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What is the general consensus on what is a good amount to charge a weekly lawn cutting client to clear there driveway of snow in the winter? I have a fair number of them wanting me to do there driveway in the winter, double and single car driveways mostly.
Thanks!!

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jay stortini said:

What is the general consensus on what is a good amount to charge a weekly lawn cutting client to clear there driveway of snow in the winter? I have a fair number of them wanting me to do there driveway in the winter, double and single car driveways mostly.
Thanks!!

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I have worked tirelessly on this because I am going to offer snow shoveling this year. Problem is you can't charge to much as it might snow 2 or 3 times a week and people don't want to pay 75+ dollars a week.

I decided I would charge 15dollars for first half hour and 30 dollars an hour prorated after that (50cents a minute) + cost of de-icer at 10percent increase.

Basically unless we get a ton of snow it should take less than half an hour to shovel and lay de icer.

I get to a property it takes me 20 minutes to shovel and 5 minutes to lay de icer (assume de icer costs 30 dollars for 50 pounds) and I only lay 5 pounds 5x1.60=8x0.10=0.80 so 8+.80= 8.80 dollars + 15 minute minumum is 23.8 dollar charge per time

Now if they don't want de icer it would only be 15 dollars flat.

If we get 6 inches of snow and it takes me an hour to clear the drive way and lay deicer that would be 38.8dollars with deicer or 30 without. This way of pricing give my customers the ability to have me return more than once a week and not empty their bank account and it also protects me if we get a huge storm I don't get under payed. Problem with this is if there is a lot of travel time you could easily lose money. So I have to be careful.

You could charge about 20$ including shoveling the walkway for the front door. It seems like the price around here or charge 400$ for one winter. People like a contract price around here. It is pretty much the same price for a lawn cut. It is usually 25$ (usually a cut takes me 20-30 minutes unless it is very long for some odd reason) a cut and 400$ from May to October.

Lawnboy18 said:

You could charge about 20$ including shoveling the walkway for the front door. It seems like the price around here or charge 400$ for one winter. People like a contract price around here. It is pretty much the same price for a lawn cut. It is usually 25$ (usually a cut takes me 20-30 minutes unless it is very long for some odd reason) a cut and 400$ from May to October.

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$20 is what I charge around here unless the snow is very deep.

Lawnboy18 said:

You could charge about 20$ including shoveling the walkway for the front door. It seems like the price around here or charge 400$ for one winter. People like a contract price around here. It is pretty much the same price for a lawn cut. It is usually 25$ (usually a cut takes me 20-30 minutes unless it is very long for some odd reason) a cut and 400$ from May to October.

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This is something I had not considered. Our snowy season is about 4 and a half months so I could give one sum price of about 450 dollars but what if it doesn't snow at all? Making them pay for nothing does not lead to happy customers

exotion said:

This is something I had not considered. Our snowy season is about 4 and a half months so I could give one sum price of about 450 dollars but what if it doesn't snow at all? Making them pay for nothing does not lead to happy customers

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See that's the thing: you can either get ripped off or make out good....but if you make out TOO good they might not be happy.

lawn mower fanatic said:

See that's the thing: you can either get ripped off or make out good....but if you make out TOO good they might not be happy.

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That's kind of why I like my system I works for everyone. No I am not going to make a killing but I have enough in savings to make it through my first winter. I am hoping with snow removal I won't completely drain my savings.

exotion said:

This is something I had not considered. Our snowy season is about 4 and a half months so I could give one sum price of about 450 dollars but what if it doesn't snow at all? Making them pay for nothing does not lead to happy customers

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Well, I don't live in the U.S.A. so people have a different mentality here I guess. I charge for one contract and if it doesn't snow well I make money. It is the same with lawns. Last year it was a huge drought and I made money off of that and clients were fine with that. But, you could charge per job if you want.

Lawnboy18 said:

Well, I don't live in the U.S.A. so people have a different mentality here I guess. I charge for one contract and if it doesn't snow well I make money. It is the same with lawns. Last year it was a huge drought and I made money off of that and clients were fine with that. But, you could charge per job if you want.

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That would be good for me but I just don't think it would. Make people happy to pay for nothing lol

exotion said:

That's kind of why I like my system I works for everyone. No I am not going to make a killing but I have enough in savings to make it through my first winter. I am hoping with snow removal I won't completely drain my savings.

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I keep it simple. I do driveways, walkways, brush off cars, etc. I don't spread salt.

lawn mower fanatic said:

I keep it simple. I do driveways, walkways, brush off cars, etc. I don't spread salt.

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I am going to offer walkways driveways snow and mag chloride. (As long as they are willing to pay for it) and I will offer city street plow burm removal and roof shoveling.

exotion said:

I am going to offer walkways driveways snow and mag chloride. (As long as they are willing to pay for it) and I will offer city street plow burm removal and roof shoveling.

