Disappointed with the fall cleanup outlook thus far

[kilgoja]

Originally Posted by Southern Pride

Nah there must be something wrong with your mower. The deck, blades, etc.

I'll but mine up against any freshly bagged lawn. The cut qualty is all there. Leaves under. Done. No bags, dumping fees, more physical labor, or pesky bs. Oh and their lawn is healthier. Grow faster, get me $.

i agree...i've never had a problem mulching leaves up with the mower...if it's one of those customers that waits and wants you to do it just once in late november then you just have to go over the yard more...but eventually they will mulch up just the same

[Southern Pride]

ha I'm thinking maybe he was just agreeing with the customer to get the job.

Whats with old people and bagging the lawn? The literally know nothing about it or that it is better to leave those nutrients in the soil. Its just silly. Of course, I speak for the Mid-south. Don't know don't care how/why things are done everywhere else.

[kilgoja]

yeah i dunno...i think the problem is people wait too long to get someone to cut their grass...so the grass is taller than it should be and you cut it with a side discharge and it makes clumps because the grass is so tall....so they are like we need someone to bag it so it won't leave clumps in the grass.....they don't understand that if you mow it regularly a side discharge won't leave clumps because the clippings will be small enough to fall down into the grass putting nutrients into it

[yardguy28]

Originally Posted by Southern Pride

Nah there must be something wrong with your mower. The deck, blades, etc.

I'll but mine up against any freshly bagged lawn. The cut qualty is all there. Leaves under. Done. No bags, dumping fees, more physical labor, or pesky bs. Oh and their lawn is healthier. Grow faster, get me $.

the mowers are fine. when i mulch leaves even on a weekly basis there is a brownish color left in the lawn from all the mulched up leaves.

i don't care for that look and neither do my clients.

Originally Posted by Southern Pride

ha I'm thinking maybe he was just agreeing with the customer to get the job.

Whats with old people and bagging the lawn? The literally know nothing about it or that it is better to leave those nutrients in the soil. Its just silly. Of course, I speak for the Mid-south. Don't know don't care how/why things are done everywhere else.

nope never agreeing with the clients just to get the job.

it's the only way i will do fall clean ups. i don't even own a mulch kit for my 52" grandstand. i do have one for the 36" metro but that comes off when the leaves start falling.

if the leaves are thick i make one pass letting the catcher fill up and keep going which mulches the leaves a little bit. then i make a second pass bagging everything up. i use high lift blades.

leaves a nice spotless look. the lawns look like it was spring or summer time when i'm done.

[stan the man]

once mowing has stop fall clean up is the money if i don't get them fall clean up then i get them spring clean up. mowing now is no much in a week. and all my accounts know that it cost them more in the spring if they don't have it done it the fall.plus they know them they don't have fall and spring clean ups they don't get a free turkey for Thanksgiving

[cut level]

Originally Posted by yardguy28

the mowers are fine. when i mulch leaves even on a weekly basis there is a brownish color left in the lawn from all the mulched up leaves.

i don't care for that look and neither do my clients.



nope never agreeing with the clients just to get the job.

it's the only way i will do fall clean ups. i don't even own a mulch kit for my 52" grandstand. i do have one for the 36" metro but that comes off when the leaves start falling.

if the leaves are thick i make one pass letting the catcher fill up and keep going which mulches the leaves a little bit. then i make a second pass bagging everything up. i use high lift blades.

leaves a nice spotless look. the lawns look like it was spring or summer time when i'm done.

Yep there is no way mulching the leaves up leaves as good a look as a bagged yard its the truth. Every place is different some may have more leaves than other.

[sdk1959]

Originally Posted by yardguy28

the mowers are fine. when i mulch leaves even on a weekly basis there is a brownish color left in the lawn from all the mulched up leaves.

i don't care for that look and neither do my clients.



nope never agreeing with the clients just to get the job.

it's the only way i will do fall clean ups. i don't even own a mulch kit for my 52" grandstand. i do have one for the 36" metro but that comes off when the leaves start falling.

if the leaves are thick i make one pass letting the catcher fill up and keep going which mulches the leaves a little bit. then i make a second pass bagging everything up. i use high lift blades.

leaves a nice spotless look. the lawns look like it was spring or summer time when i'm done.

Yeah, the lawn may look slightly "nicer" if you stand right on the lawn than a properly mulched lawn but the lawn looks like crap till late fall because customers will wait till then to get the leaves picked up. Also it does nothing to amend the lawn with nutrients, and leaf pick-up costs about 2x the cost of mulching the leaves(more for bigger yards with big trees).

