Impossible to say without size and all properties are different.

I have a helper or 2 with me now, but back when I was solo, I managed 21 one day during a catch up (Smaller development 1/4 acre to a 1/3) and in clusters. Should comfortable be able to do a regular development lawn in 30 min, so a cluster or 2 and you should be at 13-16 a day pretty easy


As far as only 8 hours, might as well work an office job.... If there's money out there need to make it during the season while you can. Rest in off season.

Not saying kill yourself working 15 hours a day, but 10-11 won't kill you.

 

Impossible to say without size and all properties are different.

I have a helper or 2 with me now, but back when I was solo, I managed 21 one day during a catch up (Smaller development 1/4 acre to a 1/3) and in clusters. Should comfortable be able to do a regular development lawn in 30 min, so a cluster or 2 and you should be at 13-16 a day pretty easy

As far as only 8 hours, might as well work an office job.... If there's money out there need to make it during the season while you can. Rest in off season.

Not saying kill yourself working 15 hours a day, but 10-11 won't kill you.

Yeah, 8hrs is what I'm thinking now but, when it really hits its not like I'm going to leave money on the table.. We'll see what happens. But an office job? $10-11 an hour? No thanks.Even at $14 an hour...no thanks.

I've always worked for myself anyways.

 

I have a similar cap of 10. Right now I'm at 8 lawns 3 days a week. It's not bad as they are very close together. You have to account for speed and things like rain or illness. I would say solo, max 15-16. Otherwise you'll kill yourself and If you get rained out you'll have 40+ the next day.

 

Also have to hope you have no equipment break downs, No traffic Jams. You would also have to have a perfect day, every day.

 

My typical lawn avg size 10k sq ft. If I run thru a doz myself a day I think that's mighty fine, 10 is decent.

 

I do 10-12 most days but I'm doing smaller city lots.

 

Hmmm. Maybe 12 then. All mine are regular suburban lots.All the same size except the corners. I service 3 suburban areas that blend together in like 10 miles.

 

As far as only 8 hours, might as well work an office job.... If there's money out there need to make it during the season while you can. Rest in off season.

Not saying kill yourself working 15 hours a day, but 10-11 won't kill you.

There are too many variables for a 1-size-fits-all answer, but Honda55 is right on target. Unless you're using a 21" push mower you should be averaging 2 lawns/hr solo. I'm in the Midwest and our season is slow in March, 100 mph April-June, then slows down a little in July August before picking up just a little most years, then tapers off in November. If you won't work for $14/hr for someone else it means you expect a decent living. And if you want to make a decent living in this line of work, solo, you'll be working a helluva lot more than 8 hours a day during the spring months.

 

thats a tough question to answer... I have one property I mow...not getting off the mower to trim is straight 9 hrs....trimming is another 1 hr or more....another property is 3 hrs straight no trimming....then I go into the city and can knock out 8 lawns in 1 1/2 hours and trimming is another 1/2 hour. Number of lawns isnt important if you are making the money you need per hour...I've had days where I spent more time traveling than mowing....its all what you are comfortable with...sure if the client I mow 9+ hours for drops me I need to find new accounts to make up the loss, doesnt mean I have to go find one large property of 9 new clients...I just have to find 9 hrs of work at the same rate of pay...

 

That's me too...I have one account that takes 12-13 hours in the summer. I have one other yard I fit in as its close to my large account. So 2 accounts in 2 days lol. But it will vary largely depending on how spread out your yards are. 8-10 average size yards solo is okay to expect in a day but nothing is close together for me. I am only mowing about 3 full days and I have already accounted for 2 of my days. So the other day I try to fit in everything else. I really only have 6-7 stops on the 3rd day. Sometimes I break that up into 2 days as well. I just get tired and worn down quick with all my health issues. By hour 7 in the summer I am ready to fall over. I am trying to save 2 days per week to do other services. If I happen not to have much to do then a 3 day weekend isn't a bad option lol

 

Impossible to say without size and all properties are different.

Very true like most of mine normal is 2-2.5 acres+ big as I go is 5 acres here I do work solo 5 acres on this land unless homeowners have keep it up is pretty much trash yard. Sticks, nuts, limbs everywhere no one pays for cleanups either low income area and others want them done for pennies on the dollar.

