Why so many LCO don't cleanup area before mowing

[Mark]

I have noticed that so many LCO out there mow right over trash and just leave it there. Looks like they would loose the account.Even on my commercial stuff by the highways i start off with a plactic bag to clean up the lawn before mowing. Two weeks ago i bid on a apartment complex,and the manager said my price was to high, the crew doing it now has trash all over the place and i told her my price includes picking up the trash before mowing to make the job look much much better,I also told her you get what you pay for,i mow a complex right next to it and she thought she could get me for a much lower price-Not. I still fill that picking up trash is a must if im doing the job. Marks Mowing Service

[1st Class Lawns]

I have trash bags on my mowers and always pick up trash.
Thats just part of my service.
James

[Eric ELM]

I use the trash bags from W.E.Chapps and a grabber to pick up trash while mowing. One of the worst things to hit is a Kleenex. They look like you ran over a whole sunday newspaper when you hit them. :mad:

[Fine Lines Lawn]

The answer to your question is, They are lazy.
Ground up trash looks like hell on a lawn and if you don't do it, you'll do well.

[cos]

I saw quite a few LCO shreding trash this year.

A guy I know bid on a place and told them about the trash clean up. It was the responsibility of the apartment maintenance to pick up the trash and it was in the bid. He decided to just shred it and lost the account. He didn't want it anyway, cause they were price wranglers.

[1MajorTom]

I'll tell you why they don't pick up the trash.

More than likely, they are a new lawn care company and when they placed their bid, they didn't factor in that there would be trash on the property. When they won the bid, and started mowing, they realized that they would be spending time picking up the trash, and they figured no way were they going to pick trash up for "free".

I know we ran into that situation the first year when we cut for a medical office. New to the business, we never really thought much about garbage. Well the medical office was right across the street from a convenience store. And the trash was everywhere. I would hate going to that account because while Matt went in the back cutting, I was left dealing with the garbage up front. Picked it up, but couldn't wait till the season ended because we dropped that account since we hadn't priced trash cleanup in the bid.
Live and learn.

And yep Eric, kleenex are the worst!

[awm]

i cant imagine a real lco just spreading trash
all over the place.hourly employee at a store or somethin mabe.if a lco did that on purpose you have finally found someone that i might believe to be worthy of the label SCRUB
APPOLOGIES FOR USING THAT WORD

[Fantasy Lawns]

Lazy Slackers !! .... I hate brown beer bottles that are ditched in the bushes & in the pine bark mulch beds ....or the peanut styrofoam used in packing boxes

[David Gretzmier]

I hate hitting a hidden piece of trash, and i make an effort to pick it up. what about "organic" debris like fruit, pine cones, twigs or sticks? peanut shells? dog leave behind? I've run over most organic stuff except maybe chicken feathers. What do you think out there? dave

[Skookum]

I provide trash pickup as we mow as well. W.E. Chapps bags on every mower. I think it shows the professionalism in your work to leave a property free of mower shredded trash!

My big problems are cigarette butts and straw wrapers. Most are not even from my accounts customers, it is always from the place next door or down the street. I also have too many accounts that are on a state highway with steep ditches that are constantly full of trash. One account is the lowest in a complex where all the drainage water runs to MY account, yeah fun! When the water goes down, after a big rain, the trash does not! The cigarette butts show the high water lines and there are thousands of butts everywhere. Real pain!

[Guido]

Like Eric and a few of the others said, get some of those debris bags that attatch to your handles or what not, or make your own cheaper version with plastic grocery bags, but have something with you so you have no excuse why not to stop for a second and pick up sometrash while your mowing. If you see something in the next row over that you will mow next just grab it. It doesn't take much time at all and the end result will be much better looking than the lazy competition that you speak of that shreds it all over the place!

[HOMER]

Thats why everyone should have a little hand held blower converted to a "sucker". It makes trash cleanup so much easier, before and even after if you did hit something. Those cigarette butts that get washed to the corner can be sucked up in a second or 2 and even larger trash that you would normally grab or bend over and get can be picked up as fast as you can walk.

99% of my commercial accounts are trashy, says a lot about the world we live in today. My kids have always been told they would be picking up whatever trash they threw out the window! I guess people think the county prisoners will need something to do............it does get old real quick though. If it's real bad I just fire up the Trac-Vac and cut with it as long as I can access their dumpster.

[TJLC]

Not only do I pickup trash on my commericals before mowing, I also stop everyday to pickup trash. This keeps it under control so it's not as bad when mowing day arrives. (Yes this is in my initial bid.) I HATE trash, but it is part of mowing commerical properties. Some people are just slobs, I guess. The fine for litering should be severe, in my opinion.

[cos]

When bidding a job, you really don't know how bad the trash is in that specific area. So how do you bid it? I usually leave alittle cusion for commercial, just in case.

[Charles]

Commercial properties where you have a large volume of trash pickup should be included in your bid. I just add on a half an hour for cleanup to a 4 hour one man job.

[powerreel]

Why bother? A couple of passes and newspaper fast food bags become a source of carbon.Glass and such,well,I use a mechanical hand light paper I just blow in the street. Nobody really cares and trash is much more expensive to dump vs. clean green. All litter type packages should be made of real fast bio-degradeable material. Did you know lime works on cig butts somewhat?

[Holloway Lawns]

I have a Conoco and a Texaco station that a side by side and pick up trash from both it's a pain in the back but it sure makes a differance in the looks and your service. These stations both have a ***** around them and water stands in them so we do get dirty.

[bdemir]

If you hav no bag to put it in and your mower is a dixie just slip it under the mat until you get done and then empty it avery couple of days. Thats what i do and i dont have to worry about a bag but i also dont cut anything with big trash either.


Bedros

[Cleve]

Actually, a Professional LCO leaves the property neat and clean. And that includes the curb in front of the property. A scrub doesn't bother or blows it into the street.
It doesn't matter that they arrive in a fancy truck with nice uniforms, the best equipment or whatever. They become part of the problem if they don't do the job right. No paper or plastic is biodegradable fast enough to leave it or mow and scatter it.
Cleve.

[John DiMartino]

I find fenced commercials the worst,the chain linked fence stops all the garbage from blowing away.