Job passed on, is this right?

[Acute Cut]

So, a local competitor just got some big job i guess, so he is passing on his other "big" job because he cant to do bothl. I have NOT seen the place yet, but i know some of my friendly competition has been talking about wanting it. As i understand it is 42 vacant lots in an upcoming housing development. I mow them twice a month. The guy that is sending them over was doing the work with a 52" lazer and he said it took him 8-10 minutes per lawn. The he went and tirmmed and blew down sidewalks. His price to them was 363 per time. So, for those of you less mathematiclly challenged (which i face to sometimes) that is double that rate and you get the monthly total. It seems rather LOW to me. What do yall think? equation again........

42 empty lots in newer housing development + 8-10 minutes per lawn + them trimming and blowing sidewalks=363(?). Man this sounds too wierd.

Second question:
I have a customer that i mow 1.5 acres for, 80$ per time basically. She wants to add two more acres. (All basically flat with mostly open areas/field mowing). She also has an air stip next to her property. 8 ACRES! Her current provider for the air strip come out with hs tractor and brush hog and mows it. He gets 132$ per time. Perhaps i am losing my mind here, but that seems REALLY low. I am thinking about bidding 300 month flat rate. I know she will go NO higher. I figure ill buy them Acre Ease things to save Major amounts of time. Anyone ever use them acre ease? Tips, ideas, help?

I dont know, it late, i tired, but curious none the less. Have a good Spring all. May your phones Never stop rining. lol.

[southside]

Tractor/slasher (bush hog) can cut at a phenomenal speed in the
right conditions. Much faster than any z mower. My record is
16 acres in 2 hours. Used to slash a park,53 acres in 12 hours.
50hp tractor with 5' slasher. That park is now being cut in 7.5 hours with a New Holland 5640 with 6' slasher.

[Big G]

According to the info he/you are giving, it figures out to around 10.5 hrs to do the whole job (10 min mow + 5 min for edge & blow per lot X 42 lots) at $363 for the whole job, thats $34.57 per hour.

So, the question is, what is your going rate & is this 8 - 10 min to mow really accurate. I'm sure you will approximate the square footage when making your decision. It certainly would not involve drive time from job to job so it would be tons more efficient than other smaller jobs. So the $34 per hour is a net earning with no drive time to speak of being built in.

[Russo]

Boy. That's right on the border line. If I needed the work , I would probably do it. Not bad money for 1 day's work for a solo like me in this part of the country.

Insterested to hear if anyone else out there would do it, and why or why not.

Landscraper.

[Pro-Cut Lawns]

If it did work out to 34.00 per hour I would jump on it. However, I question mowing them only twice a month and being able to do them in 8 to 10 minutes. Seems like there would be a heavy growth to contend with only mowing twice per month. This time of year in this area I have weeklys that get out of hand from week to week.

I also may not be understanding your post completely. If they are vacant lots where are the walks he is trimming and blowing off? Are they walks at neighboring houses to the vacant lots?

[Acute Cut]

Ok, i checked it out today. Basically it is an expensive up and coming neighborhood. It is gated and everybody has deisnger yards and driveways. It is build around a golf course. (Mostly underwater from what i could tell, hehe) There are 42 empty lots around this place. In between houses and the such. All the land is divided so builders can come and pick and choose and build. The home owners assos wants to keep the empty lots looking appeasing. I bid it today. She said they paid the last guy 11,000 a year to do it. When she said they wanted him to go from weekly to bi weekly he split. They got some road work they are gonna do so they have to make budget cuts. I bid it at 8400$ OR 8400$-10% if they pay lump sum in the beginning. This saved like 900 dollars or something or other. I have to email her a written bid tonight. I wont get a chance to show real quality work out there because the lots are just empty grassy areas. They are not too long right now and most are rather thin, so i will basically be able to fly through them. I do NOT see 10 minutes per lawn at all. SInce all the roads re already layed out they all have curbs. He had to edge them once a year. LOL. Anyways, i bid it, who knows. If i did get it though (Lump sum assumed) i would definately go out and buy another lazer. I sold mine this year due to taxes. Funny hugh? ALl my winter year around payers went under (commercial cuts) after Sept 11. What can ya do? Oh well, god looked out for me and kept my head above water. I think it is about time to start swimming. :)

[Soupy]

Is your bid for weekly or Bi-Weekly? If it's By-Weekly then you are not helping them at all save money on their Budget. You would be about $3000 higher then the last guy. But If it's weekly then you might have a good chance of getting it. Sounds like a good oppratunity to get your Business seen in a quality neighborhood. Hope you have truck signs.

Good luck to you. Hope it pans out for you.


Soupy

[Acute Cut]

I bid the bi weekly mowing higher than weekly because the grass will be taller and it will work my machines harder. If they went to weekly, i would drop the price considerably.

[KirbysLawn]

Let me get this correct...the last guy made 11k, when told bi-weekly he hit the road?

Now, knowing that, you are bidding $8400 or $7560 if they pay a lump sum? Up to 3400 less for more work? Why?

[nu83]

Because hes doing 1/2 the work in theory. The last guy charged 11k doing it every week, now hes charging $8400 for evey other week, which is considerably more per mow. Up to $3400 less for 1/2 the work actually Kirby.

[ProMo]

id do it eventually people moves in and your there to greet them i do a whole lakefront neihborhood all but 3 homes that used to be vacant

[HOMER]

Since that was over a month ago....................did ya get it or not?

[Acute Cut]

The guy that got the job was a "friend" of mine. He mows twice a month and, get this, he BAGS IT ALL! 42 empty lots. It takes him an average of 15 hours. EGATS! My dad always taught me to work smarter, not harder. I know i could have done it it less than half that time per week. I snicker at him and have continued on with my chin up. I picked up some other customers that dont pay as much as that one job did, but i make more per hour than that other guy. Thanks for the thoughts all. :)

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by nu83
Up to $3400 less for 1/2 the work actually Kirby.

Really? Looks like he would be mowing twice as much grass at each bi-weekly visit, so I would not think he would be doing half as much work. HOw much double cutting and bagging will need to be done?

If you think mowing bi-weekly is doing half as much work....

[strickdad]

kirby, if they are vaccant lots in a new housing devlopement they have more than likley been hydroseeded (which useually means they are thin and "sparse") he may be able to get away with it. this is the only way i figure that the former lco. could do one in 8 to 10 mins. either that or they are tee-tiny......

[cantoo]

If they are that thin why would the new guy be bagging it? 42 lots would be a lot of grass to be hauling away even if only one bin per lot. What size are the lots? I think we need a pic of the site so we can see for ourselves.