Solo LCOs: How do you reduce the time it takes to service a lawn?

[LandFakers]

I cut down a couple minutes by trimmer after mowing, but that only if it's not too long. Long blades laying on a freshly mowed lawn doesn't look too nice

[yardguy28]

Originally Posted by bwanderson79

I want to get faster than I am right now. It takes me roughly 40-60 minutes for one lawn on a 8000-10000 sq. ft lot with a 26" mower. I know that a larger mower will reduce time, but I find that line trimming and edging take the longest time. What can I do get faster while still providing great service.

personally I worry more about quality than time. sure I wanna make a good time but I never try to go any faster than I already do.

as long as I'm doing a quality job if it takes me that long it takes me that long.

I personally average an hour a lawn including drive time between jobs. so in an 8 hour day I normally can only get 8 lawns done.

the only time things speed up is July August when things are drier and not everything needs trimmed and edged all the time.

[bel-nor]

Yard Guy I will echo what you just said and add trimmer time vs trimmer experience is what makes or breaks a service event. I string trim last and the reason being you have the opprtunity to finish the event with perfection. The final blow vac of the serviced area will take care of all long and clumps of grass that may be visible. Each mower has it's place use them wisely and plan ahead to make for an efficient day. If your working alone get your service patterns locked in before you decide to hire an asssitant. Keep your equipment serviced and ready to go. Planning your routes also helps a lot and price accordingly.

[BPS##]

Originally Posted by grandview (2006)

First off why round up ,there are growth regulators out there.Why would your customers want dead grass every where?

I cannot imagine a single one of my customers being OK with such a thing.

[knox gsl]

Originally Posted by Ijustwantausername

I would much rather kill weeds than regulate their growth, especially if the customers couldn't care less. And RU is much much cheaper. Oh, forgot to mention, I did have one customer end up not liking it, so I quit and continued to trim for them.

I would never try such a thing on my customers, but I also have alot of nice accounts.

[larryinalabama]

Originally Posted by bwanderson79

I want to get faster than I am right now. It takes me roughly 40-60 minutes for one lawn on a 8000-10000 sq. ft lot with a 26" mower. I know that a larger mower will reduce time, but I find that line trimming and edging take the longest time. What can I do get faster while still providing great service.

60 minutes for a 10000' lot sound about right. I dont know what kind of prices you get and that may be your problem. Big mowers wont help much on small lots especially if they have alot of gates, plus big mowers are expensive to purchase and expensive to operate.

Take a minute and enjoy what you do, theres alot of people working in an office while your outside.

If you do alot of trimming equiptment is your friend as well as a vacumn.

[32vld]

Equipment, experience, and time to do a time and motion study.

Time and motion study. The movie cheaper by the dozen was a losely based hollywood bio of the first time and motion engineer. There are engineers that specialize in this area that are employed by large company's. Be open to new ways. Just because you always did it one way does not mean there is not a faster to get a job done.

Wasted motion wastes time. Too many trips back and forth to the truck/trailer is an example.

Figure out a way to edge and line trim in one continuous loop without any back tracking.

Mower size is obvious, but when the money is not available you need to eliminate wasted motion in everything loading, unloading, fueling, etc.

This year I have been using a stick edger and found it to be a lot faster and get better quality edging.

[TriCountyLawn]

With small mowers I find it helpful to snag an extra bag and fill two of them before you walk to the truck.

But basicly its like that ole johnny cash song........get a rhythm

[bwanderson79]

Thank you everyone for the replies. Very good tips. One thing I learned was that there are growth regulators for grass. I've seen the round up used before and I don't care for it, but the growth regulators don't kill grass, just slow it way down. I'll be buying some.

I am also concerned about quality. Part of the reason its been taking me longer than I expected is that I double cut several of my lawns to ensure there few if any stragglers.

How much faster will I get with a 32 or a 36 vs. a 21 for those that have made that transition?

[herler]

I "slide" a little in the turns.