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Adding slit seeding this spring. What should we charge.

3K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  DoetschOutdoor 
#1 ·
I have been in the fert. business for over 25 years. I also aerate. I have recentely purchased a slit seeder at the Columbus show this November, due to large amount of requests for seeding. In the past I would pass the jobs out to a friend of mine, but due to the large amont of requests and the extra cash involved I decided to add this as an additional service this spring. Any help would be appericated in how to price jobs, ex. sq. ft. or by the 1000, or min. prices. Also, I'm located in the metro Detroit area, any ideas on seed recomendations. Thanks, Jerry.
 
#4 ·
Hi Matt,

Bought a Turf revitalizer. Will do 20,000 sqft./hr. There talking a straight line, will have to take into account criss crossing, around trees, ect. A friend of mine charges $10.00/1000 with a min. of $40.00. Seems real cheap, I don't know how you can make any money there.
 
#6 ·
Jerry,
Hello and welcome. Around here, we get 70-75 dollars/M for slitseeding as it applies to renovation. This is for amounts that equate to covering bare ground. If we spray an area off first, it goes for a mi imal amount inclusive in the process. I hope this helps. Oh,...this also includes starter fert..
 
#7 ·
My seeder is a Ryan and i can get about 12,000'/hr if its level. Seeders vary greatly on speed however, i pretty much know how long it will take me to seed a certain property with my seeder, do some practice runs on differents hills etc. and you can get an idea of the amount of square feet you will get done in an hour.
 
#8 ·
Thanks everyone for the feed back. Im sure most of the jobs I will pick up are for repair from snow & salt, fungus, animals, ect. A lot of them will be only parts of a lawn. I will clean up the site if necessary, seed and put down a starter fert. I don't want to get hosed by not chargeing enough, but I don't want to scare off people with some outrageous prices, Thanks, Jerry.
 
#10 ·
Simple charge what works in you area,charge per pound at say $4 bucks per pound or charge per hourly rate,one guy here charges $100 a hour now the customer will flinch but we does stay busy,on small turf i charge $150 bucks and make a little on the seed,to rent a machine is going to cost $100 a day so keep it in mind.
 
#11 ·
Whatever you charge, Remember this: a renovater/seeder is still basically a drop seeder. That means that you will need a little practice in overlapping the rows correctly. Try it on bare ground first to see where it lays the seed. Nothing screams LOSER more than a lawn full of gaps and voids. I have a picture of a lowballer's work that I show to prospective clients, it sells my services every time.
 
#14 ·
Remember this: a renovater/seeder is still basically a drop seeder. That means that you will need a little practice in overlapping the rows correctly. Try it on bare ground first to see where it lays the seed. Nothing screams LOSER more than a lawn full of gaps and voids.

I was having this problem so I spread the seed first and then run over it with the equipment. At least now I know the seed is spread evenly.
 
#15 ·
Just bought the machine at the Columbus show this past fall. Cant tell you much about it now, I liked the whole package, people who sell the product and when I compared it to other models it seemed to be the right choice. Cant wait for spring, need to go out and make some whompum. Jerry.
 
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