Where are you, and how many cuts??????

[INTEGRITY LAWN]

I am in Atlanta Georgia, and I am wondering how many cuts everyone gets per year. Here the grass type is Bermuda, and Fescue for the most part. I get about 19-21. Could this be righ. When I read every one elses in here, seems they state 30 range. Can someone explain? Also can someone explain to me every how many days you guys cut, and how do you get those customers who only want there lawn cut every 13 or so days to go to less days. Or should Ijust scratch them even though i have small clientell? I know different things factor in this, but advice from you well experienced people would be very helpful. Once again, thank you for helping us all!

[ohiolawnguy]

Like you said, most of our customers average around 30 cuts a year. every week i the spring.

In the dog days of summer, if there is a drought, we cut only if needed. On our monthly accounts, we will mow only the areas that are actively growing,(usually areas that are shaded by trees or low spots). and then spray the beds, and walks, and run the blower.

We mow four days a week leaving us a window day in case of rain. If weather is nice, then that day is used for other projects.

We will take on customers who want a 14 day schedule. but, We just tend to charge them more than if it were every 7 days. We also tend not to blow off any clumps of grass on these yards unless they are willing to pay more than the original quote. We let the customer know all of these things so there are no surprises about our methods.

[Bob Minney]

I set my mow season at 26 weeks. We will start earlier or go later as needed. Some drop off earlier in the season if they shut down sprinklers. I just let the customer know what I feel the season should be and 95% go with that. Every two week customers make up about 10% of my mows, we to try discourage this by not bagging on every other week mows. If they need bagging they must be on a weekly schedule. Our rate is about 40-50% higher for 2 week service. I have to run slower and trimming takes longer. More hrs =more$.

Bagging overgrowth =:blob2: :blob2: :blob2:

[INTEGRITY LAWN]

Thank you both for your input. I noticed you both were in the north, and am wondering type of grass up there, and also would like input from people in the south.

[Bob Minney]

We have Kentucky Bluegrass and cut at 2 3/4" all season. Lawn will grow on its own about 6 weeks a year, after that you better have sprinklers or an extra 10hrs a week to drag a hose.

[KirbysLawn]

I usually mow 30 time a season, if we have a wet spring that goes up a little. In most of my contracts I state 34 per year.

How high are you mowing that Bermuda and with what type mower?

[INTEGRITY LAWN]

I usually cut it about every ten days I guess let grow about 3 inches. I use a 36" walk behind. Advice? What should Bermuda, and fescue be at?

[INTEGRITY LAWN]

By the way, I use a Scag mower. Out of curiousity. When you do a contract, you estimate cuts per year. What happens if lawn cut less times, or more in terms on contract. Do you reimburse cust. How doe that work.

[BRIAN GALLO]

The grass I am cutting is usually a blend of Kentucky blue, Fescue & rye varieties. I try to set people up for 1 cut per week, or at least every 10 days. However, I do have several customers that refuse to have cuts any sooner than 14 days. As someone stated above, I too let them know that they will not get a pristine cut under those conditions without me having to go over the lawn 3-4 times - and they don't want to pay for the extra service. In the spring when it rains & people fertilize, they should be getting cut every 5 days - trouble is trying to get them to agree.

[scagman]

Here in WAshinton we get about 30-35 cut maybe more I'd have to check, but that does seem like a low number. Go for the irragated yards and offer a good fertilizer program.

[Todd Cannon]

Here in Greenville, North Carolina, our plans are as follows:
7-mowing=28cuts
10-day mowing=20 cuts
14-day mowing=16 cuts
We begin about March 20th and end on Oct. 31. We space cuts out in the spring and fall to an as needed basis. During the growing season, we cut according to the agreed upon cycle. Of course, you cannot change cycles and get the same price,
stretch out your cuts and the price changes.

[cajuncutter]

Todd that would be 33 I believe from mid March til end of October. Down here in Northwest Louisiana we average 36 visits on pay by cut accounts. My 12 month stuff is written up in the agreement as 43 visits(weather permitting). Plus we have all the fall clean up around the holidays for the pay by the cut accounts. We stopped every 10 day and 2 week accounts. Too much stress on the equipment for such little money, grass grows too fast down here.

