WIDE OPEN

[gmcarn]

I was asked to give a price on maintaining a church property. The area in close around the building, is easy to figure a price. Very little trim work , seven red tips, and a 75 ft. x 20 ft. bedding area. (appox)

My problem is figuring a price on the open land. (about 6.5 acres) Never bid a job with so much wide open land. Will be cutting with a 33" deck Snapper and a 44" deck ZTR. Two mowing at the same time.(on trim & no edging) cut only.

I plan on offering a price based on servicing the church area weekly and the open land every other week. The church is on a tight budget.

An annual contract billed the same per month. Any ideas?



Edited by - gmcarn on Sep 03 2002 8:04:41 PM

[AAffordable]

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Gmcarn, I would suggest on a price per acre then times it by 6.5.
We live in the Mountains and most of are property is in acres I would charge about $20per acre with the equipment you have and running two.
If you say they have a low budget the you might be able to go lower.
How long would it take you to mow 1 acre?Both running say 20 min.If so you would make $60 an hour.Hope this helps you!

Donny & Cynthia Moore

Donny&Cynthia Moore

[gmcarn]

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Aaffordable: Sounds reasonable. I was guessing in the $350.00 range per month. With $130.00 per service x 2 on the open area and $35.00 x 4 on the close in area. This will put it at $400.00 per month.

Thanks GMcArn

[Green Giant]

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Irrigated? What type of grass? I'd go with a set monthly price but figure it all in. Weekly year round?(for the church). For Florida you could do it every two weeks during the winter(the church). For the acreage,depending on what type of grass it is you could get by mowing once a month during the winter,if the conditions are right (I'm thinking about the tight budget,I have a few like that.)During the summer a two week stretch could be kind of tough if we have a lot of rain.
42 services sounds pretty close,for the church.Maybe 20-24 for the acreage. (Unless the church needs to have you weekly.) Do up your bid.(Seperate the two,so they can see what they will be paying for maintaining the church and what it will cost to keep the acreage mowed.) Then add it up and divide by 12.
Don't sell yourself short if you have help.

In edit..I hate to tell people what they should charge. But scaper is right.A little bit low. You may be in for a surprise on the time needed to service the property.

Dennis E.
Grasshopper Lawn
Mulberry,Fl.
(Green Giant is my truck!)

Edited by - Green Giant on Sep 03 2002 8:58:06 PM

[Scaper-S2k]

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I think that sounds kinda low. With the equipment you mentioned, I think that will take you a bit of time. Especially if some of it goes for 2 weeks.

Not to rub anyone the wrong way, but I think most churches claim to be on a tight budget. I think what they are 'really' saying is that they are on a tight budget for thie r mowing accounts only.

What kind of time are you thinking it will take for this job when you mow the entire place?

I think $130 for 6.5 acres is too low....even for a church.

Good luck, keep us posted.


<<Don't Fear the Green!>>

[srlawnservice]

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GMCARN,

I think you're a little low but I'm in the Northern VA area. If they will let you, I would recommend giving them a HUGE range and see if they will let you do it once and then give them the actual dollar value.

I've done this on one or two residentials and both the cusotmer and me win. The problem is when they figure out what you're trying to make per hr/min. They win and don't even know it. Customers don't understand drive time, equipment costs, admin costs, etc. All they see is 30 min = 30 bucks = 60 dollars/hr. Go figure.

Best of luck
RL

[gmcarn]

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Thanks for all the fast feed-back! I'm the only one bidding at this time. This is a friend of mines father who ministers the church, but he will have to get approvel from the others. They want me to cut this week and I can give them the annual price by friday. This will give me a chanch to see how long it will take to cut and then price accordingly. I did not know if accerage went for less than other commercial. Seems the same, depending on what you want to make per hour. By the way, the grass is bahaa and there is no irrigation.