Grass Clippings

[Lawn-N-Garden Guy]

Have any of you had customers complaining about the amout of clippings in their yard ?
Here in Pa. its been raining about every day for the past 3-1/2 weeks and the grass is going nuts.
I had a customer today complain and I told her it would be 50% more to bag the grass and dispose of.
She said the guy who mowed her last year bagged it every cut for 15 measily bucks.
I explained if she wasn't happy with my cut ,maybe she should give thay guy a call.
Everything I cut now is side discharge or 50% more if they want bagged.

[BSDeality]

you're in the same boat I am right now too, one of my customers is ontop of a little hill so it gets TONS of sunshine (when its not raining 24/7 like the past couple weeks). I've been cutting it every 3-4 days, its growing out of control, i had to double over everything yesterday with one of them sweeper carts just to get the clippings up, its a big lot and there isn't a good way to double cut the lawn without spending another hour on the machine. He said he wants it swept everytime and i said its more work and the price will reflect that. He just kinda stared at me like i was inflating the price for no reason. I was looking at a bagger option for a gravely 260Z (which i hope will be my next machine) and its $2-2.5k according to the dealer. I guess I'd better find some lots that want their clippings removed.

[paponte]

Nope, we bag 95% of our accounts. Yes, we charge accordingly. :D

[gogetter]

L&G Guy, did you double cut to help chop up the clippings?

As much as I hate to do it, I've had to double cut more then I want to this year because of all the rain.
Fortunately, I usually only have to do parts of yards, not the whole thing.

[Lawn-N-Garden Guy]

GOGETTER Don't it clump up in your deck and end up spewing gummy balls of grass into the yard when you double cut ? then you have too go back over with a backpack to try and disperse them.
I have tried this and it doesn't seem to work for me.
That customer I was referring too doesn't even like to get grass on her feet.

[gogetter]

Not really. I mow the second pass in the opposite direction. This chops and disperses the clippings pretty good.

For example, I picked up a new lawn two weeks ago. It's fertilized by one of the big spraying companies (truegreen or the like), so it grows like crazy! The first week I cut it, there were a ton of clippings all over. So I threw the bagger on and went over it again and collected it all.
That sucked! Filled my truck bed.

So on the next visit (last week), I just double cut it and it looked fine. It probably took the same amount of time as when I bagged it (had to empty bag so many times!), but at least I didn't have a truck full of clippings to deal with at the end of the day.

I can't wait until next year when I have my app license. I won't be taking on anymore lawns treated by the big guys! Can't deal with the unnecessary excessive growth.

[Envy Lawn Service]

I don't have anyone complaining about clippings on their lawns and we've had a good 5" of rain this month.

If she doesn't like to get clippings on her feet, I'd suggest she wear shoes. :D

Seriously, what kind of mower are you using? With a little more info I may be able to help.

[Turf Dancer]

I bag everything here ! It is just done that way and everyone expects you to bag it ! I don't own a mulch kit even !

[John Gamba]

Why would You spend 2500 Dollars For a Bagger thats Small and Doesn't Work Well In Wet When You Can spend 1700 Dollars For One Thats 13.5 Bushels And Does Good In wet.

[awm]

i dont use doubles as much as i use to. but its a real help in grass dispersment.
spreads it better and cuts it up finer.

[Jimbo]

In my opinion the original bid price should have included cutting the lawn and leaving a quality cut (no clippings visible). I have had as much rain in Maryland with well fertilized lawns and my mower cuts fine with no clumps. If I have to bag it I will, but that has not been the case.

I don't see how you can ask the homeowner for more money to bag the lawn. Its not their fault or yours that it has rained so much, but being that you perform a service that is weather sensitive you should have bid based on worse case scenarios. I don't like the rain anymore than the next guy but I wont ask for more money because of it.

Jimbo

[John Gamba]

What Jimbo Said! Thats why i Bag.
John

[DLCS]

I have to agree with Jimbo. I base my bids on possibly having to bag so the lawn looks nice when finished. I'm bagging more this year than last year. I hate collecting clippings I would rather side discharge or mulch but sometimes I have to bag. When things start to dry up in June and July the baggers come off and on goes the mulch kits.

[nelbuts]

We bag nothing here, PERIOD! When you go back over it for your "double cut" just raise your deck 1/2" or so and you will never know it wasn't bagged.

[Green Pastures]

I bag everything except BIG commercial lots that are not in high visibility areas. High visibility areas of my commercial sites get bagged. I use Walker and Toro products to bag.

I charge accordingly.

Put in your contract that you either will or will not be bagging, so when you do charge extra for bagging there is no surprise.

For the 2,395th time if you're not working based on written contracts that have been signed by you and your customer, you're asking for trouble.

[brucec32]

I'm sure things vary widely from area to area in terms of growth rate and types of grass. But even with very heavy and extended rains here, I never had to resort to bagging otherwise non-bagged lawns. On Bermuda I got good-great results mulching, since the cooler weather meant that even with the rain it wasn't growing too tall. On Tall Fescue turf, it sometimes required a second pass. Was the cut as good as on bone-dry turf? No, but it was decent. I found the soft turf more of a problem than high grass. It was so soggy I had to be really careful about ripping the turf. I used a hydro walk behind when it was too wet for a heavier ZTR.

I would drop any customer who expected a perfect cut after this type of rainfall. They'd eventually find something else to be displeased with you about. Life is too short, and I didn't become self employed to spend it jumping through hoops to please clowns like that.

[Lawn-N-Garden Guy]

So Jimbo,
Say you have snow removal customer ,You still charge the same if its 3 inches or 3 feet ?
I understand its nobodys fault that that the grass is growing like crazy but I am in business to make $ and can't be doing extra labor for free,I don't think my employees would understand when I tell them they are not getting paid for the time it takes for Dumping bags and unloading the trucks.

[Lawn-N-Garden Guy]

So Jimbo,
Say you have snow removal customer ,You still charge the same if its 3 inches or 3 feet ?
I understand its nobodys fault that that the grass is growing like crazy but I am in business to make $ and can't be doing extra labor for free,I don't think my employees would understand when I tell them they are not getting paid for the time it takes for Dumping bags and unloading the trucks.

[lawncare3]

I had one I did today that was 8"+ and I cut it once with the discharge chute open then I cut it again. It STILL looks crappy.:rolleyes: I can't convince the customer to cut it more often. :(

Oh well.

He doesen't want it to look that nice not my problem. The great thing is that noone has to look @ it but him. There is a huge fence around it and it's only in the back yard. So, hopefully he will comearound sooner or later. :dizzy:

[Toroguy]

When you send the customer the proposal, figure the double cutting or extra blowing of windrows into the season or yearly rate. The dry season tends to balance it out for me, but some years still get you with the pants around the ankles.

Also not trying to max out a schedule keeps extra time for the Spring and Fall madness, without burning out.

It can be a rough ride at times, laughing helps.