Leaf Removal Equipment & rates

[Greenscapes Lawncare]

high end communites only gated or private.

$60 per man hr with echopb755st blowers and rake and tarp. Average cleanup $225.00


With the Cyclone rake which shaves off nearly 50% of the time I will charge $110 per man hr


what r u guys getting this season with the economy?

[Groomer]

Stay where you are with your high end and gated communities, reality will visit you shortly.

[Greenscapes Lawncare]

thats the only places where i work. not a smart answer from you...

[br549oicu8]

You are getting great income with your rates. We can't get that here, or close to it. Congrats on hitting the leaf jackpot!
I have an Xtreme Vac and we offer curbside leaf removal in addition to the entire job. I can pick up a LOT of leaves in 30 minutes, and we scare people off with a $50 minimum for the first 30 minutes. Geeeez. It's a $16,000 vac!!
Our rate is $100 per hour for the Big machine. The other stuff, blowers, mowers, etc... we get $45 to $50 per hour for.
Would love to get a higher rate, but we would be sitting home in our market watching a silent phone.

Take care and happy leafing!

[Greenscapes Lawncare]

i kinda price the leaf property by the job then see what it comes out to be in the end by the hr and with backpacks and 2 guys i have been coming out $62 per man hr when i do it by the job instead of the hr.

[denisfogo]

I'm working in a pretty affluent community and have been able to make $40 -$60/hr mowing.

I'm only making $15-20/hr blowing leaves. I'm on my own with a Echo PB-600HT. It's used, old, and heavy, but blows pretty good. Sometimes my teenage daughter helps me with a smaller blower. We only have to get the leaves to the curb where the city will pick them up.

Sometimes if the pile gets to big or the curb is too far, we have to tarp the leaves. I've occasionally been able to fill my trailer, which can hold at least 2 cubic yards of leaves.

I'm backed up with new customers and neglecting my regulars, blowing whenever it's daylight and dry. Exhausted, worn out, arms, hands & feet sore.

I've gotten $80 to $100 for blowing a yard, but 6 or more hours to do it!!

Another customer said he used to get his leaves blown for $50. It took me 4 hours.

Am I charging too little, working too slow, need better equip.(I could get a new BP blower with 50% more power for $500--but leaf season isn't that long--is it worth it) ?

Any suggestions, comments, etc. appreciated.

[GracesLandscaping]

I'm working in a pretty affluent community and have been able to make $40 -$60/hr mowing.

I'm only making $15-20/hr blowing leaves. I'm on my own with a Echo PB-600HT. It's used, old, and heavy, but blows pretty good. Sometimes my teenage daughter helps me with a smaller blower. We only have to get the leaves to the curb where the city will pick them up.

Sometimes if the pile gets to big or the curb is too far, we have to tarp the leaves. I've occasionally been able to fill my trailer, which can hold at least 2 cubic yards of leaves.

I'm backed up with new customers and neglecting my regulars, blowing whenever it's daylight and dry. Exhausted, worn out, arms, hands & feet sore.

I've gotten $80 to $100 for blowing a yard, but 6 or more hours to do it!!

Another customer said he used to get his leaves blown for $50. It took me 4 hours.

Am I charging too little, working too slow, need better equip.(I could get a new BP blower with 50% more power for $500--but leaf season isn't that long--is it worth it) ?

Any suggestions, comments, etc. appreciated.

you are working way too cheap esp for leaves. people will gripe about the price, but oh well the work sucks! if your happy doing this work for that kind of money then i would be more than happy to sub my work to you so i dont haveto touch another leaf in my life :cool2:

[STIHL GUY]

make sure you charge enough to cover your expenses and still profit

[hackitdown]

I'm working in a pretty affluent community and have been able to make $40 -$60/hr mowing.

I'm only making $15-20/hr blowing leaves. I'm on my own with a Echo PB-600HT. It's used, old, and heavy, but blows pretty good. Sometimes my teenage daughter helps me with a smaller blower. We only have to get the leaves to the curb where the city will pick them up.

Sometimes if the pile gets to big or the curb is too far, we have to tarp the leaves. I've occasionally been able to fill my trailer, which can hold at least 2 cubic yards of leaves.

I'm backed up with new customers and neglecting my regulars, blowing whenever it's daylight and dry. Exhausted, worn out, arms, hands & feet sore.

I've gotten $80 to $100 for blowing a yard, but 6 or more hours to do it!!

Another customer said he used to get his leaves blown for $50. It took me 4 hours.

Am I charging too little, working too slow, need better equip.(I could get a new BP blower with 50% more power for $500--but leaf season isn't that long--is it worth it) ?

Any suggestions, comments, etc. appreciated.

I think you need better blowers, and higher rates.

[denisfogo]

I think you need better blowers, and higher rates.
I bought a Shindiawa EB802 today, It should blow approx. 2X more CFM than my old Echo. It's about the same weight, but much more comfortable. Hopefully the rates will rise as my efficiency increases. I also need to get a better feel for what others in the area are charging. I'm also trying to rig some type of plow to the front of my walk-behind--even without the plow, I've found I can scoot deep piles of leaves with it.

