Lawn Care Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

To mow weekly or bi-weekly?

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 30 Posts
O

Outdoor_Maintenance_2010

· Registered
Joined
·
269 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
this is being working in my head for a while now,

should i make contracts for weekly mowing or bi-weekly?

they way i see it is bi-weekly i would get more customers and extra time for other extra stuff to do like little landscape jobs...

weekly can also make me loose my time if we have a summer with no rain,

last year it rain alot and the grass was growing like crazy i heard guys from company's saying that they almost couldn't"t make it each week because it was raining to much...

when i do a contract should say ill be cutting there lawns when necessary so if it would be a rainy season weekly and if not bi=weekly?

so your thoughts?
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#4 ·
I have quite a few bi weekly accts. I don't like them, but in my area, eldery customers won't generally pay for weekly. That being said, if you have even normal rainfall, a yard that hasn't been mowed in 2 weeks could be 8 inches tall or more. I had an elderly lady (biweekly acct) today who keeps telling me to cut it shorter every time I mow. I got there today and the clover in the yard was a foot tall. I mowed it at 2.5 inches and you bail hay off it after the first cut. It had to be double cut because I won't leave a yard looking that way. She still came out and told me it was too tall. I told her (with a smile on my face) either keep paying her current rate and like it because I can't and won't triple cut her yard for her regular price, or go to weekly and have a better looking yard. She said she'd have to think about it. Long story, but that's the kind of crap some customers will try to pull on biweeklys.
 
#6 ·
i hear that man. i hate my biweeklys. i have 2 right now. im going to tell this one lady the same thing. its a $40 biweekly cut, and is just getting too tall to cut every 2 weeks. im thinking of dropping her if she doesnt go weekly. ill drop it to 35 weekly for her, but i usually charge at least an extra 5-10 for biweekly cuts than i normally would charge for a weekly. i feel bad doing this, but im getting screwed and wasting alot of time on her lawn because like JSW said, i wont leave a yard looking like crap
 
#7 ·
Bryce Mock said:
If it were me I would leave it to the property owners to decide. when making up your contracts you could put a check mark box for either bi-weekly or weekly. thats how mine is. Jus my .02

Bryce
Click to expand...
My contracts have the same thing.

I always ask the customer right up front what the are looking for. When I give an estimate it is on the back of my business card $XX WEEKLY or $XX BI-WEEKLY. I would typically charge 1.5 as much for bi-weekly accounts as weekly. Warm season grasses are not as bad as cool season grasses to cut bi-weekly but it still will take longer and not look as nice. I remember when I lived in PA if you cut bi-weekly it would take twice as long as it would weekly not to mention the extra wear on your equipment and the lawn would look like it was bush hogged. I personally would not take on a bi-weekly cool season lawn. If anything I would do weekly in the spring and then maybe bi-weekly in July/August then weekly again in the fall. But that can be a bit much to keep up with.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#8 ·
Just a handful of years ago, every residential customer I had was a weekly cut... and if for some reason I was running a day behind they'd be calling me making sure they were still on the schedule that week before I even had a chance to call them.

Seems like biweekly is becoming more of a "norm" in my area, even though these customers still have their thick bermuda and zoysia lawns fertilized and they water religiously... so it takes more time cutting them. So we do "upcharge" for most of our biweekly cuts. When quoting a job I usually tell them something like "if you want to get on our weekly schedule it will $X... if you want it cut biweekly it will be $X + $Y" (where Y is an additional charge for biweekly). IMO we should be upcharging by about 50% on many of the biweekly cuts we do based on how much extra time it takes to cut the yard when they really should have been cut a week ago, but Id say on average we get an extra 20% to 25%.
 
#10 ·
I don't do anything besides weekly. around here, especially in the spring and fall the grass grows like you wouldnt believe and sometimes you could almost cut it once every 5 days rather than 7. I always tell my customers that in the middle of the summer when everything is dried out and nothing is growing, if it doesnt need to be cut then I wont cut it and dont charge them.
 
#12 ·
MikeRi24 said:
I don't do anything besides weekly. around here, especially in the spring and fall the grass grows like you wouldnt believe and sometimes you could almost cut it once every 5 days rather than 7. I always tell my customers that in the middle of the summer when everything is dried out and nothing is growing, if it doesnt need to be cut then I wont cut it and dont charge them.
Click to expand...
That si some good advice.

When I lived in PA I cut my own personal lawn twice a week in the spring, all 4 acres of it.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#13 ·
On a fertilized lawn, forget it. It'll be 14" high by the time you get to it. I'm a firm believer in raising the rate for a bi-weekly cut. 1.25x is a good guideline.

My reasoning is that it's more work and less money. It is worth it if you can fill the other week with a lawn in the same area though. Keeps the routes tight.
 
#16 ·
Weeklies make you the most money and less strain on your equipment...there's no two ways about it. But some homeowners want bi-weekly so you have to adjust. Customers rule. I've got both going in any given schedule. Make sure your schedule book is on target and up to date or you'll screw it up and mow when you're not supposed to. Mowing is a fluid business. When it dries up during August, bi-weekly won't be so bad on your mower. April is pretty tough sometimes with all the rainy conditions. Keep both options open and push the weekly mows.
 
#18 ·
I tell new customers I only do 7 or 10 day rotations. I do have a couple biweek accounts but I took one last year that only wanted the yard cut every 2 weeks then she would complain about all the grass in her yard. People around here don't want to pay more for lawn care. They don't care if you are destroying your equipment. They will just hire the next (uninsured) guy. I pass them up unless they are easy yards that I can run a lawnboy through. I'm not destroy spindles hitting stuff hiding in 5" of grass.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#20 ·
Just had a lady pull the bi-weekly thing tonight. I quoted her a price and then she says can you do it every other week. I said "sure but due to the extra wear and tare on my equpment and the additional time it would take to do it every other week I woud have to charge XX". Which was 1.5 of the first quote then she said just do it weekly.

Most of the new accounts I am getting right now are 2 weeks+ over due for a mowing and it is taking me twice as long as it should. I would not want to let them go for 2 weeks and have to deal with it all over again at a weekly price.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
1 - 20 of 30 Posts
About this Discussion
29 Replies
20 Participants
Last post:
Nu-Scape
Lawn Care Forum
posts
7.2M
members
230K
Since
1999
A forum community dedicated to lawn care and landscaping professionals and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Lawn Mowing Pesticide & Herbicide Application 🔧 Mechanic and Repair Business Operations Lawn Mowing Equipment