5 acre price estimation

[Infinite]

I put a flyer up at a grocery store that alot of older people go to last week. So far, I received two calls: 1st call- a .75 acre yard that needs bagged every week. I got it and am pleased with the price. 2nd call- a guy called and asked me to throw him a figure for 5 acres that is open and no trimming and no bagging. I told him off the top of my head 120 but might be lower might be higher. He told me he doesn't have the property yet but he will see what happens this spring. Do you think I gave him a fair price? I live in a rural part of Ohio so an acre that is flat with some obstacles goes around 35-40 dollars.

[LB1234]

1) What would it cost you to mow 5 acres?

2) How long will it take you to mow 5 acres?


Answer these and you can answer your own question on whether or not it is a fair price. If it costs you 50 bucks to cut it (drive their/back, equipment wear/tear, equipment fuel, etc.) and 3.5 hours labor and your labor rate it 30/hr then 120 would be too low.

[dvmcmrhp52]

Do you think I gave him a fair price? I live in a rural part of Ohio so an acre that is flat with some obstacles goes around 35-40 dollars.



Uh, didn't you just answer your own question?

35/ acre= $175
40/ acre= $200

What do you think?

[Infinite]

I didn't know if the more acres you got that the price decreased a little like buying in bulk, the price goes down.

[joedaddy]

I dont know what kind of mower you got, but i know my 50" Dixie Chopper could mow 5 acres of open ground in about 2hrs. Remember you are just starting and you need all the business you can get. Quality work will get u the big bucks in the long run, but you have to get the work first.Dont lose jobs by getting greedy.

[gogetter]

Remember you are just starting and you need all the business you can get. Quality work will get u the big bucks in the long run, but you have to get the work first.Dont lose jobs by getting greedy.

I definately disagree with that.

[CamLand]

I dont know what kind of mower you got, but i know my 50" Dixie Chopper could mow 5 acres of open ground in about 2hrs. Remember you are just starting and you need all the business you can get. Quality work will get u the big bucks in the long run, but you have to get the work first.Dont lose jobs by getting greedy.


So your saying he should cut his throat to get the business ;) ;) ;)

[Infinite]

I have a 48 inch bobcat walk behind and work solo. Joedaddy are you saying u think 120 is too much?

[LB1234]

What's the sense of loosing money to gain an account? Am I missing something here?

[PROCUT1]

send me a full financial disclosure of your business...........your overhead.....maybe some profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and tax returns........then i may be able to help you out with what you need to charge....

excuse me while i cut and paste this response to 100 more threads

[lawncare4u]

I put a flyer up at a grocery store that alot of older people go to last week. So far, I received two calls: 1st call- a .75 acre yard that needs bagged every week. I got it and am pleased with the price. 2nd call- a guy called and asked me to throw him a figure for 5 acres that is open and no trimming and no bagging. I told him off the top of my head 120 but might be lower might be higher. He told me he doesn't have the property yet but he will see what happens this spring. Do you think I gave him a fair price? I live in a rural part of Ohio so an acre that is flat with some obstacles goes around 35-40 dollars.

5aCERS FLAT NO WEED EATING,MOWING $300 MIN.

[AEW]

Dude do not change your price. Do not lower it man. The only time I will lower my overall price is when its over 10 acres...maybe...And then I dont lower it very much. 300 is a little high around here...but it should definately be over 200

[Infinite]

I'm thinking 300 is way to high here especially for me being a beginner, but I'm also thinking 120 is a little low. With costs and expenses and me making 20 an hr labor I'm thinking around 150-160 would be a fair enough price.

[crawdad]

send me a full financial disclosure of your business...........your overhead.....maybe some profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and tax returns........then i may be able to help you out with what you need to charge....

excuse me while i cut and paste this response to 100 more threads
That was funny, the first time I read it. :waving:

[Sharper Edge]

I'm losing money on every job so I make up for it with volume....

[LB1234]

I'm losing money on every job so I make up for it with volume....


If you are losing money on EVERY job, how the heck are you making up for it in volume? Makes NO, NONE, NADA, ZIPPO, ZERO sense to me.

Please explain yourself...I'd love to hear the explanation on this one.

[gogetter]

If you are losing money on EVERY job, how the heck are you making up for it in volume? Makes NO, NONE, NADA, ZIPPO, ZERO sense to me.

Please explain yourself...I'd love to hear the explanation on this one.

It's called sarcasm! :)

[Kubotaman]

you need to know how often this cust will let you cut the 5ac.
If he only cuts every two weeks you need to charge more.
I mow around 800ac a month, but with a batwing and charge
$30.00 to $35.00 per acre with a min of $350.00.
with you using a 48 inch walkbehind you will put alot of where
& tear on your equipment doing large mows for little money.

just my 2 cents

but you have to start somewhere.

[drmiller100]

someone called me on a mostly empty mobile home park. 5 acres total.

i bid it at 185 a cut. turns out it took me right at 5 hours to begin, down to 4 once i got a rhythm. did a good job, made folks really happy, had a schedule. ended up with the snow removal for the park. didnt' snow much this year. oh well.

found out the previous guy was getting 750 a cut. but he only got it once before they started shopping it......

