How long does it take you to service 1 acre?

[Lawn-Scapes]

I keep reading that some can cut acres per hour. I don't know how you do it?

[Lawn-Scapes]

Crap... I didn't finish the post. I hit enter and it submitted.

Anyway, I have an account that is 42,000 sq. ft. It takes me 1 hour to cut, trim and blow off. It's wide open with a slight slope in front. I have a 60" Lazer. If I went any faster it would look like doo-doo.

I find that that's about my average.. 1 acre per hour... cut/trim/blow.

As a solo operator... how long does it take you to service a 1 acre account?

[Just Cut]

I also average about 1 acre per hour, I have a 48" exmark walk behind and also have wondered how some are able to mow so much

[65hoss]

I have a 2 acre church property it takes 40 minutes. 2 acre residential takes 55 minutes because of pool area, trees, etc.

Layout of property and smoothness have a lot to do with it also.

[Lawn-Scapes]

65hoss,

Are those actual turf sizes? 2 acres in under an hour to mow/trim/blow is simply amazing.

You bring up a good point about smoothness... Just about every one of my lawns are like driving over cobble stone (literally).

What mower are you using also?

[XOFMOT]

what a suprise! I did an estimate today for a home owner and their property is about 50,000 square feet. I'm figuring 1.5 hours for mow, trim, blow. The best part is they want me every week until the end of October for a per visit price of $80.00! I guess it's time to get rid of my 21" Crapsman:rolleyes: .....just jokin'....got a 48" Ransomes for now, as long as it makes it thru this season I'll be happy!

[65hoss]

http://www.exmark.com/productivity.htm

I run the eXmark Lazer HP 52" with 23 kawi. It runs top speed of 9.5 mph. On most all my big properties I can run it wide open. Look at the chart above, at 80% effeciency exmark says 3.99 acres per hour.

My own place is 3/4 acre with a 2000 sq ft house. I cut the back in 10 minutes, the front in 10 minutes. Front is slower because I really take my time to get the awesome strips in the zoysia.

[TJLC]

I cut a property that was approx. 54,000 sq ft. It took me 2-21/2 hrs. to cut, edge, trim and blow. Man I must be a real slowpoke. I cut it with a 48" w/b. I got $65.00 for it.

[paul]

65hoss I hope you mean STRIPES
"My own place is 3/4 acre with a 2000 sq ft house. I cut the back in 10 minutes, the front in 10 minutes. Front is slower because I really take my time to get the AWESOME STRIPS in the zoysia."

[cp]

XOFMOT, you may want to bump that price a little.

I'm getting $75.00 for 58K and I spend about 1.5 hours on it.

I may just be lucky but most of my residentials run around that..

[65hoss]

uhh, yea. Stripes. The strippers just left. :D

[Lawn-Scapes]

cp... what are you talking about? He's getting more $ per square foot than you... If anything he may want to speed up the productivity...

[65hoss]

TJLC
I cut a property that was approx. 54,000 sq ft. It took me 2-21/2 hrs. to cut, edge,
trim and blow. Man I must be a real slowpoke. I cut it with a 48" w/b. I got $65.00
for it.

You need a sulky real bad. I think your price needs to be adjusted.

[awm]

with my accts its the layout and design that determine the
job difficuty and time taken and of course price. most everything is fescue here so that is not a variable consideration.

[AltaLawnCare]

Smoothness and terrain of the yard makes all the difference.

I got one thats a real killer. It's the smallest yard I do, by far but takes 2-2.5 hours. It's probably not even a 1/4 acre but its sectioned off, on a hill side and I can only use the LawnBoy and trimmer on it.:(

[wriken]

I do one lawn that is appr. 1.5 acres, 14 trees, polebarn and house, rolling and slightly rough, 1 hr and 11 min. to mow trim and blow debri, Cub Comm. 60"

[MATTHEW]

I usually focus on the total dollars per hr per day. It can vary with my routes, and that allows me to calculate all the variables to improve productivity (per day). Your price for that lawn may be OK if you are doing others within a block of it. But add in drive time, gas usage, terrain, trim time, ect., to get a good idea on what YOU need to charge a particular customer. I just think it is better to focus on the "daily" goal per hr. That is what middle management of bigger lco's get paid big bucks to do.

[MIDSOUTH]

Originally posted by 65hoss
I have a 2 acre church property it takes 40 minutes. 2 acre residential takes 55 minutes because of pool area, trees, etc.

Layout of property and smoothness have a lot to do with it also.

I could believe those figures if you were only cutting or you had a helper edgeing and trimming. If you can do it by yourself that fast (mowing edging and trimming and blowing) you are quicker than anyone I know of.

[65hoss]

yes those times are cutting. My helper does the trimming and stick edging. But the church isn't hard. It takes 50 minutes with me doing everything. If you want to know the real potential of a ZTR then the bigger the property the faster and better money you can make.

Its not uncommon to make $75 to $100 per hour solo with a Z doing larger properties.

[MIDSOUTH]

Originally posted by 65hoss
If you want to know the real potential of a ZTR then the bigger the property the faster and better money you can make.


