The Green Industry's Resource Center

ZKSLAWN · #1 09-09-2011, 02:43 PM

I have a customer that wants to slit seed his entire yard.. now i have never seen a slit seeder and not sure where to find one around ct. Has anyone ever done this?? is it easy?? what should i know before i try and give a price.

32vld · #2 09-09-2011, 08:01 PM

Call some rental places till you find one that has one.

Then I would guess that it would take the same time as aerating so if it would take 1 hour to aerate then charge one hour at your hourly rate.

Then if the machine rents at $30, I would add $60 to the labor rate for the total because it will take 1 hour to use then about a 1/2 hour to get the split seeder and another 1/2 hour to return th split seeder to the rental center.

Plus the cost of the seed.

lukemelo216 · #3 09-09-2011, 11:29 PM

I guess it all depends on the size of the yard. Small yards are easy, but larger yards like 10k plus get a little tough, just becasue you have a small seeder, i forget the width of them, probably like 24" maybe and it takes a while. You can make good money doing powerseeding its just tiresome, and depending on the seeder you have, they can be a real pita.

Smallaxe · #4 09-10-2011, 07:10 AM

It also eats up lots of seed... don't forget to price that in...

You can't talk them into overseeding/topdressing? even stiching in the bad areas?

Darryl G · #5 09-10-2011, 09:29 AM

A slit seeder is similar to a power dethatcher. It has a reel with tines that cut shallow slits in the soil and a seed hooper that drops the seeds in. You need to adjust the depth so that it's making contact but not going too deep. The hard part is getting the seeding rate right. For best results put down half the seed in one direction and the other half at another pass at 45 or 90 degrees to the first.

sweetjetskier · #6 09-10-2011, 01:46 PM

One major thing is to price the slice seeding to make some money!

Seed, fertilizer, equipment, rent, vehicles, etc are expensive.

Good starting point for CT pricing is 10,000 sg ft will cost a minimum of $1000, depending on site conditions, soil analysis, type of customer,etc.

ZKSLAWN · #7 09-10-2011, 08:01 PM

its a pretty big yard... maybe 40 mins cutting with a 48 walk behind.. i'm waiting for him to give me a total square footage now. right now his whole yard is pretty much weeds/crabgrass.

Darryl G · #8 09-10-2011, 08:17 PM

I would measure the yard myself rather than relying on what the customer says. Sometimes it's helpful to get the lot size from the tax assessors office and then subract out the non-turf areas.

Az Gardener · #9 09-10-2011, 08:25 PM

Be sure to go at least 2 to 3 different directions otherwise it ends up looking like crop rows.

agrostis · #10 09-10-2011, 08:22 PM

Slit seeding is the way to go, especially if there is no irrigation. You will get 85-95% germination like that. And you don't need to straw. Go 3 Lb's per 1000 sq. ft. if overseeding. 6 Lb's per 1000 sq. ft. if new. Very Important - Use top quality seed. Sow 1/2 of seed in one direction then sow at 90 degrees to the first direction. Set the seed depth at 3/8 inch. Yes it is slow but the results are worth it. you should be able to rent a seeder easily, but at this time of year they are in demand so plan ahead.