35 acre park....what should I charge?

[bmartin]

What should I bid? The park is mainly flat and wide-open with 2 baseball fields and 1 track. There is only 1 large hill but it is managable with a rider. i have enough equipment to do it in one day with a 3 man crew. They want the bid to be per mow.....help please...

[rodfather]

$1250 would be my minimum

[green acres lawns]

Figure what do you need to make for a full days work with a 3 man crew and divide that by 35 acres to get a per acre price.

[Jackman]

Originally Posted by rodfather

$1250 would be my minimum

Rodfather,

1,250 seems really low for a job that big, I would figure at least 2,000 per cut. How much time do you think it would take to cut 35 acres? 35 acres to cut looks to be about 2 days work when the crappy weather sets in......

[Precision]

two 60" Z riders at 6 hours each should easily get you 35 acres mowed. Then you need the trimming and edging time. So before trimming you are looking at 12 man hours plus drive and unload time.

I would guess 6 man hours for the trimming, but who knows haven't seen the place.

So with Rodfather's bid $1250 / 20 man hours (including drive hours) is 62.50 per man hours. I could live with that. It is also $35 / acre per cut, which isn't too bad on acreage.

Now if you need to do fert, weed control or anything else, then way higher, but basically a mow and blow, sure $1250- 1600 would do great.

[rodfather]

Originally Posted by Precision

two 60" Z riders at 6 hours each should easily get you 35 acres mowed. Then you need the trimming and edging time. So before trimming you are looking at 12 man hours plus drive and unload time.

I would guess 6 man hours for the trimming, but who knows haven't seen the place.

So with Rodfather's bid $1250 / 20 man hours (including drive hours) is 62.50 per man hours. I could live with that. It is also $35 / acre per cut, which isn't too bad on acreage.

Now if you need to do fert, weed control or anything else, then way higher, but basically a mow and blow, sure $1250- 1600 would do great.

Thank you sir...

[MMLawn]

Originally Posted by bmartin

What should I bid? The park is mainly flat and wide-open with 2 baseball fields and 1 track. There is only 1 large hill but it is managable with a rider. i have enough equipment to do it in one day with a 3 man crew. They want the bid to be per mow.....help please...

They probably are requiring it anyway, but remember, even if they aren't you'll still want liablity insurance so how are you going to get that and how are you going to address a contract on his bid since you are only 17 years old and can't legally enter into binding contracts?

You also said earlier in another thread you started that your 3 man crew had a 60" ZTR and a 48" WB...if that is all the "big" mowers you have then, NO you don't have the equipment to do tis job either.

[Tyner Lawn Service]

Let's see if I can mow one residential 3000sq ft lawn for $20 then take 43,000 sq ft in approx per acre divide 3000sqft which is the same as 14 lawns times $20 or $280 per acre times 35 acres =$9,800 for the job. Since you don't have to stop and start you could do it for half price of $4,900. LOL!!! In all reality get ready for about a bid of $30 per acre the way companies seem to give away work these days.

[LwnmwrMan22]

Originally Posted by Tyner Lawn Service

Let's see if I can mow one residential 3000sq ft lawn for $20 then take 43,000 sq ft in approx per acre divide 3000sqft which is the same as 14 lawns times $20 or $280 per acre times 35 acres =$9,800 for the job. Since you don't have to stop and start you could do it for half price of $4,900. LOL!!! In all reality get ready for about a bid of $30 per acre the way companies seem to give away work these days.

Okay, so you can do a 3k sq ft lawn for $20. We're happy for you. Your calculation is off, because you'd have to have 508 lawns, and do them all in 1 day, to get to your $9,800. This point is just dumb.

Even at $280 / acre, you'd have to have 60 lawns and do them all in one day, to equal the 35 acre mowing charge of roughly $1200.

What's your point??

I just bid a school district, all one piece of land, 3 buildings, parking lots, etc., on 35 acres. My bid was $23,800 for 22 mowings, or..... 1,081 / mow.

I've got (2) 11' WAM's and (2) 60" ZTRs and figure I could do it all, mow and trim in 11 hours.

What alot of guys here don't realize, is they keep talking about edging time.

There is no edging time, it's a park. As long as the grass looks mowed, you don't even have to trim 1/2 the time. Just keep the grass mowed.

BTW, I AM solo, I just have this extra equipment, so if I break something, I can keep on mowing, and drop the broken mower off at the shop at the earliest convienence, rather than have to stop working and be sunk for the day, just another reason my net isn't as high as some say it "should" be............

[Tyner Lawn Service]

Originally Posted by LwnmwrMan22

Okay, so you can do a 3k sq ft lawn for $20. We're happy for you. Your calculation is off, because you'd have to have 508 lawns, and do them all in 1 day, to get to your $9,800. This point is just dumb.

Even at $280 / acre, you'd have to have 60 lawns and do them all in one day, to equal the 35 acre mowing charge of roughly $1200.

What's your point??

I just bid a school district, all one piece of land, 3 buildings, parking lots, etc., on 35 acres. My bid was $23,800 for 22 mowings, or..... 1,081 / mow.

I've got (2) 11' WAM's and (2) 60" ZTRs and figure I could do it all, mow and trim in 11 hours.

What alot of guys here don't realize, is they keep talking about edging time.

There is no edging time, it's a park. As long as the grass looks mowed, you don't even have to trim 1/2 the time. Just keep the grass mowed.

BTW, I AM solo, I just have this extra equipment, so if I break something, I can keep on mowing, and drop the broken mower off at the shop at the earliest convienence, rather than have to stop working and be sunk for the day, just another reason my net isn't as high as some say it "should" be............

I was just having fun with this post and yes $280 per acre times 35=$9,800. I WAS JUST HAVING FUN WIYH FIGURES BECAUSE TOO MANY PEOPLE COME ON HERE AND HAVE NO BUSINESS ASKING WHAT TO BID SOMETHING FOR!!!!!THE FIGURES WERE WAY OUT OF WAC FOR A REASON.