[hackitdown]

I bought a Shindiawa EB802 today, It should blow approx. 2X more CFM than my old Echo. It's about the same weight, but much more comfortable. Hopefully the rates will rise as my efficiency increases. I also need to get a better feel for what others in the area are charging. I'm also trying to rig some type of plow to the front of my walk-behind--even without the plow, I've found I can scoot deep piles of leaves with it.

Well done on the Shindy. It will pay off for you.

I have also rammed my mower into piles to move them along. It works fine...but a JRCO plow works a little better. The JRCO has a line of flexible teeth or tines on the bottom so you don't tear up the lawn like a homemade plow might. Maybe a rubber flap on the bottom of a piece of plywood would work like a plow.

Also consider just running the mower with the bagger if the leaves are not too thick. Gator blades help me a lot. We usually just blow 90% of the leaves, then suck up the rest with the mower.

[denisfogo]

Well done on the Shindy. It will pay off for you.

I have also rammed my mower into piles to move them along. It works fine...but a JRCO plow works a little better. The JRCO has a line of flexible teeth or tines on the bottom so you don't tear up the lawn like a homemade plow might. Maybe a rubber flap on the bottom of a piece of plywood would work like a plow.

Also consider just running the mower with the bagger if the leaves are not too thick. Gator blades help me a lot. We usually just blow 90% of the leaves, then suck up the rest with the mower.
Don't have a bagger, but I can mulch up a light covering of leaves pretty finely. Right now I'm just trying to move out the masses of leaves that are falling. When I do my final leaf blowing for the season at each property, I'll work on that last 5-10% of leaves. For now, they're still falling so fast that the yards are scattered with newly fallen leaves before I drive off.

[AmGreen]

high end communites only gated or private.

$60 per man hr with echopb755st blowers and rake and tarp. Average cleanup $225.00


With the Cyclone rake which shaves off nearly 50% of the time I will charge $110 per man hr


what r u guys getting this season with the economy?

had no idea there are gated communities in WV :laugh:

[Greenscapes Lawncare]

yeah wv is one of the nicest states ive been to.

[AmGreen]

Always heard it was beautiful country but had no idea about the "housing market". Learn something every day.
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[Green Industry Pro]

I'm working in a pretty affluent community and have been able to make $40 -$60/hr mowing.

I'm only making $15-20/hr blowing leaves. I'm on my own with a Echo PB-600HT. It's used, old, and heavy, but blows pretty good. Sometimes my teenage daughter helps me with a smaller blower. We only have to get the leaves to the curb where the city will pick them up.

Sometimes if the pile gets to big or the curb is too far, we have to tarp the leaves. I've occasionally been able to fill my trailer, which can hold at least 2 cubic yards of leaves.

I'm backed up with new customers and neglecting my regulars, blowing whenever it's daylight and dry. Exhausted, worn out, arms, hands & feet sore.

I've gotten $80 to $100 for blowing a yard, but 6 or more hours to do it!!

Another customer said he used to get his leaves blown for $50. It took me 4 hours.

Am I charging too little, working too slow, need better equip.(I could get a new BP blower with 50% more power for $500--but leaf season isn't that long--is it worth it) ?

Any suggestions, comments, etc. appreciated.

Awesome that yourr daughter helps!!!You need better blowers and you need to charge more! the shindy 802 that you bought is the best blower you could have bought for fall cleanups.Im fixing to buy one(hopefully) when spring comes.Your also lucky that the city pick the leaves up.Here we have to dispose of them ourselves.What size properties are you blowing.

[CLARK LAWN]

pick up a push blower, at least 9hp 13hp is even better. you will do 3-4 times as much in an hour as you will with a backpack blower.

[Ramairfreak98ss]

we dont do a lot of leaves, never did... and this economy is just worse this year than the rest.

Ive had several in NJ call for leaf rates.. i just tell them right off the bat a minimum for 1/4 acre worth of $100 and $150 if its fenced in or anything larger...

most feel thats too high right off the bat, saves me a trip looking to quote it.

I dont understand why some companies are so gung ho for the fall for leaves? its gotta be darned as little or less profitable than lawn mowing in itself.

and then the problems with the people who expected every single leaf removed...

[CLARK LAWN]

maybe in your area leaves suck but around here i make more in 6 weeks doing leaves thean i do in 10 weeks mowing.

[derbydon]

This year I dropped my rates after I lost the first 3 or 4 jobs I quoted. (Lot's of guys do leaf cleanup here cheap with "bubba" equipment). After dropping my rates about 1/3 from last year on new quotes, I've been busy - and I started picking up a lot of new mowing contracts for 2010. I don't mind leaf work. Cash flow continues. It's profitable, if not at the level I want. and I'd rather get paid while picking up new customers than stuffing flyers, etc.