Oh I learned the feeling of having more work than I can finish is when business is as good as it gets. See I learned the hard way, maybe for you guys things are different but around here SOME folk don't want to pay SQUAT to get their leaves done. Crazy, NOBODY wants to do them, but yet a LOT of folk don't want to PAY standard industry rate, so there has to be a solution...
From my point of view, MY estimate is THEIR bid. It would be nice if I could go in and quote prices like I do, which is tell them the best price I can give them is if I can do the job first, then I will know how much it will cost. MOST don't go for it (thou more than a few of my regulars do), so then I HAVE to quote high due to variables which I'm no longer willing to eat, and of course then some proceed to bargain and drive down the price and at this point, MY estimate has become THEIR bid!
Thus highest bidders always get the job done first, then once ALL my higher bidded jobs are done, I'll consider the low bids, thou usually there is this problem, yes, more work than I could finish. I used to feel bad about it, until one too many times someone got me to do a real pita leaf clean-up for around $15/hour and after I did more than a few of those, I got this attitude about it all.
Far as visits...
I schedule my leaves in 2-3 visits because the 10hp goat can handle piles several feet tall but beyond that, things get a bit rough. In the end, 2400 cfm is 2400 cfm and the amount of leaves to be MOVED takes the SAME amount of time whether this amount is moved in 1, 2, or 3 visits because it's all in VOLUME and so whether I move 20 thousand cubic feet 3 times or 60 thousand cubic feet once, it's all done at the rate of 2,400 cfm... BUT:
Leaves move EASIEST during the earlier part of fall, and get progressively harder as the rain (and sometimes snow) drives them into the ground. As things get cooler, frost further frustrates efforts AND as more leaves fall, the windier it gets because there's less COVER from the trees.
But to each their own, I've done all-in-one and I've done 2 and 3 visits, it's all the same to me, it started a week or so ago and it won't be over until mid January or thereabouts, so it just don't matter. Some my cleanups invariably will be all-in-ones, hopefully I can keep up with most but no, not all will get done, that's just the way it goes when some folks feel 35 dollars is a fair rate to clean a 1/2 acre prop surrounded by trees, that to me is a LOW bid and is considered much later when I got folks willing to pay $50/ hour, I unfortunately have to prioritize a bit around the 'money talks' scenario, not to mention $50/hour is WORTH an hour's worth of 2,400 cfm is MORE leaves than what the most dedicated raker could move in TEN HOURS, it's 4-6 times more than the high end backpack blowers can move, and once you feel the PAIN of pushing a mid-frame blower around as if it was self-propelled, I'm sure you'll agree it is WORTH it.
