How Much Should I Charge Per Hour To Split Wood For People??

[Oakdaddy22]

Ive decided I wanted to split wood for people to make some extra money and wanted to know it I should charge hourly...or by cord/job? Also don't know how to factor in gas driving and gas to run the splitter as I would be bringing my own thanks!

[davebro]

I think it would be normal to charge for the amount of wood split. Gas usage & cost? - you will know better than anyone here.

[Buenchico]

Welcome to The Answerbank, Oakdaddy22.

However this site is based in the UK, where our 'petrol' (= your 'gas') currently has an average price equivalent to $7.41 per US gallon. i.e. it's about twice as expensive as in the USA.

Similarly, the Federal Minimum Wage in your country is currently $7.25 per hour, whereas the National Living Wage here is currently the equivalent of $11.49 per hour (and set to rise to the equivalent of $12.60 per hour next April).

So our reference points will be VERY different to yours.

However I did come across this thread from 8 years ago, where people in the UK seemed to be suggesting a figure of around £250 per day (+ 20% tax = £300 in total) for a mobile log-splitting service:
https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/79306-charge-customer-for-day-with-petrol-log-splitter
At the current exchange rate, that's the equivalent of $363 per day. Factoring in inflation would take that to around $460 per day now.

I hope that might help you but, for a more accurate assessment, it might be best to post on a US-based Q&A website, such as Quora.

[Buenchico]

PS: If you read through the thread that I've linked to, you'll see that some people suggest charging a fairly high rate for the first hour (as a 'call-out fee', to include the costs of travelling to and from the work site) and then a lower fee per hour thereafter. That way of doing it makes sense to me.