Thats why next year if I can get more larger properties I will invest in the exmark 72" deisel XP to go with the 60" 27LC exmark and the 60/25hp Junk tiger--(oops I mean turf tiger).

[XOFMOT]

With the MOWING season slowly coming to a close here in the NORTHEAST, Being that this is my first season (well, half season-started first week of July) out there, I'm already seeing dealers running "END OF SEASON SALES". With this happening, I can see myself with a ZTR for next season! With the new customer that I aquired today, I hope to be able to take care of some of the neighbors as customers as well. But back to the ORIGINAL QUESTION...........When I care for this 50K property later this week, I'll let you know how long it takes!

[TJLC]

65hoss I do use a sulky on my w/b but I don't normally run any faster than 3 or 4. Any faster and it seems like I just don't get a nice cut. Also this property had a good amount of edging and trimming and was a tad overgrown so I had to double cut some areas. Plus I can only charge what my peticular market will bear, right? $65.00 for 2-3 hrs of work down here is pretty good, considering most gen. labor jobs here pay $6-8 per hr.

[65hoss]

TJLC,
You didn't say what mower you run, but sounds like the blade speed may be real slow if you need to go that slow to make it cut good or the blades are dull.

Do you know your expenses? I mean really know what it cost you per hour to be on a property. (Truck, truck insurance, GL insurance, truck fuel, mower fuel, equipment depreciation, etc.) When I show up somewhere solo my cost is $11.58 per hour before taxes. I'll use my #'s for this example. Your #'s and mine will differ but you will get my point.

$65 for 3 hours
$21.67 per hour
$11.58 per hour expenses
$10.09 per hour made before taxes

This is not enough for all the work, liability, and time involved. Not to mention you can't save anything for the coming winter. You as an owner need to start thinking like an owner and making profit not as an hourly employee.

[SLS]

I work solo with a 23hp. 60" Lazer and I do 1 acre residentials (cut, trim, edge, and blow) in 50 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

It all depends on the amount of trimming and edging...and whether the grass is wet or dry...and how tired I am that particular day. :D

[awm]

all i can say is these 52 s are fast.huh hoss
well thats not my whole vocabulary but yaw know what i mean:D

[65hoss]

AWM, I have the turbo ordered. I'm meeting Eric Elm on the drag strip for some match races. Bring on that chopper then. :cool:

[wriken]

I just looked at my Cub-Comm. book. I have a M-60", It says at max speed (9mph) 80%, which is hard to do it will cut 4.36 acres, At a more likely speed of (6mph) it will cut 2.91 at 80%. Them cubs must be slugs, LOL. Oh well I truely like mine, get lots of complements on the cut, actually neighbors of who I've cut came and put me to work because of the quality of cut. Today I did 1 acre and light trimming and blew debri--1 hour 2 minutes. I agree ground smoothness makes all the diff.

ps. I think the Exmark book came up with the same production per hour. see ya

[Lawn-Scapes]

Maybe I should have got the 52" HP instead of the 60" Lazer

The grass must be easier to cut in Tenn. There is no way here in Maryland you can cut at full speed and cut all the grass cleanly and have no overlay.

I have 2 houses side by side @ 56,000 sq. ft. (actual turf) each... relatively flat with only a few obstacles. Looking at the chart (BTW.. I've looked at it many times), if I only went between 4-5 MPH I should have these 2 cut (2.5 acres) in one hour. It takes me about 1 hour 45 minutes to cut and about 20-30 minutes to trim and blow.

It seems that I'm on pace with the majority here.

Thanks

[peewee]

I have a 44 toro walk behind with a velky. It takes me average about an hour to do one acre. I usually cut at 4 because on speed 5 you hit any little bump and the machine shoots to the sides and your stripes look lousy. I am also surprised to hear anyone doing several acres per hour unless the ground is like a highway.

[TotalLawn]

After reading this post yesterday, I timed myself today on a 2 acre prop.

The back 1/2 (1 acre) took me 36 minutes going as fast as my 62"/23 hp Toro would go. There is nothing on this part. The front 1/2 (1 acre) took 15 minutes, house and a large shop, 2 sheds, and several trees. Guess I am fairly close. 2 acres in 40 minutes is FAST!!!!!

[peewee]

I just demo'd a 60" Exmark lazer today on the commercial property I do every week with my 44 wb with velky. the front portion of the property is close to an acre and it took me an hour and 20 minutes last week trying to keep straight lines. Today I did twice as good a job in 32 minutes! Oh boy now my wallet is going to be in trouble. The bigger sized ztr works so much better than the smaller ones in terms of bumps and loss of speed/control due to bumps.

[XOFMOT]

Did that 50k house I talked about last week-TODAY- Backyard 40k-20 degree slope no trees; Front yard flat, 7 trees, misc. flower beds (4)--using my below listed equipment it took me just 2 hours to DOUBLE MOW the property Thier lawn has not been mowed in 5 weeks! 8" in most areas!-not my fault, they went away and their regular guy ran after he broke the sliding glass door with a golfball he ran over with his mower!-so now I'm the new LAWNBOY!