Lawn rolling

[cantoo]

Anyone from Ontario or Michigan doing lawn rolling? I just bought a small roller and am looking for a bigger one too. I am wondering what kind of pricing you guys have. Most guys around here just eyeball the lawn and give a price. I am planning on measuring and doing the pricing by square footage and giving them a price for fertilizer, weed control and cutting at the same time. I'm hoping this gives me some early season work and maybe some new cutting customers too. What prices are you guys charging, most lawns around here are 1/2 acre or more and are fairly level?

[Guido]

If your talking about what I'm thinking of, you might want to aerate after you roll it.

We would cut the grass a little shorter than usual, roll it and then aerate it to open the soil back up.

Usually worked out pretty good.

Be careful of irragation systems and valve covers for sewer, etc.

[Sammy]

I mainly roll for the dog gone moles that are around here.

[geogunn]

in my part of the country, lawn rolling is generally accomplished by high school age boys and girls using toilet paper usually at no charge. ;)

GEO

[LoneStarLawn]

we only do lawn rolling when installing sod.

[Runner]

This is sort of a tricky question because alot really depends on your method of transport. If you have a means and are able to pull the roller up your trailer and strapp it down, full, then it wouldn't be so bad. Without this, you are looking at SIGNIFICANT time in filling and emptying the roller on the job. If you a WERE able to trailer it full, then I would think about 1 1/2 times the price of a cut would be fair. If, however, you had to spend all your time filling and emptying your roller, even half way, then you would have to adjust for that time spent. I have an Agrifab inch roller and it work great. I just don't use it on my jobs because I can't explain the benefits of rolling to my customers when I am advocating the reasons to, and benefits of aerating. I WOULD like to explain that it would enhance the appearance of their lawn by allowing a smoother cut (which is also time saving and easier on the equipment) and all that but that would just be unethical sales tactics. I AM however thinking of renting a larger asphalt roller for a commercial site of mine that has two pretty rough fields. I figure if I do it early enough in the spring, this would smooth the rough ares of the fields significantly. I would love to make one like our local school district has out of an 8 ft. industrial water tank! Anyway, just my $22.02 worth.

[cantoo]

Up here we do this to level off frost heaves and smooth the lawn for a smoother ride. I already have a pull behind one, I made it from a piece of 1/2" x 24" diameter steel pipe. If I do it early enough in the Spring I don't have to put water in it. I am looking for a 1 to a 1 1/2 ton ride on roller. I will be building a new trailer for it so it will be a low rider with a rubber floor and a winch to pull the roller on if needed. In the off season I will be renting it to a friend for sidewalk work, they roll the fill before cementing them.

[Bob G]

cantoo
Also lookin for info and answers, if i dig up anything i`ll post here

geo
beautiful area down there,use to take holidays in gatliburg/pg ,love the enviroment and the people nice lawns to

[jrblawncare]

Rolling is more of a northern thing....since I have moved down here I have not seen much of it.I have seen it writen roll every other year or third year?Guido has the right idea.It seems to me,I remember they were getting around 30.00 to 40.00 for a 1/2 acre lot....this is for a ride on roller that does not have to be filled at each stop.[That was a few years back]

[thefarmer4]

I've always been concerned about the compaction issues of lawn rolling. I don't believe aerating would be enough to counteract the compaction that is happening more than
3" deep. Using a commercial roller would probably be even worse. I suppose gypsum and some of the other new sprays out there for drainage and compaction might alleviate the problem slightly. Just my 2 cents.

[AB Lawn Care]

Hey cantoo,I roll.Give me an instant message and i will answer any of your questions!Talk to ya soon!Hmmmm......I wonder if you bought that roller at an auction?:-)

[cantoo]

AB Lawn Care, now you sound like my friends, they even think I got my wife at a auction sale. Actually I picked her up at the local Grain Elevator driving a 1105 Masssey.
Of course it came from an auction sale, VLG in Caledon, the next one is in April, I'm looking for a bigger roller.
I picked up a cube van in London ( Associated Auction Company) two weeks ago, just finished installing a trailer hitch and ready to cut a side door into it. First I gotta put new bearings in the kids skidoo,, no preventive maintenance. Saved $.50 grease to spend $350.00 for repairs. Spring is coming way too quick.

[AB Lawn Care]

Hey how much did you pay for that cube van????We will be looking for 1 down the road,but for now we are lookin for a car.We also did not use preventave maintenance.We let the engine run low on oil and now we have a car with 1 piston that knocks are higher rpms!And just before emission tests!!!!:-0 Oh well we work for a guy who runs an auto wrecking yard and we get good cars for 2-$400!!!Like I said before just send me a private message,It's that little button at the bottom that is a little letter with pm next to it.