Large property

[xandrew245x]

I have been mowing my grams property for quite sometime, but just recently she started paying me for it(which actually is what led me to start my business) She has another guy do the trimming and doesn't want to drop him mid year, so next year its all mine. So heres the specs. Here total grass area to be mowed is roughly 48k sq ft. Most of it is open and flat, very easy to mow. There is approximately 4 trees I have to mow around, and require a tiny bit of trimming. There is about 500 feet of trimming to do, about 150 ft is a bank that is around a pole barn she has, the rest is just along obstacles in the yard. Right now I mow, edge her sidewalks and blow everything off. Last week it took me an hour and 5 minutes to do everything. My question is, what would you guys charge to do everything, mowing, trimming, edging and cleanup? I would charge her $75 a week thats including my $20 base fee. I only charge her $40 now since she is my loving grandma and has done so much for me. Also, if I were to have a part time worker, it would take half the time to do the job, would I still charge $75 or would it be less since it would take less time?

[Godslapper]

Lawn care business tips

I think an acer is about 45,000 sq' so you have a little over that, but I would not worry so much about the size of the place but how long you're there. If it takes me about an hour I feel pretty good getting about $60 bucks.

[xandrew245x]

If I were to do the trimming it would probably add on another half hour, so with that being said, thats more towards the $90 range.

[shadrach]

What are you using to cut it?

[xandrew245x]

50" toro timecutter, to mow, edge and blow off the driveway and sidewalks it takes me about an hour, if I were to trim it would probably add 30 mins to it, there is a lot of trimming.

[Steve]

Are you finding it more profitable to work on one larger property like this for an hour or two smaller ones that take half as long?

[xandrew245x]

Well right now I only maintain 3 property, two of which are 1+ acres, I think the bigger properties are more profitable since I'm making money the whole time vs. doing one job then driving.

[stevef1201]

Grandma is now paying you, take what you get from her, she is FAMILY. Use what learn there to charge other jobs - 50 bucks and hour - for just the mowing time ( a helper would do all the other stuff in the time it takes you to mow) So an hour of mowing is 50 dollars, a helper costs 10 or so. expenses of about 10 or so leaves you a profit of around 30. Not bad. If you do it all yourself 50 minus expenses of 10 or so means profit of 40 or so for an hour and a half. Also not bad.

[xandrew245x]

I'm going Thursday to give an estimate for mowing. I looked at a couple aieral pictures, and measured with google earth and it looks that the mowing area is going to be 2.5-3 acres. This gives me a pretty solid foundation for my bid. If it is 2.5- 3 acres I'm thinking $160-$200 range per cut.