How much to pay for someone to stack wood?

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maverick06

Minister of Fire
Sep 27, 2008
827
media, pa
I get my wood cut/split from a dealer. Its at a good price and good quality. However with 2 little kids and occasional back issues I am thinking of paying someone to stack my firewood once delivered. Any thoughts on what a fair price is?
 
Bob's suggestion is good if you hire kids, but if you are looking for someone a little older a few beer might seem a bit more enticing.

rauchbier_with_firewood.jpg
 
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Experienced. If not it's not worth anything. You'll be restacking it. How about minimum wage or just 20.00 for a cord.
Maybe a teenage kid who has stacked before.
 
Find a young teenage helper, work together, teach how you want it stacked and why. Agree on a price for his/her help, maybe hourly or for the job. Next year he/she can work on their own.
 
Thanks, thats something to think about. I have 4 cords showing up early april. its a good bit of stacking
 
Experienced. If not it's not worth anything. You'll be restacking it. How about minimum wage or just 20.00 for a cord.
Maybe a teenage kid who has stacked before.

I like the idea of paying by the cord, helps weed out the slackers.
 
If you've got established ends, so they don't have to build end caps, $10 - $15/hour. If you want reliable, solid end caps - $20/hour minimum. There is a huge difference in quality of work here.
 
If you've got established ends, so they don't have to build end caps, $10 - $15/hour. If you want reliable, solid end caps - $20/hour minimum. There is a huge difference in quality of work here.

Very true, ricking or cribbing as some call it is a skill that takes time to develop and a bad rick will lead to your stacks collapsing. So I guess this leads to the question of how do you want your stacks terminated an will you be making the terminations or will your stacker?
 
Yes you get what you pay for. If you're really looking for a professional stacked wood pile I have 35 years of experience stacking firewood and would be willing to stack your firewood for you.
Of course you will have to cover all my time and expenses, including business class airfare there and back. Realistically I can't see it costing you much more than $9,000 altogether including airfare, travel time, gas, meals, lodging, entertainment, and one full day of professional stacking.

Keep in mind, I will require at least two weeks advance notice, charge double during weekends and holidays, and I don't stack in the rain!
 
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I would convert to nat gas if I were you.
 
My sons (aged 12 and 14) were asked by a neighbor to help stack some wood - they had never done it before apart from the occasional couple of hours with me. They were paid $15 per hour and it took them about 6 hours to move the wood and stack it into a carport. I ended up giving them a hand fro the last couple of hours as i was a little embarrassed by how much they had done in the time. obviously i didn't get paid - but they must have done an ok job as they asked them to come back and do some garden tidying before a big Christmas party they were having - same deal $15 per hour which is pretty much our minimum wage.
 
Having a back issue shouldn't stop you. With proper lifting technique and carrying low weight loads you should be fine. Its not a race so you dont have to continue once your body says enough. Im to cheap to pay anyone to harvest, deliver, buck, split or stack my firewood and besides I enjoy doing the work. Im also someone who has to be careful. One split at a time..... I'm probably telling you something you already know so my apologies. Paying someone to do firewood related chores is tough because we are all trying to save a buck. I like the suggestion above about bringing a young lad in and showing him/her what you expect regarding your preferred stacking technique. Could be you end up finding someone who is happy for the money and exercise. What to pay them is an issue that will be tough to figure out. I have a hard time finding anyone young or old to deliver appliances to my rental properties. $90 for 45 minutes worth of work and few takers. I know I would have jumped at the chance at 14. Love your avatar by the way!
 
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x2 by the cord or negotiated amount per pile of splits etc. to keep the savvy business "kid" from moving one piece at a time for hours. I would also set up so that end cribs were not needed or already done by me. This way it is only stacking and not an engineering project. I also like to stack in sections that are roughly 1 season of wood. This way I never have 1/2 stacks of different aged wood or collapse issues when moving wood inside for the season.
 
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$25 to stack a half cord and $50 to stack a cord usually. Since you are getting 4 cords I would say $125 - $150 for an experience great job. let for the kids.
 
I would convert to nat gas if I were you.

Me too bad back don't cut your own wood and now don' want to stack, you need a knob to turn.
 
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