28 Acres...no clue where to start!

[JCLawn and more]

14k for a 997 with a 72inch deck?
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[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by JCLawn and more

14k for a 997 with a 72inch deck?
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Correct. From 2 different dealers.

[JCLawn and more]

Someone liked you. The 72inch kubota is close to $16,000 and guys have been choosing them because that are cheaper than the 997.
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[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by JCLawn and more

Someone liked you. The 72inch kubota is close to $16,000 and guys have been choosing them because that are cheaper than the 997.
Posted via Mobile Device

We looked at the ZD series but we never got a quote. We liked them but we have had great luck with Deere and will likely stick with them when we buy a new Z next year.

[Falzy]

I always take 3 ZTR's out on big jobs like that so I know I can get it done and a day (max), then you can figure out what do buy after that. How do you get three mowers on it when you don't own one? Ask some friends in the business to help you out.....that's how I learned. Good friends and a case of beer!!

72 can cut around 24 acres in an 8hr day (Scag Turf Tiger). Looks like limited weeder/edge etc. $1000 a mow is fair for our area (Texas border is not yet secured!!)

[Aaronnc]

Dude. Seriously. You need to learn how to work smarter, and not harder. It sounds like you might have some ins cuz your mom works there. Work that connection. Bid $3k a month, and if you get it, sub it out for $2500 a month. Problem solved. Repeat as needed.

[jsslawncare]

You know how sometimes our post's are deleted? Sometime's I wish thread's were deleted too.

[herler]

I have more bad news for folks who think more expensive equipment means more money in someone's pocket, it doesn't and if it does it's because someone's ripping off the customer. Higher priced equipment comes at a cost, this cost comes out of that money so all the folks who think that 20-year old machine that plows along at a snail's pace isn't cutting it, at least it's all paid up.

Case someone ain't figured that out, the grass ain't greener on the other side of the fence.
Time and again, more work gets done only means higher costs on the other end.
It's in the balance, all yin and yang.

So a diesel doesn't make more, where the fuel is cheaper it also costs more to maintain so at the end of the month it's the same money in the owner's pocket as the guy with the 21", the higher dollar machines have more overhead, neither the price for the job nor the labor cost increases because someone found a more expensive piece of equipment, it might get the job done faster but everyone still gets paid the same in the end.

Matter of fact the guy with the 21" might actually be better off if he gets to stay in the same place for a considerable period of time, $15 an hour for 4 hours is the same as $60 for one hour when the overhead on the $15 / hour job runs $5 total but on the $60 / hour runs $50, either way it's $10 an hour labor and like it or not that is how it's supposed to work out.

[orangemower]

Originally Posted by herler

I have more bad news for folks who think more expensive equipment means more money in someone's pocket, it doesn't and if it does it's because someone's ripping off the customer. Higher priced equipment comes at a cost, this cost comes out of that money so all the folks who think that 20-year old machine that plows along at a snail's pace isn't cutting it, at least it's all paid up.

Case someone ain't figured that out, the grass ain't greener on the other side of the fence.
Time and again, more work gets done only means higher costs on the other end.
It's in the balance, all yin and yang.

So a diesel doesn't make more, where the fuel is cheaper it also costs more to maintain so at the end of the month it's the same money in the owner's pocket as the guy with the 21", the higher dollar machines have more overhead, neither the price for the job nor the labor cost increases because someone found a more expensive piece of equipment, it might get the job done faster but everyone still gets paid the same in the end.

Matter of fact the guy with the 21" might actually be better off if he gets to stay in the same place for a considerable period of time, $15 an hour for 4 hours is the same as $60 for one hour when the overhead on the $15 / hour job runs $5 total but on the $60 / hour runs $50, either way it's $10 an hour labor and like it or not that is how it's supposed to work out.

I can say, that I have paid for my "expensive" equipment and didn't rip anyone off in the process. I also can say, I make a bunch more then any ten dollars an hour using my expensive equipment.

[Gilmore.Landscaping]

ok get this back on track....
my buddy does alot of farms and acreages and has gotten the contracts by not cutting the entire property. Simple fact is you can make the pastures and fenced areas look good with little effort. He cuts 1 or 2 passes inside the fence and it keeps a neat appearance and just let the pastures grow.

Judging by that property you could probably eliminate about 4-8 acres of cutting.

This is what I mean.