[LB1234]

someone called me on a mostly empty mobile home park. 5 acres total.

i bid it at 185 a cut. turns out it took me right at 5 hours to begin, down to 4 once i got a rhythm. did a good job, made folks really happy, had a schedule. ended up with the snow removal for the park. didnt' snow much this year. oh well.

found out the previous guy was getting 750 a cut. but he only got it once before they started shopping it......

185/4 hours is ~47/hr...take out your costs...are you really making that much on this job?

[drmiller100]

costs are high.

if i can make 50 an hour while running the equipment and 25-30 for my guys not running equipment, it seems like life works out pretty good. but, you have to have 75 percent of the hours in a day at this rate.
driving time, lunch time, BS time, maintenance time, and dump time don't count.
around here in the summer i'm the cheap scab so far. got the biggest mower in the county beside govment with my 54 inch ztr. second biggest is a 32 inch walker with bagger. he didn't want the 5 acres.

[jarroo's lawncare]

i got a call a couple of weeks ago to price 5 acres to a guy and i told him i woul do it for $200, i didn't get a call back so i guess he didn't feel like that was a good price.

[jpp]

I have a 48 inch bobcat walk behind and work solo. Joedaddy are you saying u think 120 is too much?


So you will be doing 5 acres with a walk behind? Does it have a sulky? 120 is to low for you walking the property. EVen if you can do an acre an hour walking you only will be charging 24 bucks an hour. Something to think to about.

[dlandscaping]

That seems really low but I can not compare really because its different region. But doing that much will wear out your equipment really quickly. Think about it, to make up for a low price you will be going as fast as you can, putting a lot more strain on your machine. Why not try to get around 200. Charge the going rate, maybe 5-10% less since you need the work. If its wide open, they you really dont need much experience. At first it may take you a long time, but after a few strips you should get the hang of it. Bottom line, charge the going rate not a lot under it.

[Patrick.B]

I'd do 6 acres Just mowing and charge $275 and that once a week ,,,,take me 2 hours and 15 mins......

[dexpress]

someone called me on a mostly empty mobile home park. 5 acres total.

i bid it at 185 a cut. turns out it took me right at 5 hours to begin, down to 4 once i got a rhythm. did a good job, made folks really happy, had a schedule. ended up with the snow removal for the park. didnt' snow much this year. oh well.

found out the previous guy was getting 750 a cut. but he only got it once before they started shopping it......
$185 divided by 5 is only $37 per hour.......you are only making wages

[Victor]

The only mower you list in your sig, is a 36" Gravely. Are you saying you mow 6 acres in 2hours 15 minutes with that? I figured you must have bought a bigger mower since you created your sig and haven't updated it yet.

Vic

[Patrick.B]

PM144z Gravely is on my sign vic.....it 44 cut deck and i have 36 WB Gravely .. :D

[SOMM]

5 acres or more with a 48" wb can wear out your gearbox in half a season, especially if you're riding a wheel plate behind it, and there are hills, terraces or grades. Its gonna take longer around trees too.

Ever wonder if it was anonymous call from your competition to "case-out" your pricing?

[Patrick.B]

This my mower i bough in 2004 jun18087.jpg (44.0 KB)

[Precision]

Get a handle on your costs.

example My GL insurance is 1080 per year. or +/- $5.50 per day. So call it $1 per billable hour. My vehicle insurance is $1200 per year. Call it $1 per hour. My equipment costs are $5 pr hour. My gas costs are $2.50 per hour. Maintenance costs are $1.50 per hour. On and on. So my costs to be in business are something like $16 per hour.
Then if you want to make a wage of $30 per hour. You need to charge $40 per hour for your billable hours to cover the paper work, estimates, maintenance time.
So say you want to make $30 per hour over 40 hours weekly or $60K annually with my costs, you need to be charging $56 per hour.

At $37 per hour with my (not real) above listed costs, you are pocketing something like $15 per hour. or $30K if you can bill 2000 hours.

A rather simple example, but this is how one must conquer billing/pricing.

[drmiller100]

Interesting approach.

I'm thinking about it a little different. I have fixed costs of doing business, and variable costs.

Fixed costs I pay no matter if I work or I don't. Liability, truck payments, mower payments, marketing, rent, electricity I pay no matter what.

Variable costs I pay when the mower is running. Fuel, maintenance, labor. My labor is right at 20 bucks an hour in costs. Compared to labor, the rest is mouse testicles.

So, I can bid a four hour a week job at 35 an hour and keep my guys busy and pay their wages and pay on the fixed costs as I build my business. Or I can pass on that business and not keep my guys busy so they have time to go find a different job with more hours per week......

Further, if I spend a little on equipment and arrange performance bonuses, maybe I can cut that 4 hour job down to a 3 hour job, in which case I am getting 47 bucks an hour. Not likely I know, but once you have the job it is easier to upgrade the customer or find efficiencies then if you are sitting at home watching tv.