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That is good! I am not a strong believer in roof shoveling... Unless there is a BIG amount of snow. Snow is good for insulation so why remove it?

Lawnboy18 said:

That is good! I am not a strong believer in roof shoveling... Unless there is a BIG amount of snow. Snow is good for insulation so why remove it?

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The weight!


(http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/02/12/16/566167/7/628x471.jpg)

Lawnboy18 said:

That is good! I am not a strong believer in roof shoveling... Unless there is a BIG amount of snow. Snow is good for insulation so why remove it?

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Because they pay me for it. Quite a bit to somewhere between 2 or 3 hundred for normal houses 5 or 6 for big houses.

exotion said:

Because they pay me for it. Quite a bit to somewhere between 2 or 3 hundred for normal houses 5 or 6 for big houses.

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Wow! That is very good!

@lmf that would of been a good idea to shovel off the snow

Lawnboy18 said:

Wow! That is very good!

@lmf that would of been a good idea to shovel off the snow

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Luckily that's just a pic I found....not my house!

I charge 400-600 for a driveway clear and 150-200 for a staircase, thats for the entire season. we use tractors equipped with blowers and plows and trucks with plows.

CZLawnCare said:

I charge 400-600 for a driveway clear and 150-200 for a staircase, thats for the entire season. we use tractors equipped with blowers and plows and trucks with plows.

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And what if it doesn't snow? You still charge and you don't salt?

No salt and we have a way of justifying to the client, do you only pay for your insurance if your car gets stolen that year? Works everytime lol

CZLawnCare said:

No salt and we have a way of justifying to the client, do you only pay for your insurance if your car gets stolen that year? Works everytime lol

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Interesting... makes since. Have you had any bad experiences with customers over this?

Never, theres no such thing as pay by the plow snow removal down here, all of us work th same way and the clients understand that we cant afford to have 100,000$ snow removal tractors without seasonal contracts

CZLawnCare said:

No salt and we have a way of justifying to the client, do you only pay for your insurance if your car gets stolen that year? Works everytime lol

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That's a good point! :dance1:

I have contracts and per push accounts. 3" is my trigger, some accounts are $25 a visit and some are $250 a visit. All depends on the drive

Your not charging $250 to do a residential once! 3' meaning you don't go out till snow is 4' deep?

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I mean 3' deep

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He said 3 inches not feet

Well I don't go out unless its 3 feet lol!!

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jay stortini said:

Your not charging $250 to do a residential once! 3' meaning you don't go out till snow is 4' deep?

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3' would be $1200! Haha! You're right, the $250 is a commercial condo parking lot, the most I charge for one of my residentials is $85 per push.

Lmao!! Ya that makes sense. Do you mind if I ask how you determine your rates for residential? I have a 24" snow blower and good shovels and I have customers that want me to take care of there drives and walks, so I am gonna offer it to other potential clients since I will be doing it any way. So I am trying to figure out in what way I should approach it :/ I am wanting to set up contracts for whole winter with one up front payment.
What do ya think.
Thanks
Jay

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jay stortini said:

Lmao!! Ya that makes sense. Do you mind if I ask how you determine your rates for residential? I have a 24" snow blower and good shovels and I have customers that want me to take care of there drives and walks, so I am gonna offer it to other potential clients since I will be doing it any way. So I am trying to figure out in what way I should approach it :/ I am wanting to set up contracts for whole winter with one up front payment.
What do ya think.
Thanks
Jay

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I have two trucks, so pricing using a blower is tough for me. I have a couple condos that we need to clear walks at, I get $35 an hour for a man. Sometimes we use backpack blowers on light snow and a toro snow blower on heavier stuff. Salt is extra, we buy a ton for $99 and use it as needed, on a half acre lot it is about 400-500 lbs, my salt is marked up and spread at a different rate. I know this doesnt answer your question, sorry. If I were to plow a residential drive, 75'long, and two cars wide I would get $30 per push, salt would be $20 per application. Does that help?

Any and all info helps thanks so much

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jay stortini said:

Any and all info helps thanks so much

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I use a snowblower, too...so any info will help.

lawn mower fanatic said:

I use a snowblower, too...so any info will help.

<img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=17001"/>

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Did you blow last year? How did you work it? $ was it worth it? Where are you how much snow do you get?
Thanks
Jay

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jay stortini said:

Did you blow last year? How did you work it? $ was it worth it? Where are you how much snow do you get?
Thanks
Jay

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The most snow I used it on last year was 3" because it was a horrible winter. In the '11-'12 and '12-'13 winters, we only got one foot of snow each! In the 2010 winter we got four feet in February.....41" in just 5 days, but I didn't have my blower then. :frown: So I really can't judge at how well it performed, but for what I did use it on it worked well. Below are some pictures. I still think it's worth it! :thumbsup: