Is Aeration profitable ?

[ENDURO]

I would like to buy a Plugr aerator and advertise heavily for aerations this summer. Since the aerators are quite expensive, I want to make sure it will payoff. I believe the MSRP of the Plugr PL850 Pro HD is about $4,000. I would offer overseading and fert. services along w/ the aeration to hopefully maximize profits. Do most of your regular customers want you to aerate or do they feel it's too expensive, or a waste of money? Thanks.

[rodfather]

Aerating is extremely profitable (especially done) and money well spent in conjuntion with seeding as well. We just purchased a PL800H last month and have made a ton of money with it already. BTW, now and the fall is the time to aerate, not in the hot, dry summer months.

The PL850 is about 1000 dollars more cause of the single hydro. You really don't need it IMO.

[chriscraft]

If you have a ZTR but the tufco 42" its $2,500 dollars less and is 4 times faster than a walk behind model. Then buy a used 19 or 26 " for perimeters. If you paln on doing a lot fast, thats the best way to go We do 4-6 homes per hour with the turfco if they are close together

[DLS1]

I hear a few of you say it is profitable but what does that mean and how many do you do a year. Around here can't get much work for aeration unless it is $60 for 7 - 9,000 sf.

I say first year test your area for what you can get and rent unless you snowballed with aeration jobs. Don't get caught up in buying something unless you know you will use it and pay it off soon.

[Itsgottobegreen]

Its my bread and butter. :rolleyes:

[DLS1]

Its my bread and butter. :rolleyes:

Okay what does that mean? How many a year and how much $$ per how many square feet?

[one man gang]

I hear a few of you say it is profitable but what does that mean and how many do you do a year. Around here can't get much work for aeration unless it is $60 for 7 - 9,000 sf.

I say first year test your area for what you can get and rent unless you snowballed with aeration jobs. Don't get caught up in buying something unless you know you will use it and pay it off soon.


Tru Green hit this old lady (I saw today) for $300 to do less then 10000 Sq ft., she got jammed.

[Soupy]

I hear a few of you say it is profitable but what does that mean and how many do you do a year. Around here can't get much work for aeration unless it is $60 for 7 - 9,000 sf.

I say first year test your area for what you can get and rent unless you snowballed with aeration jobs. Don't get caught up in buying something unless you know you will use it and pay it off soon.

I agree.... I own one walk behind and one tow behind and make good money off them but more and more guys are getting into aerations every year. I quoted a friend $195 for 13,000 sf. and she called saying she got a quote for $40. She said she knew I was priced right but was going to let this fool (her words) do it. I told her not to expect much and she agreed, but she does plan on me aerating and seed in the fall so she said she was only doing it for kicks since it's only $40. Initially she got the quote from me to aerate then seed but I found out she put pre-emergent down so I told her to wait. Moral of the story.. if you have fools in your area selling a lot of under priced aerations it might be hard to pay off new machine first couple of years.

[Itsgottobegreen]

Okay what does that mean? How many a year and how much $$ per how many square feet?
I make more money per hour doing it, than anything else.

[boxsky]

I agree.... I own one walk behind and one tow behind and make good money off them but more and more guys are getting into aerations every year. I quoted a friend $195 for 13,000 sf. and she called saying she got a quote for $40. She said she knew I was priced right but was going to let this fool (her words) do it. I told her not to expect much and she agreed, but she does plan on me aerating and seed in the fall so she said she was only doing it for kicks since it's only $40. Initially she got the quote from me to aerate then seed but I found out she put pre-emergent down so I told her to wait. Moral of the story.. if you have fools in your area selling a lot of under priced aerations it might be hard to pay off new machine first couple of years.

Was this guy doing spike or plug? That's a big difference for what he'll charge. There's a guy in my area charging 1/2 what everyone else is.

[METRO 36]

I get 15.00 per thousand sq feet on anything under 10,000 sq feet.


and 10.00 or 12.00 per thousand for anything over that( if i think they wont pay 15 per thousand) but sometimes i still get 15.00 per thousand. but its hard to get,because everyone in my area gives a discount once its over 10,000 square feet. Counting drive time i can easily do 10,000 sq feet an hour, 150.00 an hour works for me.

I bought a blue bird 530 last fall and i paid it off in paid half of it off in the fall within two weeks, and paid the rest off the first week this spring and made a very good profit so far.

