Estimated mowing time with 48" WB for 3/4 acre

Around here and probably in many other places low ballers are all over the place. As stated, a lot work for weed and beer money. They are everywhere. Even in the high end neighborhoods. Let's not forget that some people got rich by dealing with cheap people and ripping off others. The other massive problem around here is the cash guys. They want cash only and don't charge the sales tax. They can charge less also since they don't declare ther income.

Yes, I do clean up after the low ballers. It happens a lot that a client tells me that the previous one never came weekly. Only every 10-14 days. I come every week the same day at around the same time. Clients appreciate this and like it a lot. They pay for quality and service and that is how I am positionned. I try to respect the market prices, but I do respect my own prices also. I try my best, but this year is hard I find. A lot of low ballers including one big one. We are talking 12$/cut for 10 000 square feet. Thankfully my client stayed with me because of my good service.

By the way, I submitted my bid to the condo association. Will get news in about 10 days.

When I say high end I am saying 500 grand and up.
I did yards in the country club of the south.
Had to get approved threw the HOA
Every crew member had to pass a background check.

Mowing bids are like carpentry bids and waiters getting tips.

If they do research or know people who have great lawns and landscaping, check it out and find what others would charge.
Do an immaculate job at the same time like you said you do. These are the people that will tip you in "personal" cash. You would be surprised
They want a better looking lawn than their friends, aka practice pretty mowing patterns on larger lawns.

Unless the scrappers who pay s*%# do not care about their lawn, and you can do it fast, do it. Doing a large lawn = more time mowing and less unloading and loading and vehicle gas.
I do not know where you live, that really helps to know a common rate.

Businesses are good money of course, but that just takes persistence.

I finally got a job at a state college and that is just guaranteed money.
I wish I had a solid number for what to charge, but location and what you are mowing and for whom matters a lot. aim for below $20 though. Mowing slow makes a great lawn They love that hehehe

Carscw said:

When I say high end I am saying 500 grand and up.
I did yards in the country club of the south.
Had to get approved threw the HOA
Every crew member had to pass a background check.

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I do some 500 000$ homes. Not background checks here. Canada is a little more loose

ingigo said:

Mowing bids are like carpentry bids and waiters getting tips.

If they do research or know people who have great lawns and landscaping, check it out and find what others would charge.
Do an immaculate job at the same time like you said you do. These are the people that will tip you in "personal" cash. You would be surprised
They want a better looking lawn than their friends, aka practice pretty mowing patterns on larger lawns.

Unless the scrappers who pay s*%# do not care about their lawn, and you can do it fast, do it. Doing a large lawn = more time mowing and less unloading and loading and vehicle gas.
I do not know where you live, that really helps to know a common rate.

Businesses are good money of course, but that just takes persistence.

I finally got a job at a state college and that is just guaranteed money.
I wish I had a solid number for what to charge, but location and what you are mowing and for whom matters a lot. aim for below $20 though. Mowing slow makes a great lawn They love that hehehe

Click to expand...

Very true! Hard work pays off! My clients love my work!

What do you mean by below 20$?

Lawnboy18 said:

I do some 500 000$ homes. Not background checks here. Canada is a little more loose



Very true! Hard work pays off! My clients love my work!

What do you mean by below 20$?

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We have 500K homes here in most sub-divisions and most are sitting on a quarter acre or less and take like 20 minutes or less to mow,trim,edge and blow off less than 5000 sq.ft. lots and we get $20 to $25 a cut on those. If you weren't mowing 3 or 4 of those in an hour your considered slow.

With statements like ( aiming for below $20 though and mowing slow makes a great lawn ) he must not be a real business cause he sure isn't making any money at that rate.

Ric said:

With statements like ( aiming for below $20 though and mowing slow makes a great lawn ) he must not be a real business cause he sure isn't making any money at that rate.

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I with you on that. Im hoping it was a typo. I have one job that I get $20 for(Mother of a friend). I curse that yard every time I mow it. It only takes me 27 min to mow trim and blow but it just pisses me off every time I mow it so cheap. I think of it this way. That is $10 a week x 32 weeks = $320 I am missing out on.

BlazNT said:

I with you on that. Im hoping it was a typo. I have one job that I get $20 for(Mother of a friend). I curse that yard every time I mow it. It only takes me 27 min to mow trim and blow but it just pisses me off every time I mow it so cheap. I think of it this way. That is $10 a week x 32 weeks = $320 I am missing out on.

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I really don't think it's a typo with the mowing slow makes a great lawn thing. If your in business and your not making at least 1K a week before expenses your not making any money.

Ric said:

We have 500K homes here in most sub-divisions and most are sitting on a quarter acre or less and take like 20 minutes or less to mow,trim,edge and blow off less than 5000 sq.ft. lots and we get $20 to $25 a cut on those. If you weren't mowing 3 or 4 of those in an hour your considered slow.

With statements like ( aiming for below $20 though and mowing slow makes a great lawn ) he must not be a real business cause he sure isn't making any money at that rate.

Click to expand...

Yea, on this street I drop and do 4 lawns. I do about 100$ in 2 hours. That is mowing, trimming, blowing and walking in between each house with a 30" mower. Imagine when I will whip out the 48" on some of these. I am doing pretty good.

Lawnboy18 said:

Yea, on this street I drop and do 4 lawns. I do about 100$ in 2 hours. That is mowing, trimming, blowing and walking in between each house with a 30" mower. Imagine when I will whip out the 48" on some of these. I am doing pretty good.

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The problem you'll have with the 48" is that your going to miss a lot of lawn that you got with the 30" and you'll end up spending a little more time trimming, but you should make that time up hopefully with the 48". You should be able to hit 20 minutes a lawn with the 48" that's 3 lawns an hour without a problem.

True, but some of these yards it's simply trim around the house and a few trees. It will all work out. All in all I am pretty sure the 48 will save me some time and make me do more lawns in a day.