[Randy Scott]

26 to 28 cuts here. Has a little to do with their fert program if it isn't me, but about that many. They're all weekly, we get enough precip to cut every week. If not, it will be two weeks because I have other things going on days I don't mow and cannot, or do not, want to get out of schedule. When it's long in spring I just deal with it.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

32 avg

Fescue

[Mowingman]

We cut Bermuda and St. Augustine grass here. I usually get 36 to 38 cuts/year unless we have a bad drought. We cut on a 7 day cycle most of the time. Almost everyone here has a sprinkler system.:)

[accuratelawn]

Weekly 30-34 cuts per season fescue

[Chuck Sinclair]

Some Where around 45 to 50 cuts we have rye, fescue and Kentucky blue grass.

[NC Big Daddy]

Kirby you bid 30 to 34 cuts? Fill me in on how you do this:) I bid most every contract on 38 to 40 cuts. I just got done job costing my Com. contracts and we averaged in 01' 41 cuts. I haven’t done the residential contracts yet but I'm guessing it will be close to the same. Fill me in I'd love to cut less :D
Take Care
Chris

[Currier]

19-21 cuts seems low. I don't know hoe you would make it? It used to seem that we averaged around 26 (western Colorado) but last year it was more like 28-30. One thing I have found is that each year it seems that I end up going later and later into the year with leaf cleanups. This year most were finished in early December. I used to try to be done by thanksgiving.

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by INTEGRITY LAWN
I usually cut it about every ten days I guess let grow about 3 inches. I use a 36" walk behind. Advice? What should Bermuda, and fescue be at?

While this can be debated both of these grass types require different mowing practices. Here is a very short answer.

Fescue: Looks best when allowed to grow to a height around 3-4" and looks great when cut on a regular basis with sharp blades. Mowing short or cutting more than 1/3 of the blade at a time is not good.

Bermuda: Looks best when mowed short with a reel mower, not rotary. Bermuda grass spreads by aggressive rhizomes and stolons. When allowed to grow high these runners do not spread as needed and the lawn looks thin and weak. When the lawn is mowed short, the grass thickens and fills in and looks much better. Mowing ranges between 0.75-1.5 for hybrid Bermuda grass and 1.5-4.0 for common Bermuda grass. Mowing more often will make the lawns looks better and give you more business.

[jerry johnston]

In Southern Minnesota,

We cut once a week, or 24-26 cuts per year.
I have some clients that I cut every other week, but their soil is sandy and the grass does not grow as fast.

Jerry

[_GUNNER_8]

Hi,
I base my accounts on 32 cuts a year.Far as heights, I never cut weekly accounts below 3 inches doesnt matter turf type.We got accounts that in july and august with fescue we don't even drop decks when we cut, which is 5 inches.

[Fantasy Lawns]

St. Augustine ==> 42-40 visits each year

Growing Season: April through October: Mowing of all turf areas once a week, with a mulching mower in varying patterns to minimize rutting

Dormant Season: November through March: Mowing of all turf areas once every other week or as needed to maintain a neat overall appearance.

[fshrdan]

On my most healthy and irrigated fescue lawns, I can cut 38/yr. Bermuda is 33/yr.

If your customers are unwilling to do the 7 day thing, then go 9-10 day schedule. In other words, if you cut route #1 on Monday, you'll be cutting route #1 on Wednesday of the following week, then the next Friday, and back to Monday. Don't try to do a true 10 day schedule, it's a nightmare. You're going to end up with heavy Mondays and Thursdays.

Cut fescue at 3.5 - 4" down here. Heat really stressed this grass, and it's better to mow higher. I don't do reel mowers, so I don't cut bermuda at .5 inches. 2 - 2.5 is a good height for bermuda in my opinion, and this height is more forgiving when you have uneven terrain.

[lamblawnscaping]

i agree with fshrdan, 10 day scheduling is a nightmare, try to avoid it if at all possible. Unfortunately it took us 2 years to learn this, so we have about 40 10 day accounts that we can't really get rid of and won't go to 7 days. I disagree with the 9-10 day schedule though because you never want to schedule mowing on fridays. You are just too likely to get pushed into the weekend. We schedule 10-11 day routes on monday and thursdays, with one crew, and seven day routes on monday, wednesday and thursday with the another crew. This leaves plenty of time open for landscaping and if the beginning of the week gets too wet you can mow friday and saturday with two crews to catch up. Don't let mowing make up too much of your schedule and you won't get screwed by the weather.

[lamblawnscaping]

woops i forgot to answer the actual question. We are in northern virginia and get about 34 cuts a year on weeklys, and 22 on 10-11 days accounts.

[groundsguy1970]

I bid @ 42 cuts a year and hope we get SOME winter.....some years you'll maybe skip Dec. but mow in Jan. it depends on the jet stream.

Sometime in OCT. or so we'll cut back on cutting some years no stop....:)