charge for cross mowing???

[rldrew]

What do you guys think. . .

If a customer wants you to cut their lawn with a cross stripe pattern, would you charge more for the increased wear and tear on your equipment??? On top of that if it takes you one hour to mow in one pattern you have to run your mower for another hour to apply the opposite pattern. . .

Cross stripes look good in fact down right sharp, but isn't that like mowing the lawn twice for cross stripping? [?]

[imograss]

reply

hey rldew,
i only do this if the customer requests it or im trying to get some attention on a showcase lawn. i usually charge 1 1/2 fot the cut. regular price plus half. you doing any work yet? its been unusually snowy and sloppy here huh?

[kutnkru]

reply

Any savvy mowing contractor knows that you cut a lawn at four different angles to prevent rutting the ground.

The four basic rotationl patterns are as follows:
You should mow house to curb one week ,,
You should mow either right or left 45* angle ,,
You should mow across the lawn the next ,,
And finally the opposite 45* angle to complete the rotation.

The only exception to this is areas that are:
A.) To small to worry about it
B.) To steep to safely do it.

[Seascape]

reply

I have 5 cuts in a gated community they they are all about 3 acres mowable. I cut diag about every 3 times to keep the lines. Ive found that they stick out among other homes and i have picked up 2 of them by other companies doing just what youve mentioned. about 5 others have stopped me in my truck to inquire the diag mow that theyre current companies want to charge for. I always tell them thats pretty much industry standards but that i dont charge for it if i only do it once a month.However i think i could snatch those accounts if i really wanted. As soon as i get another 61" i will. right now i have the common areas out there which pretty much makes for a full day. It doesnt take me much longer to stripe these out. I run wide open on a 61.
mike

[CCLS]

reply

I'm with Imograss and KutnKru, charge 1.5 times your regular cut because you have to double cut. Why do it for free? The only time I double cut is when the grass clumps up a little, and it needs to be cut again to make the lawn look good.

[kutnkru]

reply

I think that I misinterpreted the inital question.

If you have a client that has requested you "double" cut the lawn ie:
mow across and then mow house to curb, or both 45* angle patterns the YES I would charge them accordingly.

If they are simply requesting that you rotate four patterns when cutting each week then NO I would not charge them extra.