cemetery mow/trim - rates - Phil Nilsson

[thillteamsource]

Mr.Nilsson has posted a couple of times a rate for cemeteries of 1 hour mow, 2 hours trim per acre. Can you guys help me with a bit more data.

Is it safe to assume that those rates are for flat headstones? If so, can you help me estimate under the following conditions.

7 acres, all upright headstones. I plan to use a 48" or 52" SCAG rider ZTR (or comparable, I'm still shopping).

I'm pretty new to this site and just want to say that the amount of information you guys make available is fantastice. THANKS!!!

[Phil Nilsson]

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I believe you'll be okay figuring the two hours ample time for trimming even the upright type headstones ... BTW ... inquire as to weather you can use a growth regulator around those headstones to reduce the need to trim (frequencies) ... or if Roundup around stones is acceptable. If you can control and limit the "kill area" using Roundup around a stone to let's say two inches ... just enough to get a walkbehind up close you'll save big on total time. Even a growth regulator around stones will save big ... not to confuse further but many cemeteries have growth regulators applied to all grass areas, not just the headstones.

[thillteamsource]

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Wow, what a quick response, Thank you.

I will use your guideline for the trimming. I'll also query the city about growth regulators. They have stated "no roundup or Honcho". Do you have any suggestions regarding type of regulator. I will have to do some research and am open to any suggestions.

If you have time, I would like to go into the mowing one more time. The cemertery is about 160 years old. Yup, that's old for Texas. Some of the rows are are less than 3 feet from toe to head. Some are about 5'.
Which ever rider ZTR I buy will have hydraulic heigth adjustment.

Obviously mowing method will be critical. After I mow between most rows with the rider, would you use a small walk behind to clean up the "columns" or do them with the trimmer while clearing the head stones.

Again, thanks for the help and thanks for this site. I love it.

[BigJim]

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Cemeteries are best mowed after midnight,on the graveyard shift.You can cut back your staff too,just run a skeleton crew.Most LCO's dont mow them for long they find it a dead end job[]Sorry thats all my cemetary jokes.

[qualitylandscaping]

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BigJim,

Don't give the skeletons any ideas. I have a cemetary 200' from my house and I don't need any of them skels walking around my lawn at night![:p]

[BigJim]

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Don't worry no one escapes from a cemetary but people are dying to get in[B)]

[thillteamsource]

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[|)] Big Jim,,,, a chuckle now and then ,,,,[xx(]

[Hawkeye5]

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thillteamsource: When I worked at a National Cemetery as a groundskeeper we trimmed between the stones (columns) with the trimmer. You will develop your own technique, but I found that trimming the long side and the back edge of the stone (and between the stones) on one pass, and the same on the reverse worked best for me. Some trim the front edge, long side and back on one pass and then the other side on the return, but with the rotation of the trimmer head I would get sucked into the stone on occasion if I trimmed the front edge first. Keep in mind that this was with GI stones that are uniform in width and length. We could clip along pretty fast with a crew of four trimming stones. JD