites to. Site managers and QS staff hate the thought a tradesman earns more than they do and most of them failed on the tools so went into management.

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by topchippyles

[Blackbriarwoods]

Worked for one boss, he had been a feller both in Australia and then back here. He'd been there and done that, knew how hard people worked by walking around the sites and looking at what and how things had been done.

If you worked hard he would pay lovely bonuses and would back you to hell and back if you had upset anyone just by doing what had been asked of you. 

He loved it when the managers went back and told what they thought was wrong or what could be improved. Never did it in front of us, but would take a trip with the manager to the work site and ask them to show him what they meant.

Most had never run a saw and were managers only in name (more public relations than man/job managers) and spent most of the time smooth talking and keeping land owners/customers happy.

Saw him crease up with laughter one day, we were on break (later than set time due to wanting to finish a block before bait time). Him and a newish manager walked up to site and new bloke stuck his finger on the exhaust of a saw, not near it, but fully onto it. Impressive noise he made but not much sympathy went his direction.

I enjoyed every minute working for him and really appreciated the faith he had in us. Very fair boss and paid well for work done well.