[cessnasovereign]

I was planning on doing this but getting several clients planned for like a 2 or 3 day period and just renting one each year for a few days. how much would you charge for 1/3 acre and how much for 1/4 acre?

Another piece of equipment I want is a mulcher, anyone use that?

[Soupy]

Was this guy doing spike or plug? That's a big difference for what he'll charge. There's a guy in my area charging 1/2 what everyone else is.

I don't know. I did tell my friend to make sure he is pulling cores and explained what they look like. Either way I bet he is using a junk pull behind from one of the big box stores. Luckily I have not seen this guy in my area yet. The friend I'm talking about lives outside my normal service area but close enough to make a trip for aeration service.

[DLS1]

I make more money per hour doing it, than anything else.

Okay but is that a total of 1 hour ot 100 hours? :laugh:

[SOMM]

We're with Rod on the scheduling unless we pick up a new stop in the middle of the summer, then we'll irrigate it well 2-3 days prior, or time it a few days after rains. Too time consuming to aerate when the ground is too waterlogged and muddy cores are sticking to everything.

DLS-
We charge at around $70 per 1/4 hour or $280 per hour (2 operators on 20" core machines):

We rent a couple BlueBirds with Honda engines for $115 a day Each -which includes both their gas and cleaning costs (whether we clean 'em or not),
[ Big Timesaver: ask or consult aerator's manual, and when onsite disable the oil-sensor kill switch (usually the yellow wire at its yellow plug in front) so every hillside doesn't kill the engine.] =$28.75 per equipment hour to us.

Licensing, insurance, truck/trailer costs, payroll with workman's comp & deductions, admin time, etc = $77 per hour to us.
Tax and Sales Tax = $25.25 (our local taxes and tax-bracket are probably higher than yours) per per hour to us.
The company's take (splish-splash-we-be-rakin'-in-the-cash) is $149 per hour
core aerating.

Compare that to mowing proceeds.
:dizzy: :hammerhead:

[Dweezil]

$115 a day for an areator? Are these walk behinds or tow behinds?

[Ramairfreak98ss]

What sort of plug aerators are you guys using that cost $4000?!!

please enlighten me lol.

Ive seen things , tow behinds cheapos for $150, and then you have more heavy duty core plug with weight boxes from land pride and Frontier for the JD equipment, like 65" wide and theyre like $1100 lol. whats the deal here.

Are you referring to core plug, overseeder powered machines on a 3pt hitch?

Im offering this soon this year at least the core plug on the back of a 27hp diesel tractor.

I was going to look more into the ZTR front mount ones but those look too cheap and im sure cost a lot.

[ENDURO]

I believe the one's your referring to for $150 are the homeowner models. Great price, but unfortunatly they don't work very well and will not last. There are some tow behinds for as little as $1,000. Most commercial walkbehind aerators are around $3-4k. The pull behinds are cheaper and faster, but you have to have a $5-10k tractor or zero turn mower to pull it and they may not fit in some small residential lawns. Unfortunatly, I currently only have a walk behind mower so I will need a walk behind aerator. I'm no expert, but I've been doning a lot of research lately on these aerators.

[Itsgottobegreen]

Okay but is that a total of 1 hour ot 100 hours? :laugh:
60" millcreek on a Kubota B7500 with cab (so I can run in the rain nice and dry with the heat on) I can makes as much as $550 an hour with it. But usually right around $250 an hour with it. Mostly depending on the job. I charge by the job as if I was using a 24" walk behind unit. Then come in with this rig. I do enough aerating that I only get 1 season on a set of spoons on my aerator since it weights 1600 pounds.

[br549oicu8]

3 to 3.5 times the normal mowing price is a good rule of thumb for profitable aeration.

[indyturf]

I have 2 of the old lesco 30's. I can do a 5000 k lawn in less than 15 min @ $75.00. I checked out the plugr and z-pluger,and I was impressed but I think mine are going to last forever and they have paid for themselves a thousand times over.

[Ramairfreak98ss]

I believe the one's your referring to for $150 are the homeowner models. Great price, but unfortunatly they don't work very well and will not last. There are some tow behinds for as little as $1,000. Most commercial walkbehind aerators are around $3-4k. The pull behinds are cheaper and faster, but you have to have a $5-10k tractor or zero turn mower to pull it and they may not fit in some small residential lawns. Unfortunatly, I currently only have a walk behind mower so I will need a walk behind aerator. I'm no expert, but I've been doning a lot of research lately on these aerators.


