Help me Bid this Job

[doitrightlc]

Hello fellow forum members. I have recently started my lawn care business in May 2012. I have been asked to submit a Request For Proposal (Bid) to a Little League Baseball firm. It has a estimated 200,000 to 215,000 sq ft of field area to be maintained. Service requested to bid on is mowing, edging, weeding, fertilize and blow 5 each baseball fields once a week. I am looking for a way to calculate how much to bid for this sq ft amount. Can u help. The location is Tracy CA.

[bruces]

Lawn care business tips

how long will it take you to complete is much more important than getting a price on square footage .Figure out your time to cut,add a bit for incidental issues ,then multiply it by your hourly rate .

[LawnBoy0311]

Bruces is right. Theres no way for us to give you numbers, because our areas are different than yours. What he said above is a great way to figure out a number for you.

[Steve]

What size mower do you have to do this?

Also, are you working on any jobs that are around that size or is this the biggest by far yet?

Knowing the mower size can allow you to plug in the width into the lawn care estimation calculator and get an idea of how long the job will take. From there you can then multiply that by your hourly fee.

[doitrightlc]

Thanks for the replies. This by far wouldv'e been the biggest job I'd be taking on. I currently service a small Townhouse community with 23 units, more shrubs, plants then grass area.

The Little League field maintenance person had offered to use their equipment, but that has since changed as of yesterday. I recieved an email reply from him stating that the president of the Little League is looking for bids that have own equipment.

So no I only have a single walking behind mower a older Murry 21 inch that I am looking to upgrade to a Honda walk behind. Having difficulty getting a loan to purchase commercial equipment do to current credit rating (economy caused).

I currently service 6 customers 5 once a week and 1 bi-weekly, start the 23 unit complex one tomorrow if the rain holds off.

Thanks again for the replies.

[Steve]

Did you check out the calculator and see how long it would take you with a 21" mower? I bet it would take quite some time.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

You dont have the right equipment for this job. You need at least a 60" ZTR.

[dougcaskey]

As previously stated You definately need to have a ZTR with at least a 60" deck to tackle these fields, or some type of rider, it will take you too long with a walk behind and you will lose money...

Sweet job to nail down though if you can...Baseball fields are money makers

Good luck...Hope you get it...

[Steve]

If you all had a 60" mower and were bidding on such a field area, what range would you bid and how long do you feel it would take you?

[dougcaskey]

I have a 60 " Exmark Lazer Z and this summer I took care of a little league field, it averaged an hour for mowing and approx. 30 minutes of trimming...I charged them $120.00 for the job because it was contracted weekly, one time mow would have been more....