Leaf pick up

[The landscaper]

Its still a little ways ahead but i was wondering how most of you guys did your leaf clean ups. I am going to look at a homemad vac unit tomorrow. I am curious to know on average yards what kind of volume of leaves should i expect to pick up. Any other tips would be helpful.

[The landscaper]

That would be a homemade unit just so no one is confused trying to figure out what kind of new brand that is. The gentleman has it set up to discharge the leaves into a lawntrailer which has 2 large garbage cans inside.

[Woody]

Man, I hope those are BIG trashcans! The truck we use has a 16 horsepower tow-behind vacuum leaf loader, and will hold over 14 cubic yards of leaves. And I consider this setup on the SMALL side. Hell, I have seen leaf loader vacuum units powered by 65 horsepower engines. Those are the ones that will suck a person into them, so extreme care must be used when operating them. I have seen the smaller units suck peoples boots right off too, along with hats, gloves, etc. They aren't a play toy for sure.

As to how much in the way of leaves.... Each property will be different. Oak leaves are tough and don't shred up/compact as good. Wet leaves are a whole different story than dry leaves. On smaller properties with fewer trees, you may be able to run nearly a day before emptying the truck out. Some larger props, or ones with lots of huge trees, you might have to empty the truck a few times for each property. You'll not know for sure until you do the actual job.

Woody

[Seascape]

Rig your vac up to your truck. Build a box on your truck. Should hold about 8 yds of shredded leaves. Thats a decent starter rig.

[steve-o]

fred flintstone days........ we still use the old tarp and rakes and a 16' trl. we did have some where we could blow em in the woods if they had them. i don't look forward to it cause it is hard work BUT we learned real fast how to charge for that trl. load of leaves. we also learned blowing them in the woods can be a real pain in the butt. the little wonder can only blow so much. ok guys now you can laugh at me and make some jokes. lol...... hell i am from va. not new jersey, only my wife is from n.j.......raised there but born in va. newbie you can even take a shot at me. lol!!!!!!!

[crzymoe]

I have a leaf loader that hooks to the back of my dumptruck. I built a box to add capacity to it, not sure how much i haul, but like woody said depends on the properties you do. I try to blow them in a pile and tarp them to the truck, a few bigger properties the customer let me drive to the pile, faster that way, but have to be careful about the ground, keeps raining like it has this year wont be doin much of that. For me it's just a two person crew, we charge $70 an hr for the two of us, im curious as to what everyone else charges

[Seascape]

we charge $70 an hr for the two of us, im curious as to what everyone else charges

$65 per man hr . 2,3,4 man crew w/ loader,w/b blower,billy goat, numerous backcpacks,tarps,rakes ,cans, and ztrns if needed.

[Woody]

About the exact price as Seascape...... It isn't easy work!

Last year, a friend told me I would NEVER get that kind of money! I told her how much I would charge to do a property in her neighborhood. She laughed, and said "no way". A few days later, her neighbor has someone come and clean up the leaves, so she goes over and asks how much it cost. I called it at $600.00 (that was the price she was laughing at). Well, the neighbor paid $800.00, and said that was A GOOD PRICE, BECAUSE LAST YEAR SHE PAID $1,000.00!!!!!!! The idiots cleaning the place up MILKED THE JOB BIGTIME! They bid it at $40.00 a man/hour so they would SOUND cheap, then charged her for 20 man/hours!!! These guys were milking it the whole way. They were from some tree company, so they only half knew what they were doing. Still, they milked it as much as possible. Hell, I could have done that prop BY MYSELF in 10 hours.

Woody

[Seascape]

It isn't easy work!

No it isnt. Last year was my first year to actually campaign and pursue this work. In the past i avoided it,subbed it,or just took a few here and there allowing my maintenance to shut off,,thus freeing up labor for fall installs. Now that i have a few more guys to keep busy i had to throw a leaf rig together and find work. The work wasnt hard to find. Existing customers were a snap to sell and carried the load until the season popped and new clients started inquiring. Because this gig was new and i havent done much i since the late 80s(when i worked for someone) i took this crew personally. Right off the rip i discovered this was very physical demanding work. I cant think of 1 job that i actually enjoyed or that was easy.

We grossed just over 31k in fall clean up from Sept 1- Nov 24. My goal is to push another 30% out of that 1 and only rig. Than in 05 building a rig twice the size to run in conjunction w/ it during fall.

Things i learned last year:

1) 8 hp Little Wonders have limits. I have a trade in offer that includes 2 -12 hp units for an upgrade. I think the 8s have a place and i may keep them but purchase 1- 12hp. Well,, that is what im going to do.

2) A 11 hp loader just cuts it. I suspect it will back me in a corner before the conclusion of this fall. When sucking bulk leaves off curbs clogs were sometimes an issue. On a couple occasions more time was spent unclogging than spent filling the box. Thus doubleing my labor on that particular load.

3) Billy goat vacs are worth theyre weight in gold for shrubs and bushes. Started w/ out one. I saw a huge differance on foundations after i threw 1 in the mix. Quality was better,, they dont push mulch around as much and 1 man can work his way around a building alot qicker w/ one than a back pack. Plus that man hold his own debris. Therefore the w/b blowers are pissing around waiting on his debris to push out.

4) And most importantly. That 31k has transpired into much more than that this year. I will run invoice reports clients i picked up last fall around Sept 1 of this year. This will tell me what i got out of them this year. I suspect its double.

The best advice i can probally give you,,,, eat your wheaties!

[jrservices]

we use an 11hp truckloader with a one ton dump enclosed, does a real good job. I had a swing arm made up by my welder that is the cats azz, I can dump a load of leaves in less than 5 minutes and be ready to go again. Eventually would love to have a 16 hp truckloader, mainly for the power, and the larger intake hose and bigger impeller.

[Georgia Fan]

Can u rent these units? If so how much?

Consider It Done

[crzymoe]

Im not sure i could get 65 a man hr, but i would like to raise the price a bit this year. Have to wait and see, i do know we bust our a$$ doing it, and it seems everyone waits till the last minute around here.

[Seascape]

Im not sure i could get 65 a man hr, but i would like to raise the price a bit this year. Have to wait and see, i do know we bust our a$$ doing it, and it seems everyone waits till the last minute around here.

Try quoting flat rate using $65 to figure up your bids.

[The landscaper]

If i were to put a truck rig together....Any idea on a price for that? I am thinking i will only get into a few cleanups this year. My thoughts on the little trailer vac was i could take it form pile to pile rather than hauling leaves on tarp out to a truck. Just another option. lots of good posts here...thanks

[Seascape]

Roughly,,,

$800 w/b blower,, can get 1 used about $400

$300 in wood and paint to make a nice presentable box

$3500 leaf loader,,, can find used for 1000-1500 that are fine.

I also have a 2000 lb cap. cargo rack ,,, have about $100 in steel,, fabbed it myself. Carries blowers and gas,, or whatever i want to put on it. Big jobs i scrap the rack and throw on a trailer for ztrns.

If your gonna do it start now. That way youll have all the bugs worked out by early fall.