Yup, that’s why I don’t feel bad charging people for something they could do on their own with a little effort.
I quote by the job be it firewood making, tree removal, storm clean up, brush removal etc. Ill tend to be on the lower side which i dont mind. Its had work and i enjoy it for the most part. Sometimes its even "free" wood for me. Working in warmer weather really slows me down. I never was good on the heat.
Ive done that twice and the guy had the hydro. Shouldve got a bit more but was content. I made about $40/hr cash and went BTTW splitting.
Interesting topic. I know my brother and I can cut a tri-axle load of logs in 4 hours or so. We take the logs off the pile with a loader, lay 20-25 out on stringers one row high, cut, then push them out of the way, and repeat. About 4 'lay-outs' per load. We have 5 -6 saws (Stihl 260, 261, 362, 460, 461, and his 500) ready to go, so we don't spend much time sharpening or refueling. Works out to somewhere between 6-7 full cords. Never have split a whole load at once, but I know we can get more than cord split and put into a backhoe bucket per hour-the bucket holds a face cord. Let's say it would take us 9 hours to cut and split 6 +full cords. I know I wouldn't do it for less than $100 a cord. That works out to around $75 an hour-sure wouldn't get rich.
I would look at this as a side hustle, but I agree with some others. For me personally its not really worth my time. To give up a weekend day, I'd have to make a bare, bare minimum of $500 cash for 8 hours, or I'd just assume stay home and work on my own stuff. I've done side jobs in the past, and made some really decent money. Like $1000/day on Sat and Sun doing roofs, and this was in 2000-2005. The problem was always finding reliable help. Once you strip the old roof you're stuck there. Even offering $30/hour cash back in early 2000's it was hard to get anyone to commit. My tools, my truck, I'd drive them there with me. All they had to do was work. Finally after doing it for 4-5 years I decided it wasn't worth it to me. I also was doing it full time during the week, so you just get burnt out. Now I'm 20 years older and really don't want to mess around on roofs at all. I think the key to making REAL money is to find ways to earn passive income. Be it stocks, income properties, etc. Make money while doing nothing.
