Rental equipment

i am having somebody ask about stripping sod. so my guess would to be using a sod cutter. so how do you calculate that into your quote. rental equipment cost/hour + your hourly rate?

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Do you have any idea how long it would take to do the job? And the minimum time you can rent them for?

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[picframer]

We charge $85.00 an hour for the sod cutter, we use it almost every day to cut sods where we will be installing drains then we lay it back down later. If you have to rent include a pick up and return fee as it is your time.

[Steve]

Andy,

At what point did you decide to buy a sod cutter versus rent one?

Do you have any advice on when a lawn care business owner should be looking at buying one? How much business do they need to justify the purchase?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Andy,

At what point did you decide to buy a sod cutter versus rent one?

Do you have any advice on when a lawn care business owner should be looking at buying one? How much business do they need to justify the purchase?

Almost 60 percent of the excavation we do is installing drains, first few we used an edger to cut the sod and then I had bought a manual sod lifter, basically takes three guys for this process and it's very hard work, the average drain is 200 feet in length so I am paying three guys for three to four hours.....considering we do four on average a week it made sense to buy a unit.

The other thing we use it for is removing sod for flower gardens, it's simply easier and much faster.

I didn't find them all that expensive, it's a Tygar SC2000, bought it through John Deere, it was around $3,800 Canadian, works very slick.

As for a lawn care company it would really depend, I have no idea what the rental would be but unless you were using it two or three times a week, I don't think it would be worth the investment.

If we are removing sod for a new lawn, we generally till it under, if weed infested, we use the excavator with a special bucket, I can remove a 3,000 sq ft lawn in about an hour.

I rented some equipment a few weeks back and after everything was said and done they charged me a minimum of 4 hours and also charged me a $15.00 fee for cleaning it afterwards. Something to remember next time. Acme tool crib charges on the weekend if you rent a flat fee. so you can keep it all weekend long and not have to worry about an hour or two you have it all weekend, but, you have to order it ahead of time thats the hard part. otherwise its a good deal.

What you can reasonably rent you do not have to store or maintain...something to consider. I used a sod cutter at my home and it sure took a beating in my clay/rock yard.

[CHEESE2009]

How about an Aerator.

Or even a hedge trimmer, if you book all your clients right you could make a nice profit. Might cost under $50.00 for the hedge trimmer / one day...


sorry I thought this post was a question, "what can i rent" it didn't load fast enough, I instantly clicked reply LOL