$160-$200 per month for professional lawn care?

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

No - I undersold myself when I was around 12, and my uncle paid me $20 to dig out his basement and move the dirt outside. Worked about 20 hours in 2 days, looked like a local coal miner after each day, and I still couldn't get all done LMAO

If you cut 2 acres for $50, what would you have charged me for 6-8 acres? I'm thinking my $150 quote at the time wasn't too bad, but even then it could really add up.

Some questions, and sincerely curious...

1 - How old were you when you mowed 2 acres for $50
2 - Did you buy the mower yourself, if yes, how much?
3 - Did you buy the gas yourself for the mower, and if yes, how much?
4 - Did you transport the mower to the job site? If yes, by your own vehicle that you bought? If you had a vehicle, did you carry the insurance on it yourself, and if yes, how much?
5 - When you mowed as a kid, did you carry insurance? If yes, how much did that run you? If not, what would of happened if you had a accident on the job site, or worse yet, caused some kind of destruction while working?

These are all questions I'm going to be asking my boys as I determine how much to pay them for working around the house for lawn care. I understand they get free room and board, and they already do chores around the house, however, I'm trying to instill in them that nothing is free, and even when you make money, there are ALWAYS expenses to consider when you're getting paid.

That said, they (boys) went with us yesterday and helped load 17,000 meals yesterday for a local cause, and they were one of the few pre teenagners at the event on a a saturday morning. Even though their mom can still outwork them no problem, they're trying, and I can be hard on them, but at the same time, would like to reward them through work.

Working 8-5 for someone is easy, no worries but showing up. But if you're the one trying to make the money as a business, you need to understand overhead and what it's actually costing you do do something.

I started mowing around 12 or 14 I wana say, it was a while before I got my license and mowed till 16 or 17 and lost most interest in it. I took up the interest, I started with a buddy, he used his dad's mower and I used my dad's weed wacker and together we cut a few lawns, it was fun, after my dad saw I took interest in weed eating he pretty much forced me into weed eating his place and eventually cutting the grass with the garden tractor he babied and wouldn't let anyone drive at the time lol.

2. My mower was a 21in craftsman self propelled mower that was given to me by my grandma, it was an old one, the motor just said "cast iron" and had a throttle and a "high" and "low" lever on the motor, it was later stolen when my dad's barn got cleaned out along with my quad when I was 18.

3. I don't remember buying gas specifically for my mower or after using my dad's.

4. No, the house I grew up in, I cut the grass there and if I cut anyone else's grass it was within driving (mower) distance. The hilly acre was near a second property my parents owned, my dad would drop me off along with a 2 gallon gas can and I would push the mower about .25 mile after I was done to the second property. I would find a nice shade tree and sleep till my dad was finished lol or fish in the creek. Never carried insurance.

As far as damage, that came out of my pocket, I don't remember damaging anything with the mowers but if I damaged my dad's garden tractor I had to split the cost with him, the most expensive was the front tire, I remember paying over $100 after that was all said and done, I think my dad paid $70.

As far as your 6-8 acres? If you were my dad? Nothing, my dad had me use his mower to cut his grass and if I broke something I had to replace it out of my own pocket lol, he supplied the gas though.

If I was cutting a neighbors 6-8 acres using my dad's garden tractor? I didn't charge people anything, it was more like the Mexicans down at Home Depot, a job would come up and the neighbor kids would either grab it or not, a lot of times 3 or 4 of us would work together with our parents equipment for the most part.

We didn't treat it like a Business, we didn't look for work usually, if we didn't want to mow we passed on the job and went fishing, if we wanted to we would. I didn't see it as a chore or obligation, I saw it as something fun to do which paid money. The 2 acre lot I talked about earlier was actually 3 acres, everyone on the dead end road I grew up on had 3 acres, I only cut that place 4 maybe 5 times when a buddy (neighbor kid) couldn't cut it that week, I would be asked to cover.

The hilly property I cut regularly every 1-2 weeks when my dad cut the second property.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

You weren't a kid, you were a "Stud" to push mow a steep hilly large acre in two hours!!!!

The really hilly part was about .25 acres I would say, it was on a lifted section of ground which you couldn't get to with a rider mower, had to carry the push mower up 6 steps, my dad would stop at the property and help me carry the mower up the steps, he would leave a 2 gallon gas jug and a weed eater, he would drive down the road to the second property my parents owned and start cutting that with his 445 JD.

