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Aeration and overseed

4K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  Tidewater Greenworks 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Just landed my first lawn renovation for this fall.

I'm thinking about doing a aeration, seeding & top dress with compost.

I'm having difficulty pricing this. don't want to go too high or too low

Any basic standards out there that i can follow?? i'm in southern New Hampshire.

i would really appreciate any help i can get.

Thanks
Diego
 
#2 ·
The topdress is a lot of work for little benefit--unless the customer insists on it.
My opinion, double aerate and double seed. Labor is a lot less.
Don't forget starter fertilizer (at the maximum rate).
Read his water meter--and insist he waters heavily. His water bill should show a major increase. Tell him no guarantee whatever if his water bill does not spike up.
 
#3 ·
I'd also like to see what people are charging for this typ of service.
Generally I get something like $15-20 per 1k for aerateing and it takes 45- 60 minutes to aerate 10k. I figure approximately 1 man hour to put out 1 yd at compost at 1yd per k...using wheelbarrels and forecasting method. Another $15-20 per 1k to seed, plus the cost of seed.
 
#7 ·
I'm going with the 3x the cost of mowing. I have seen folks talk about that formula for pricing

Let me know if i'm in the right track..

Thansk
I have heard that , now how do the fert and squirt companies that dont mow charge ? Aerating is a short season with long hours using a expensive machine that gets used a small portion of the year . Bid the job to make money . If you want to stand out and get recomendations , double aerate and double seed , use plenty of fert .
 
#9 ·
I do not understand $15 to $20 per thous to seed. Even if you are slow, you can use a spreader to cover 1000 sqft per minute.
If you paid $2 per pound for seed and applied 5 pounds per thousand, that is $10.
Using a slit seeder--the machine cost is much higher, of course. You should charge enough to pay off the machine cost in one year, (maybe two years). And it is much slower with a 24 inch wide slit seeder.
 
#10 ·
I do not understand $15 to $20 per thous to seed. Even if you are slow, you can use a spreader to cover 1000 sqft per minute.
If you paid $2 per pound for seed and applied 5 pounds per thousand, that is $10.
Using a slit seeder--the machine cost is much higher, of course. You should charge enough to pay off the machine cost in one year, (maybe two years). And it is much slower with a 24 inch wide slit seeder.
I only slice seed, never broadcast
 
#12 ·
That's interesting....I usually pay $2-3 per pound for most seed. This is at site one, not a big box store. Customer requested a specific seed that cost me $5 per pound for a job I just did recently. This was at a retail store though.

Regarding aeration prices.....I'm by no means the "cheap guy" as far as I know,and am not afraid to raise prices if I'm below market rate, but $15-20 per k for aerateing generally means $150-200 per man hour for me. This is using a walk behind aerator.....not even a stand on. I'm happy with that.

I think your post is referring to seeding not aerateing, but my slice seeder is actually faster than my aerator, so although I don't have production times with it I know I'm passing that $150-200 per hour mark.
 
#14 ·
I'm paying $60/bag, minimum 40 bags for tall fescue at turf & garden. If I order 2+ pallets I can specify a custom blend. Site One is a bit more, but not much. 0% weed/other crop certified. Perennial rye is less as are rye/fescue blends, annual rye is about half that. I've never done bermuda from seed, always sod so not sure what common bermuda seed pricing is here. $2/lb seems like high retail price to me, even single bag price is $75 here at Site One.

Edit: I think my confusion was that I thought you meant $10-15/k for the whole job, aeration/seeding/fert, etc. You're saying 10-15 just for the aeration part, right? That's pretty much in line with what I charge, of course I don't break it down like that. I'm never aerating cool-season unless I'm also seeding at the same time.
 
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