in need for advise

[Grass Doctor]

well the other day a went home depot, i didn't have 50.00 cent to complete my buy so i went to the truck and decide to drive it to the doors of the garden section and i notice this old couple keep staring at my truck sings, so i finish my transaction went to the truck gave her my card and lawn maintenance plan flyer, well today i got 3 calls today from another area code 20 miles away from my house i set up the appointment the couple refer-me to their friends i got there and this people have houses sitting down in the country on acres does anybody in here knows , how much do you charge for an acre(remember this is brush no manicured lawns ). the biggest lawn i cut is 1/2 acre and i charge 75 per service will it be ok to charge 150.00 per service on an acre of brush including line edging think im way to high i want to be fair not cheap. thank you.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

How long does it take you to mow the lawns you charge $75 for and how long are you thinking it would take you to mow the lawns you want to charge $150 for?

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[Grass Doctor]

Originally Posted by Steve

How long does it take you to mow the lawns you charge $75 for and how long are you thinking it would take you to mow the lawns you want to charge $150 for?

it takes me 30 to 45 minutes to do a 1/2 an acre me and my help with my 2 HRX217 Honda, one in the back and 1 in the front including line edging and blowing. at 75 bucks per service minimum 1 service every 2 weeks. i do have a law tractor a 42 inches deck to big for the gated communities i service, this is what i will be using for this acres, and i figure 2 hours of work for the entire service for each acre, one of this properties in talking about has 2 acres of brush not high, around 4 inches in the back and in the front 1/2 an acre of manicure lawn i already have the contract for the front at 80 bucks every to weeks , but she want it me to cut their back yard whit their brush hog of 6 feet deck . why not

my question is how much for an acre of brush,

[Steve]

Well ultimately your cost for operation per hour should be similar whether you are cutting a smaller property or a larger one. The only real difference would be that you are using a different piece of equipment that might cost you more to operate and if it does, then it needs to be accounted for in your hour costs.

So do you feel comfortable just scaling up the charge from the smaller property to the larger one?

it takes me 30 to 45 minutes to do a 1/2 an acre me and my help with my 2 HRX217 Honda, one in the back and 1 in the front including line edging and blowing. at 75 bucks per service

(30 to 45 minutes) x 2 men = 1 man hr to 1 man hr and a half for $75.

So then scale it up for the acre sized property and you are thinking it would take 2 man hours per acre?

2 man hours based on your smaller lawn fee could go for $100 - $150.

Does this help?

[Shark1611]

I charged $100.00 plus sales tax. But now I am not doing those anymore. I had to find my brand, and my brand is not to do anything but lawns. Maybe next year I will be a tractor with a shreader, but untill then I am done. So with that I find we all have our own ways to do our business. I have made more money getting out of it in the long run.

[Steve]

Was there anything that led you to not taking on larger properties like that?

[Grass Doctor]

Originally Posted by Steve

Well ultimately your cost for operation per hour should be similar whether you are cutting a smaller property or a larger one. The only real difference would be that you are using a different piece of equipment that might cost you more to operate and if it does, then it needs to be accounted for in your hour costs.

So do you feel comfortable just scaling up the charge from the smaller property to the larger one?



(30 to 45 minutes) x 2 men = 1 man hr to 1 man hr and a half for $75.

So then scale it up for the acre sized property and you are thinking it would take 2 man hours per acre?



2 man hours based on your smaller lawn fee could go for $100 - $150.

Does this help?

thank you for asking, i feel great men actually i am very exiting i got one of this property's just to try ill upload some pics of this yards after i finish doing one of them 2 acres it only took me 3 hours by my self no help i fire the helper since he was no help so it should take me 1 1/2 whit a lawn tractor 42 inches weed it and blow oh i trim like 10, 4 feet tall rose bush. there was no need to use their brush hog

[Grass Doctor]

Originally Posted by Shark1611

I charged $100.00 plus sales tax. But now I am not doing those anymore. I had to find my brand, and my brand is not to do anything but lawns. Maybe next year I will be a tractor with a shreader, but untill then I am done. So with that I find we all have our own ways to do our business. I have made more money getting out of it in the long run.

good for you shark, i kind of like the idea to become the brush master
he he the way i think about this service, is that, if there is a market and its profitable i wan to be part off it, most of this brush i am talking about its wild grass, its not like 3 feet tall i have seen guys cutting 1/4 acre "lawns" higher than that for realtors, i will not mind adding 10 of this accounts in a year round contract.