I would cut and weed whack the upper area and move on to the not so hilly lower area that ran close to a 60ft wide creek, same creek that ran threw my parents property. After I finished mowing the grass I would push everything to my parents property and meet up with my dad, I did some weed eating for him and either slept or fished in the creek till he got done mowing.

The push mower was a old craftsman 21 or 22 inch push mower, on the "high" setting at full throttle I was darn near jogging to keep up with the dang thing. Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

According to that I would have to average around 2.5mph to cut 1 acre in two hours. Idk if it was an entire acre but it was close.

Both properties were down in the hocking hills in Ohio, it's very heavily wooded and hilly terrain. Humid as crap.

 

[Will_C]

Between my Mother's , my home, and a piece of property I hope to build on one day, I'd hate to see what my bill would be to pay a landscaper. I enjoy mowing-it's what I do and what I can do. I'm am worthless as a handyman or a carpenter, but I can make a property look nice.

Will

 

[txdon]

My neighbor has his own landscape business and he charges a dollar a minute to mow. .

That's what my friends 14 year old grandson charges: $1 a minute to mow yards. Why go to college?

 

[ProjectKing]

My neighbor has his own landscape business and he charges a dollar a minute to mow. His zero turn is a little faster than mine, so I would be looking at $100 a week for my 5 acres. For $400 a month, I can buy a lot of mowers! Plus I really enjoy my mowing time.

$100.00 to mow 5 acres is dirt cheap. I was charging $200.00 when I was cutting a couple years ago. That included weed eating too.

 

[Oldoak]

That's what my friends 14 year old grandson charges: $1 a minute to mow yards. Why go to college?

At that rate, I would fertilize their lawns for free.

 

[ProjectKing]

I agree that if I lived next door, or really really close, it's a good deal. But if you have to load up a trailer and haul your equipment there, unload it, then load it up and haul it back home, the numbers are not as attractive.

Exactly!! The job isn't just mowing... it's getting there with all your equipment. An hour job on site can easily take another hour to get there and back home. People thing the prices sound outrageous but you have to sit down and run the numbers. It's not as far fetched as it sounds.

 

[Creamer]

It takes me 3-1/4 hours to mow my yard. The front and side areas are open but the back and areas around the tractor shed, spring house, and barn are hilly and time consuming. Considering I am mowing with a 6' RFM and a 53 HP tractor the benefits of a zero turn would be minimal. A classmate of mine mows my sisters yard and is very reasonable on his charges. I've thought about getting a quote for the front and sides but I figure that would be around $100. Right now I have the time and health to do it all so I will continue to do so. It is a time consuming proposition. Maintenance on the mower, tractor, etc...is additional time involved. I certainly understand folks who get their yards mowed. It is convenience and as I get older I understand it even more.

I would still be willing to bet that a 72" zero turn could cut your mowing time by at least a 1/4, probably a third. Those turns for an RFM really add to the time.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I have owned my lawn service for about 15 years now. Mowing lawns is about 25% of my business. Another 25% is landscape maintenance and installation. The other 50% is athletic and golf turf maintenance and installations.

I would say that $1 per minute is about the industry average and has been for many years.

At that rate, net profit is about 10-15%. Some of the costs that go into my operation include labor, fuel, insurance, depreciation, travel time, damage to customer's property, licenses, postage, office supplies, rent, etc.

I rarely do any yards for anything less than $45 per cut. Some of my yards are as much as $550 per cut (13 acre property). It's all about time. How long does it take to mow a yard? Do you have kids toys scattered all over the yard that must be moved each time? Do you have lots of trees to cut around? Do you have dog poop to deal with while weedeating? Do you have a gate that is too small for a riding mower and it must be cut with a push mower?

There is lots of competition in the lawn mowing business, and it's especially true here lately because of the low oil prices. It's a cheap business to get into.

Another thing most people don't realize is that I charge about $40 per man per hour. Your plumber, or electrician, or mechanic will charge much, much, more than that, however, I have just as much education, insurance, equipment, licenses, etc. as any of those guys.

 

[DK35vince]

I would still be willing to bet that a 72" zero turn could cut your mowing time by at least a 1/4, probably a third. Those turns for an RFM really add to the time.

My 8 acre yard with the trees, buildings, Etc. to mow around takes me 3 1/4 hours to mow with my tractor and 84" rear mount mower.
My 72" zero turn does it in around 2 hours.