So you have these hooked to your walkbehind? None of you guys are actually using some sort of aerator without a machine right? Why would a walkbehind aerator cost 3-4k? can someone show me a picture of what these look like? that sounds crazy to me fo rsomething to hook up to your 2k-3k walk behind lawnmower, why not just USE a tractor for it? i plan to use mine for core plugging when i get it sometimes.

[Ramairfreak98ss]

I do enough aerating that I only get 1 season on a set of spoons on my aerator since it weights 1600 pounds.

how can a 40lb core plug aerator even function with a couple cinderblocks on top like the homeowner uses when your using a 1600lb aerator? does it dig in MUCH deeper? if a $200 aerator says it will do 4" why would you need something that weighs close to one ton in weight?

on a 3pt hitch tractor, cant you adjust it so the tractors back weight is actually MORE on the attachment anyway?

[6'7 330]

Very profitable.We do aeration twice a year as part of a full service contract for every maintenance client we have.

[DLS1]

Very profitable.We do aeration twice a year as part of a full service contract for every maintenance client we have.


Who is the women in your signature line?

I just noticed your tag line. Is that your wife or your daughter or a relative?

[Itsgottobegreen]

" why would you need something that weighs close to one ton in weight?
on a 3pt hitch tractor, cant you adjust it so the tractors back weight is actually MORE on the attachment anyway?

I live in Maryland. Which is all clay. Yes you can adjust the attachment so it piviots forward a little or keep the weight of the 3pt hitch arms on it. Buts its not much more.

how can a 40lb core plug aerator even function with a couple cinderblocks on top like the homeowner uses when your using a 1600lb aerator? does it dig in MUCH deeper? if a $200 aerator says it will do 4?

Those home owner rigs might pull 4" in sand.

[Ramairfreak98ss]

I live in Maryland. Which is all clay. Yes you can adjust the attachment so it piviots forward a little or keep the weight of the 3pt hitch arms on it. Buts its not much more.



Those home owner rigs might pull 4" in sand.


lol ok, gotcha. so basically you just need a expensive one anyway. Now if i dump out $2k+ for one of these things, how much do you guys charge for yards? Most of my lawns are 1/4-3/4 acres. some upto say 2.xx acre but few. I know you go by the hour rates sometimes, but if i can do it in 20 minutes or less, assuming i have to now take the tractor on the trailer to the sites unload, do the aeration and then load it back up and cleanup any sidewalks the plugs might fall onto, is that only $60 for a 1/4 acre yard or you charge more than that?

[Seasons]

I bought an aerator back in 2000 and the thing still looks brand new. So this year, I sent all of my clients a little reminder with their contract as to the benefits of core aeration. I can't believe the response that I'm getting and don't know why I didn't do this sooner. So, my advice is, make sure you let people know why they want you to areate their lawn. Here in Toronto we get $80 for a 4000ft2 lawn.

[turfcobob]

Aeration is a great way to make money and help the lawn at the same time. Try to schedule them in the fall with a fert application for best results. Why fall? you have more time then. But new customers should be in the spring so they see quick results. Fall aerations do not show results till the next spring. So always aerate first time customers in the spring.

Always pull cores and make 9 to 12 holes per sq. ft. That means two passes with rolling aerators. They are very fast so it will not take long. You can do two passes over a 10,000 sq. ftl lawn easy in an hour usually faster.

Rolling aerators are faster (much faster) than pistion type aerators. they are also much less in operating cost as pistion type are prone to breakdowns from hitting stuff in the lawn. Rolling types do a better job of aeration than pision types as they have an X action under the surface and tend to tear more roots and disturb more soild. Pistion types go staight in and out and pack the bottom of the hole. Torn roots will make the plant grow new ones that respond better to water and nutrient intake.

Charge what you and your service is worth. Do not give the service away.
Aeration is the single best thing you can do for most lawns. Charge for it I have seen some good pricing here. Double what you charge for an application or mowing is a good rule of thumb. If you charge by the sq. ft. I would not go below $12 per 1000 sq ft.. Set pricing based on applications and mowing prices are better as you do not have to measure the lawn and this saves lots of time.

I have been at this for over 30 years and have seen it all...ha ha I am still learning like everyone else but I have seen alot in 30 years at this. If you have questions I am glad to help..Turfcobob@aol.com