How to make leaf removals quicker and more profitable?

[Wayne's Lawn Service]

I knew that with your professionalism it was a misunderstanding.

With respect to age, I hear loud and clear. I tell my guys all the time this is a young man's game. Have a great new year and a Merry Christmas my friend.

[smallstripesnc]

My flat rate of $80 is only for under 1/2 acre.

I'm pretty much done with leaves this year but as far getting more productive the leaf vacuum really did help but emptying the box we built on my truck was a real pain. It packs so well that its like a brick wall and takes about 30 minutes to an hour to get it all out.

I think next year I'm going to invest in a dump trailer. We saw a guy dump in less than 5 minutes which is much more reasonable in my opinion.

[guitarman2420]

The best investment we ever made was buying a leaf vac with a 14' dump trailer that we put a box on for leaves and take off to haul mulch in the spring. We can easily triple the leaf jobs prior to the equipment. We were fortunate and saw the system sitting idle in a storage unit parking lot and inquired and bought the entire system for $1,500. I price the jobs at $40 per hour per employee. If it's going to take 6 man-hours then I charge them $240, plus a $75 dump fee. I do run coupons that offer $25-50 off in the local Val-Pak. I like the idea of running over the leaves to mulch them up before "vaccing" them up. That would mean less trips to the dump!

[salvagedrover]

Originally Posted by CowboysLawnCareDelaware

The only time I use a rake is when I have a clump of leaves in a small area, its just faster for me to pull them out of their than to sit there with the blower and watch them move little by little.

I can't remember details but if I recall properly another landscaper that I keep in contact with used an old blower in reverse. So it would suck up the leaves and then blow them into the truck and he only spent $300-$400 on it. You just have to make your own brackets and fit the proper size tubing to it on your own.

-Michael

That's actually not a bad idea if you have a few used impellers laying around, not to mention your blowers are fradans or giant vacs with the taper lock coupling that comes off easily. Cheaper than a vacuum, and if you fabricate the right mount, the changeover from blowing to vacuuming should be fairly quick.