Help needed on lawn bid!!!!

[AAffordable]

We got a call on a lawn bid it is about 3 acres of flat mowing done every 7 days and done from mid March too mid November.They also want us too include fertilzer by Scotts four times a year and keep any eye on the trees. Also add in labor for clearing a bank once a year that is about 500ft. by 100ft. He wants us to come up with a total year price and divide by twelve then he will send us a check once a month.
The only thing he wants us to bill him for on top of the once a month is if a tree dies and needs replaced or if mulch is needed in a garden but he wants the labor for planting and laying mulch if needed in the monthly price.He says it takes aprox. 8.5 hours to mow with a 42" mower and weeded the lawn. We have never priced anything this big yet.There is also a creek going down the middle of his lawn and a creek going along the right side of his prop. If you need any more info too help we would be happy to give info on it. THANKS SO MUCH!!!If anything comes up that he needs done like trim a bush he wants it added in the monthly price. This is there summer home.Thanks again!!!

[Scott]

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question: if you're cutting from march to november and he wants to be billed monthly, why is he asking for a 12 month pay period? I'd want all my money per month if you catch my drift. Also is it currently maintained? If not I'd tack on a healthly initial cut fee and figure that in.

size is approx. 131,000 sq ft.
If you go by the $1 per min method and his #'s and that type mower you're at $510 per cut.
Some people bid by sq ft @ .003($30 for a 10k yard, might be low for your area) which is $393 per cut.

I'd have to see the embankment to help you with that. Little over an acre, would you have to weedeat the whole thing or could you manage a rider or w/b through it?

Overall this fee would mainly depend on how well your mower cuts and at what speed. I think mine is rated something like 4 acres per hour but I'm sure that would be under perfect conditions, little growth, new blades, new belts, and no obstactles. You could probably cut that # in 1/2 and have a more realistic estimate on time on just the mowing. With good commercial equipment you could probaly finish in under 6 hours for basic cut.

I charge $3 and up per bush. Tree trimming is a minimum of $10. Tree replacement would depend on cost and size.

When you draw up the proposal, under fertilizing, just state "fertilize quarterly" leave the brand name out unless they say something. Then tell them you have access to a professional grade fertilizer brand like Lesco, Anderson or whatever you use. You can probably get http://www.lesco.com/ or http://www.andersonsinc.com/menu.htm ferts cheaper and in larger quanities. Find out what fert. you'd like to use, get the amount of coverage for the biggest bag, do some divison to figure out how many bags you'll need per application, multiply that by your cost times 3. That will tell you how much to charge per application. Probably in the neighborhood of $400-$500 per application.

Maybe if you posted some pictures we could help you a bit more.

[lawrence stone]

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The going rate (if you can get it) $1 per 1k sq ft.

So this job will go for about $129 per cutting.

A real LCO with a 60" ZTR could do the entire job in 2 hours or less.

Even with my old 62" belt drive it would be a three hour job and that includes the trimming.

You are way out of your league here. Stick to cutting small city lots for old ladies for cash.

[Scott]

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Screw that, go for it. Bid what you think it's worth and if you don't get it, find out who did and for how much and chalk it up as a learning experience.
Now that I think about it you could possibly get it done is 3, depends what what kinda mower you got and how flat the land is. Post some pics, let's check it out!!!