day rate/ price work for mobile milling

[Rik]

hey guys,

 

have got a customer whos going to be having a large multi stem syc down, and shes considering having the trunks milled to planks, i dont do milling and have no experience of it whatsoever, do any of you guys that do, work on a day rate/piece work, be prepared to travel (oxfordshire)

 

im obviously not looking for an actual price on here i was just throwing ideas around so i could let her know how viable it may be for her.

 

the stems are all pretty straight and largely knot free, there are 4 main stems each at around 30' before the crown, (can be cut smaller obviously if need be)

 

any thoughts ideas on (rough) prices availibilty, or even possibility would be grand..

 

cheers guys,

 

Rik

[miller-Ian]

i could do it but i would have to charge travel to

but i do it for 300 a day

[Daniël Bos]

My local mobile sawyer is £250 a day, with a Lucas type mill.

[miller-Ian]

for got to say i have a 48" alascan mill

[Bob Slade]

pm sent

[Rik]

cheers for the ideas guys! ill get back to the woman and give her some ideas and see what she says!

[Big J]

Not that I am remotely local, but I'm £350 a day plus VAT and mileage running a full hydraulic Woodmizer LT40. Two days work for those four trees I think.

[agg221]

Like Big J, no personal interest, but I would suggest that it's very important to take into account what she wants to do with it as part of the decision. If it's to make wide, thick slabs it will need a reasonable sized mill and an Alaskan or a fair sized band mill would be suitable. If it's to make narrow planks then a Lucas or smaller band mill may do better. The day rate will be fairly comparable for most kit - in the range £250-350, but some will take two days to do the job which can be done in a day with other kit e.g. making wide boards on a manual bandmill means moving the log whereas an Alaskan can be used over the log, so access and portability become important as to which is more cost-effective.

 

The one thing she really should bear in mind is that if she's got a use for the timber, somewhere to stack it (will need a good source of sticks) and is prepared to wait for it to air-dry (6mnths/inch thickness) she will probably get a lot of benefit out of doing it. If she has a prearranged market and mills to an agreed specification again she should come out up on doing this. If it's purely speculative on the basis that timber must be worth something, I'd go for firewood as it's a more certain return. Milling for profit is very risky unless you do a lot and always have something on offer. Hence why I only do it for myself.

 

Alec

[Big J]

Very valid points Alec.

 

For a start, sycamore has a fairly limited value for milling. It needs to be felled in winter and either air dried ended reared (as in, stood up) or straight into a kiln to maintain whiteness. If whiteness isn't a concern, then they can be sticked and stacked as normal.

 

Hypothetically assuming an average thickness of trunk of 24 inches, you will end up with just shy of 300 cubic foot (just over 8 cubic metres) of boards from those four stems. What on earth is a private customer going to do with that amount of sycamore? That's more than most small to medium sized mills sell (in sycamore) in a year! However, if she is able to find a customer to take it all, it would certainly be worth the effort. Would have to be priced low though (circa £10 a cube to shift it).

[Rik]

blimey days!

 

many point here being mentioned id never even considered or even vaguely thought about! i think im gonna go to her and try explain all this to her and get some clearer desicions before she jumps into anything. if im honest i recon itll end up as firewood tbh

 

rik