I did the mowing of a 10 acre field up at our Church for years for free. They had a pond dug, and the business agent of the Church changed after about 10 years. The new business agent was looking for someone to mow that field with expensive results. He asked one of the "oldtimers" who asked if he had contacted me. "Does he mow?" was the question to which the reply was that I had been mowing it for the last 10 years, so yes!
He contacted me, and I politely declined, figuring I had done my fair share, and torn up enough equipment doing it for free. (guy wire thrown into palmetto bushes by local power company will destroy a bush hog, ripped sidewalls on rear tires, yellow jacket nests, etc). I asked what kind of estimates he was getting and I was flabbergasted! I took the lowest bid as my price, and cut it to cover the costs of my equipment. When a new person took over, they wanted to know what my price was, which was never constant, so I explained my price. They came back, saying I had NEVER been paid that much so I must be mistaken, or something. I told them to take the biggest check they had ever paid me, add 10 percent for tithes and tell me what that amount was. I asked them if there was any reason for them to write me a check and then me have to write one back to them, or could we just take the 10 percent right off the top?
Business agent has changed again, and I was told to just mow 4 times a year and call the office for a check. Apparently they had sent out bids for all of the contracted jobs onsite, and mine was well below the others. I try to hang around a hundred and hour, although it gets interesting to figure it out on jobs that require a firm price.
Because of the busy location of the Church's field, I get a lot of people who stop and ask me if I do side work. Depending on the distance, urgency and how I feel, I may or may not take them up on any work nearby. Loading up and hauling to a distant location is doable, but I prefer to stay around close.
David from jax
