Cemetaries

[Green Acres]

I was wondering if anyone out there has had any experience mowing a cemetery? I have a chance to bid on one that is 22 acres and mostly full. The head stones are above ground so it will require alot of trimming. How long would this take a crew of three? What type of mower would be best a ztr or a walk-behind? How much would you charge on something like this? I tried to get into the old forum but it was down. So any info would help alot. Thanks

[cantoo]

I cut a cemetary that is about 4 acres, it takes about 3 hours to cut every 2 weeks and about 3 hours to trim once per month. They won't let us use round up or sprays there. It is about 1/2 full but the stones are all over the place. It uses to take a lot longer using a tractor style mower, after cutting then we had to sweep off the stones. Now we use a Walker with GHS the only way to go where we are. It has cut our time to almost 1/2 on this one job. I am considering another 5 acre cemetary this year. By the way the stones are very hard on trimmer line make sure to add this cost in, on 22 acres it will add up. See if you can at least put a small amount of Roundup around the stones.

[Green Acres]

Also I was wondering if I would need any addtional equipment. What I have now is a 721 Grasshopper with a 61" deck and a 36" walkbehind. Would it be okay to get the mulching kit for both mowers or would I be better off with a bagger system? Also how many men would you put on a job like this. Thanks Again

[lawrence stone]

If the headstones are all lined up in rows and you can use the 61 mower for 90% of the<br>mowing it &quot;should&quot; take you about 25 man hours.<p>I would not touch the job for less than $700<br>for why should one tie up 25 man hours to work for such little margin.<p>I bet some fool will take it for about $400<br>or around $16 per hour gross.

[Lance720]

Are the upright srone's granite stone's sitting on a cement base or does the cement base stick out of the ground.<br> If it is the first on have someone with a 21&quot; handmower go up and down each row mowing the top, bottom and one side(the other side can be mowed by getting closer with your big mower). <br>Lance

[cantoo]

Because the stones are all random in the cemetary that we do, we cut in as straight a line as possible with the Walker and another person does between the tight stones with the string trimmer. Some of the double stones are only 18 - 36&quot; apart. We aren't allowed to spray or fertilize there so the grass is pretty thin in some spots. It's very difficult to estimate a job that big without seeing the property.

[fireball]

one way around the Roundup issue is to use PGR's especially Primo. It will not kill the grass at the stones but will certainly slow the rate of growth down. Cemetaries are one of the few spots that ztr's are a godsend. Put a 12 volt sprayer on top of the engine area and run line to a spray tip mounted on the left hand side of mower deck. this means that you are spraying everything to the left that you can't cut. Larry Stone can give you all the technical details on the sprayer, he got one. One spray a month will result in 4 weed wacks per year.<p>When bidding take into consideration of flowers. People become quite combative when you run over their flowers and believe me they can become worse than the stones since they blow around and land on graves other then the intended or out in the middle of the grave. You don't know if they were put there intentionally or not.<p>Nice thing about cemetaries is that the residents rarely complain. Also some people will contract with you seperately to give the family plot a little extra care.<p>Measure, measure, measure. Form a plan. Just takes more time than the estimate for a residental or commerical property

[lawrence stone]

Here is a little known fact about cemetaries:<p>Hardly anyone visits cemetaries after <br>Memorial Day. So you only have to do a good job for about 3 weeks in May.<p>The growth regulator app is good if you have<br>a homemade custom pesticide application vehicle that you can stand on a sulky, steer<br>the machine (toro t-bar) with one hand while<br>using a hand wand with the other.<p>I can make you guys one for $5000 cash or<br>certified check ONLY with one half down payment.

[mowerconsultant]

i have sold a many mowers over the 12 years i have been sellin commercial mowers....<br>the best cemetary mower i have sold was a hustler 251k (50 inch) or 260k (60 inch)<br>both units are rear discharge and dual trim.. you can really get in between the stones nicely with the offset deck.<br>a couple options included a shredder for mulching and a catcher, rear mounted for easy dumping and removal.....<br>just my two cents worth.....

[imowit]

Larry,<br>I hate to tell you this; but people die year around; and it generally draws a crowd at the cemetery.<p>----------<br>Mike's Lawn Service<br>

[fireball]

imowit: thanks for the humorous comeback but Larry is right. The amount of concerned people really drops off after memorial day. <br>the comment about rear discharge mowers is important because getting grass on the headstones is a big deal. While the hustler is an ideal machine, the smallest walker in these old cemetaries is more versatile. The dixie chopper will hold its own too but the out front mowers can get in some pretty tight spots

[imowit]

fireball,<br>I have been taking care of a 20 acre cemetery for three years. Visits are less after Memorial Day; but you still want to keep the place looking good. You never know when a V.I.P. is going to pass away. You want to get all the donations you can for the maintenance fund; so you can ask for more money next year! ;)<p>----------<br>Mike's Lawn Service<p>

[Green Acres]

Thanks for the input so far. I have just a couple more questions then I'll leave you guys alone. Do you think the equipment I do have now will work? Also if I put a mulching kit on both units will that help from getting grass all over the headstones? The last question is---What do you do if there is a funeral on the day you want to mow? THANKS

[imowit]

Green Acres,<br>I think the equipment you have will work fine. After you mow it a time or two you will know if you need to add anything new.<br>We have tried mulch kits; but had to stop too often to clean out the decks. We side<br>discharge away from the stones. If we end up with grass on a stone we blow it off with the string trimmer. I agree that a rear discharge would be great; but I would wait and see if you like the job first. <br>We have to shut down for funerals. I try to read the obituaries, or call the funeral home director so we can plan around them.<br>I also agree that Round-Up or something similar is a great time saver if they will let you use it. Good luck. :)<p>----------<br>Mike's Lawn Service<br>