Figuring curbside leaf removal

[FerrisDiesel]

I'm curious to see how you guys come up with a price in regards to curbside leaf pick ups. I haven't done alot of them, but want to do more of them this year, but I want the pricing to be spot on. I have a couple places I can dump for free, and the rest up in the northern part of the state I dump at the landfill for $20.00 a load.
I'm not looking for your prices, just a formula to make sure I have everything covered, ex:

time to suck up pile x dumping fee x mileage = price

or

hourly rate / time to suck up pile + dumping fee = price

??

[Rvldesign]

Most will want to pay $20 so I'd do that lol. Or one of your formulas
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[yardguy28]

if I dump at the curb I let the city pick them up. after all that's why we pay taxes.

otherwise they go in the truck and off to the compost site.

[FerrisDiesel]

When I say curbside pick up, I mean I give the customer the option to rake all the leaves to the curb and I suck them up with my leaf vaccum. Alot of the towns here don't offer curbside pickup unless you put them in brown lawn bags.
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[gene gls]

Originally Posted by FerrisDiesel

I'm curious to see how you guys come up with a price in regards to curbside leaf pick ups. I haven't done alot of them, but want to do more of them this year, but I want the pricing to be spot on. I have a couple places I can dump for free, and the rest up in the northern part of the state I dump at the landfill for $20.00 a load.
I'm not looking for your prices, just a formula to make sure I have everything covered, ex:

time to suck up pile x dumping fee x mileage = price

or

hourly rate / time to suck up pile + dumping fee = price

??

Only you can figure out that price. You know what you use for equipment and how you go about the job. I have sucked up lots of customer raked piles over the years and have sucked up piles for other mowing opperators that didn't have the proper equipment. It didn't take long to find out that mr home owner puts all kinds of "stuff" into the pile. You need to figure at least an extra 1/2 hour for junk removal. I worked on an hourly $$ value. You need to know how big of a pile will fit into your truck and how long it will take to suck it up. Dry leaves go a lot faster than wet and most times the home owner will take his time putting up the piles, meaning they will most likly be wet and packed down by the time your called to remove them. Its better to figure on the high side for each job when giving an estemate to cover yourself for the unknown.

[vaacutabove]

My min. Is 50 most times thats all i charge but the fuel is a big thing for me the dump truck I use gets 8-9 mpg.
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[TriCountyLawn]

Good thread, im curious as to how guys that do the curbside thing price out. I mean like anything else everyone's numbers are going different however this year I have had to turn down 5 large leaf jobs a few of which were for large HOA's that wanted curbside only. I am planning on adding a dump trailer next year and hope to put a leaf rig on it next fall.

I have alot of places that the township does leaf collection however leaving the site totally clean with no leaves blowing back in the yard is more ideal. I suppose thats IF you already have the rig.

[yardguy28]

Originally Posted by FerrisDiesel

When I say curbside pick up, I mean I give the customer the option to rake all the leaves to the curb and I suck them up with my leaf vaccum. Alot of the towns here don't offer curbside pickup unless you put them in brown lawn bags.
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sounds like a money looser by giving them the option to rake the leaves themselves.

[FerrisDiesel]

Originally Posted by yardguy28

sounds like a money looser by giving them the option to rake the leaves themselves.

All of my weekly lawn customers have me do full service fall clean-ups. There are some people in the towns that I service that just can't afford a $300.00 clean-up, or they just like to rake the leaves themselves. There are alot of companies around here that do "You rake them, we take them" and make a boatload of money doing so especially if you have a very efficient setup.

[djlunchbox]

I start at 75 and go up depending on amount. After you use the vac for a year, youll know around how long it will take. Never quote a pile removal over the phone.