It's pretty insane how much it has flipped from what it was last year to this year not been great for most people and constant crazy weather has been a butt kicker working around, warm, rain, cold just had 2 freezes this weekend been going since March 1st

I can if needed go past 15 acres on this rough mountain land that's a pretty brutal days work in the residential properties.

 

theres some cat on here claiming he does 20/day by himself but there small lots on a tight route.

All in all it depends on the yards. Theres one route I do and it takes me all day by myself and its 3 yards. But, then all my in town yards i could do 10-12 in a day

 

One thing you learn on Lawnsite quick, is how to sift through the embellishment and get to the facts and good advice.

 

1 to 5 depending on my schedule, no cookie cutter homes where I live.

 

15-20 depending on the size.

 

Working 8 hours per day in the lawn care industry :laugh: Sorry that's just silly.

Anyway, to answer your question...
It really depends on your route. If you go into a neighborhood where you can park the truck and do 4+ lawns on the same street, a solo guy can knock out 20 lawns per day doing this. But he's not going to do so in 8 hours either.

If your doing your "typical" route, there will be drive time between each property. The less distance the better, but if you spend just 6 minutes between each property... your looking at 1 hour lost per 10 lawns. If each lawn takes 30 minutes start to finish realistically your looking at around 13 lawns per day if you wish to work 8 hours.

On paper it sounds like "simple math" but in field that system just doesn't work. So many things throw this idea out the water. Weather, breakdowns, spring growth, even a conversation is just an example of the many things that mess up our time. Spring is the worst, as every lawn seems to take longer, and that's when the machines start snapping up as well.

 

On paper it sounds like "simple math" but in field that system just doesn't work. So many things throw this idea out the water. Weather, breakdowns, spring growth, even a conversation is just an example of the many things that mess up our time. Spring is the worst, as every lawn seems to take longer, and that's when the machines start snapping up as well.

I get what your saying. This is my first year full time. I say 10 lawns a day 5 days a week in 8 hours but...thats probably not how its going to work. Maybe it will be 12 hours a day.Maybe I will get more customers than predicted...maybe I will have to work on SAT. Hopefully my mower doesnt break..etc.

Thanks for the advice. I know its going to be challenging but....glad Im working for my challenge instead of someone else's.

 

On Thursdays I mow a 50 unit strata with tiny tiny yards and 8 residentials of which 4 are on my route to the strata and 4 are on the drive home. Leave my house at 730 and get home at 530. Gross for that day is $605 not including extras which there always are.

On Wednesdays I mow one 8 acre property which is divided up into little lawns separated by pathways from 1k square feet to 25k square feet. With weed whacking that site takes me 8 hours to complete. That site goes for $850/week. Usually with my extras there it's a 10 hour day.

All depends on the property and if you are doing only mowing or extras too. I offer hedge trimming, fert, power rake, aeration, gardening, delivery of bulk material etc. If you can do more than just mowing you will find there is a LOT of extra money to be made. I find 80% of my customers pay me for extras listed above. I could make a great living without ever touching a lawnmower but mowing gets me into the customers yard where I up sell... ALL THE TIME

 

Depends on the size of the yards, equipment available, and ambition of the operator.

I am solo, do roughly 120-130 lawns per week. Ranging from cookie cutter to a couple in the 8 acre range. I normally work 6 days, but the one day I have almost 32 on schedule. Start with commercial at 6 and work til 8-9 that night. Most are small that day, and grouped together.

 

Depends on the size of the lots, but average city lots are usually about 6000 square feet with about 2000 being lawn (at least in my city) I can comfortably do 16 in a 8 hour day with a 21 inch self propelled. But I also work through the rain so I don't run the risk of falling behind.

If you are working with a 36 inch with a sulky, I'd easily be able to do 16 acreages a day, but if you are not working through the rain or you don't have employees to help out I might suggest taking a few less to account for delays in working.

Hope this helps

 

This year I have my schedule setup for 22 on Tuesdays, Wednesday 12, Thursday 14, and Friday 15. Tuesday almost every lawn took 20 minutes and the lonngest was 38 minutes. I have 3 sets of neighbors. Got started at 8:30 and got done at 6:40. This was done with a 36 inch turf tracer and a 30 inch timemaster. No exaggerating. My goal is to do as mow as few days a week as possible to have more time with my family and for extras like shrub trimming, which is much more profitable.