Proper leaf management is mulching the leaves 2-6 times depending on conditions DURING the fall season not waiting till a lawn with a lot of mature trees has a 6" blanket of leaves with damp leaves on the bottom layer and trying then to mulch them. By then it's pick-up time and customers will pay dearly for it. Pick-up and leaf removal estimates up to $1000 for a 1 acre property with many tall mature trees is not uncommon in my area, customers have told me so. Large crews with backpack blowers, tarps loaded with leaves you can't get though narrow gates, leaf loaders, a dump truck, travel time to and from the dump site, dump fees, etc. It is clear why with what's involved why these estimates are common.

[MikeRi24]

all good points....the leaves are already changing around here. You guys that are still doing cleanups into december, that must be nice. By december we have already plowed snow once maybe twice! In my area, cleanups start anywhere from like NOW til mid november is usually when we do the final cleanup. Grass still grows and needs cutting right up until the end of october, so I think thats whats throwing a lot of people off is the fact that the grass still needs to be cut so the leaves will be picked up with it, which is why I am having to make phone calls and explain to people thats not how it works.

[kilgoja]

Originally Posted by sdk1959

Yeah, the lawn may look slightly "nicer" if you stand right on the lawn than a properly mulched lawn but the lawn looks like crap till late fall because customers will wait till then to get the leaves picked up. Also it does nothing to amend the lawn with nutrients, and leaf pick-up costs about 2x the cost of mulching the leaves(more for bigger yards with big trees).

Proper leaf management is mulching the leaves 2-6 times depending on conditions DURING the fall season not waiting till a lawn with a lot of mature trees has a 6" blanket of leaves with damp leaves on the bottom layer and trying then to mulch them. By then it's pick-up time and customers will pay dearly for it. Pick-up and leaf removal estimates up to $1000 for a 1 acre property with many tall mature trees is not uncommon in my area, customers have told me so. Large crews with backpack blowers, tarps loaded with leaves you can't get though narrow gates, leaf loaders, a dump truck, travel time to and from the dump site, dump fees, etc. It is clear why with what's involved why these estimates are common.

this seems to be common up north from what i've read on here....you guys are lucky...noone down here has or will pay that kind of money to get their leaves removed from their yards down here lol

[yardguy28]

Originally Posted by stan the man

once mowing has stop fall clean up is the money if i don't get them fall clean up then i get them spring clean up. mowing now is no much in a week. and all my accounts know that it cost them more in the spring if they don't have it done it the fall.plus they know them they don't have fall and spring clean ups they don't get a free turkey for Thanksgiving

clients don't get free turkeys with fall or spring clean ups.

Originally Posted by sdk1959

Yeah, the lawn may look slightly "nicer" if you stand right on the lawn than a properly mulched lawn but the lawn looks like crap till late fall because customers will wait till then to get the leaves picked up. Also it does nothing to amend the lawn with nutrients, and leaf pick-up costs about 2x the cost of mulching the leaves(more for bigger yards with big trees).

Proper leaf management is mulching the leaves 2-6 times depending on conditions DURING the fall season not waiting till a lawn with a lot of mature trees has a 6" blanket of leaves with damp leaves on the bottom layer and trying then to mulch them. By then it's pick-up time and customers will pay dearly for it. Pick-up and leaf removal estimates up to $1000 for a 1 acre property with many tall mature trees is not uncommon in my area, customers have told me so. Large crews with backpack blowers, tarps loaded with leaves you can't get though narrow gates, leaf loaders, a dump truck, travel time to and from the dump site, dump fees, etc. It is clear why with what's involved why these estimates are common.

maybe your clients wait until late fall to get the leaves removed but my clients have me continue coming weekly. once weekly mowing starts in the spring i don't stray from that until all the leaves are off the trees at the end of november.

you might charge twice the amount but thats your charging NOT mine.

i don't do the stop mowing and show up 2 or 3 times during the fall to remove leaves. even one time jobs are mowed up with the mowers and grass catchers.

i can get probably about 10 clients worth of leaves in the back of my pick up truck until about half way through fall. then i have to make stop in the middle of the day at the compost site. there are also a few client that i dump in the median because our city comes 2 times a season and picks up everyones leaves. dumping them in the median is not the preferred method though but if most of the houses in the neighborhood around my clients have piles out there i will dump them out there because the wind will blow leaves from those piles back into the yard anyway.