Would would you bid!

[Forest Hills]

I was wondering how long approx. 20 commercial acres would take to mow (Some rolling hills/Flat area) I have an idea but don't want to under/over bid what the job is worth!
I would be using a
1-2 48in exmark walk behind
1-60 inch. Laser
Also can you give me what you would charge on this! There is not much edging, but trimming! This 20 acres is spread across 5 different lots, 3 are next to each other, & 2 are next to each other about 5 miles away! This company will probably be a little bit picker then other commercial accounts!

I will be paying 2 employees $9.00 each and myself the owner!
Thanks in advance!

[jester]

With out looking at it I would have to say around $600.

[BSDeality]

i steer clear of large properties since you can't generate as much profit from them (generally speaking).

lets say you charged $60/acre, that's $1200/cut. I don't think anyone is going to pay over a grand to have 20 acres mowed every week unless they're EXTREMELY conscious of their property. I would bid it in the neighborhood of $1000-1500/cut depending on location and the clientel.

I wouldn't even be dissapointed if they laughed at me for my bid. I'd rather stay above $60/acre and do a little driving around than drop to $30/acre and spend the day.

[timinkc]

20 acres...about $400

[jaybird]

18 to 22 dollars per acrea

[greenback]

Originally posted by jaybird
18 to 22 dollars per acrea

really, so if i was one of your customers with an acre you would charge me 20 bucks for the mow. where can i sign my contract with you. what do you charge for a house with 1/4 acre????

[Lizard]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Forest Hills
I was wondering how long approx. 20 commercial acres would take to mow (Some rolling hills/Flat area) I have an idea but don't want to under/over bid what the job is worth!
I would be using a
1-2 48in exmark walk behind
1-60 inch. Laser
Also can you give me what you would charge on this! There is not much edging, but trimming! This 20 acres is spread across 5 different lots, 3 are next to each other, & 2 are next to each other about 5 miles away! This company will probably be a little bit picker then other commercial accounts!

I will be paying 2 employees $9.00 each and myself the owner!
Thanks in advance! [/QUOTE

With the Exmarks that you have, I would figure about 15 man hours without trimming considering varied terrain and travel time between jobs. I have no idea what the rates are around you, but $35.00 per hour is standard by us. This would come out to $525.00 per cut, or approx. $14,000 per season. If you bid any higher, I would bet you'll be underbid. Actually, I wouldn't be suprised if this job will be bid out for under $8,000 per season by some lowballer. Let me know what happens. Like other people have stated, it's hard to make a good profit on large accounts. I bid them out at $35.00 per hour, but really average 45 or 50 per hour with the smaller jobs including travel time.
Good Luck,
Lizard

[Flex-Deck]

In SE Iowa - My bid is $15 per acre x 20 = $300 + 5 unload fees @ $20 = $100 = $400 total. - With this mower I mow 6-7 acres per hr. which means that with travil time I would probably take 4.5 hrs to complete job = $89 per hr.

[DLCS]

Brad,

How does that extra deck handle the more rough terrain of most large acre jobs.

[Flex-Deck]

Tremendous - I adjusted my hydro so the tractor mows at 10 1/2 mph which is still too fast in august when it gets really dry and rough, but - I mowed all season last year with it, and absolutely no problems. It stood up to the rigors of 30 hrs per week with no problems. That is why I have not mentioned it too much. I wanted to R & D it first (Research and Developement)

When it is rough and dry and I have a lot of obstacles - 5 acres per hr.

When it is moist -(spring - fall) and I can go 10 1/2 - 7 acres per hr. even when having to trim around lines of equipment like in this pic.