 

Like those numbers my man. On Tuesdays when you knock out 22 lawns, what is the average lot size? I live just outside of Washington, DC and crunching some numbers on picking up a city route

 

22 lawns at an avg of 30 mins is 11 hours worth, no drive time included I assume. Hope you got headlights.

 

I said almost every lawn took 20 minutes. Very tight route, little drive time. Just because someone has a different lawn setup than you do, don't assume it's a lie. I personally don't understand how anyone in Minnesotta can make a living in lawncare only with such long winters. That seems like a more remarkable feat than mowing over 20 lawns in a day. I remember talking to a guy from Duluth who said their flowers start blooming in June.

 

It depends on our route. We have one route that has bigger properties and we might get done 5 in a day. On a different route we have a bunch of smaller properties with short drive times and we can do about 20.

 

Yea...I think a lot of guys on here fish on the weekends with some of the stories. Around here an average lawn takes about 1.5 hrs...if you do it right and do more than just hit the high spots. I average between 5-8/day and all require driving. I have large commercial properties that take the better part of a day to do with a 72" mower.

 

I should have set exact size/drive time for this question.

Like, every lawn is a 6k sq foot lawn, flat, no obstacles, 1/4 are corner lots and require additional trimming, and drive time between all but 2 is 5-8 minutes. The other 2 are 10 mins drive time. Day total hours is 10.

Still some good answers though.

Right now, with those circumstances I believe 12 is about what I can do. Im still new though and am learing time saving techniques.

 

I do 5-7 per day on a 4 day schedule after working a full time job. Done by 7. Tight routes is your key, which can be tought if firat starting. Time to sack up.

 

The number completed in a given "work" day is irreverent...might get rain in the evening which piles up the work...or your smart and know a stretch of rain is coming so you pick up the trimmer and cram in an extra 2 before the rain sets in.....that's to say nothing of route delays/traffic and the rest of life getting in the way....route density too is a major factor. I have a cluster type of route with 15 minutes of driving between the different towns. IT's not as efficient as a row of homes on the same street, but it is profitable and hopefully this year I can turn the cluster into a row and pumpkin plan the client base.

but be realistic if you party Friday till 11pm.. and get up Saturday your.. not going to be going at it at 100%....or if your even legal to drive/work...whole story for another time...

you have to be flexible to accommodate clients, up sell work, and weather. When you learn your never ahead, well then you get productive

 

Like those numbers my man. On Tuesdays when you knock out 22 lawns, what is the average lot size? I live just outside of Washington, DC and crunching some numbers on picking up a city route

Average Lot Size Is 1/4 Acre Or Less. This Usually Its Much Less Than that. I dont Think in Terms Of Sq. Feet So I Couldnt Tell You That. Last Year I Got Many More Lawns In My Neighborhood And GOt My Route Down To 60 Lawns In 3.5 days and 1 Day of shrubs. Ive Come To the realization That Time Is More of a Valuable Commodity Than Money. No One Ever says on their death bed, "I wish I wouldve worked More"
That being Said, I Had My best income year ever doing that Schedule lat year. This year I plan on Getting The mowing Schedule Down To 3 days. Its not about how much you work, its about how much you charge, going after smaller lawns, And lawns With Limited driving time That makes a difference in this business. Also, dont Be afraid To do a few every Other Week Lawns. You can charge a Lot more for the hassle factor, and not much extra work is needed if its Small.

 

Excellent advice my man!
We share similar mentalities. Happiness and a well balanced quality of life is much more important to me than stacks of $$$. I enjoy lawn care so much, so on the other hand a 10 hour or more day doesn't faze me, I thrive off of the physicality of the industry.
Btw, how tight is your route and what % of your accounts are bi weekleys?

 

Seems like 9 and 10 become a grind. If I take a break after 8 it’s better. Lots all between 12,000- 18,000 square feet. 5-6 probably closer to the 16,000 to 18000

 

I could care less how many lawns I mow. I'm always looking at the max amount of $$ I can make in a day wether it's 5 lawns or 20). I've done $600 in mowing under 8hours but that's pushing my limits.