two or three man mowing crew?

I trying to decide if it's better to run two or three man mowing crews. I usually run two men but i'm trying tree guys to get done quicker so i can get to landscaping works that i am way backed up on. The way i do it is have two guys mow and one guy trimm and blow. It dosn't seem like it saves that much time though because i can't find anybody that aucually knows how to trimm. The guys are trimming the the woods and leaving the stuff in the middle of the yard. What do you guys think i should do?

 

Train them better. I've traditonally made more money with a 2-man crew (and had fewer mangerial headaches, less ride time, etc.), but this year I put on a third guy to work with the mowing crew part-time and do independent projects other times (beds, trim work, etc.), but I've been so busy and he's worked so well that I rarely let him off the mowing crew! Problem: You have less personal quality control because you want to keep moving due to dead time waste. Final analysis: depends on the jobs, the quality of the help, your equipment, and your system. I usually have one guy follow after me weedeating (I'm on a ZTR) in the front yard, one guy go ahead of me in the back, and the first finisher blow.

 

I run a three man crew. But my guys care about what they are doing. I think once in a while you are always going to have to go over someone elses work.

 

my guys also care about what they are doing especialy the other guy i have on the mower. I have one person that i've tried to train since last year but he only works for me sometimes cause he works in Kings super market too(mabey that explians it)but he just can't get the concept that to make a job look good you don't have to spend all day there. I have another person that i started training this week and he's never used a trimmer before, but he might be alright when he gets that hang of it. Anyway i think i'm starting to ramble so thanks for tha advice.

 

my guys also care about what they are doing especialy the other guy i have on the mower. I have one person that i've tried to train since last year but he only works for me sometimes cause he works in Kings super market too(mabey that explians it)but he just can't get the concept that to make a job look good you don't have to spend all day there. I have another person that i started training this week and he's never used a trimmer before, but he might be alright when he gets that hang of it. Anyway i think i'm starting to ramble so thanks for tha advice.

 

(Speaking from someone who handles mostly residential lawns)<p>Hands down - 2 guys per crew. I have tried it all ways. In my experience, 1 guy can do about 13-15 yards a day by himself. 2 guys can do 20-25 max. 3 guys do 22-27 max. Barely a noticeable difference when I put 3 men on a 2 man crew. And if I take a day that 2 guys usually get done at 5:00 on, and put another guy on that day, they save maybe an hour at most. Hardly worth it. <p>As you can see from the above statement, the most efficient is a ONE man crew. So why don't I use one man crews? Well, it's simple. That would require twice as many trucks, twice as many trailers, twice as many edgers, blowers, sprayers,etc. And if one guy gets sick on a 2 man crew, the guy who's left can handle most of the day on his own. But if a guy gets sick on a 1 man crew, you are screwed and will be way behind. <p>----------<br>Jim Lewis - Lewis Landscape Services<br>http://www.lewislandscape.com

 

I agree with Mr. Lewis. The most cost effective crew is a team of ONE. For all the reasons he stated plus accountability and SAFETY we usually use two persons teams. On the big jobs we schedule two or more teams to the job.

 

I agree with the posts two man is the way to go -We do mostly residential.<br>I run a third guy Wed, Thurs, Fri, more as a back up if someone is sick, hurt or if there have been rain days.<br>Yesterday, for example, two man crew did 23 lawns 8-5:30. Three man crew only an hour quicker.<br>Just my thoughts