Mowing 5 Acres or Mowing 5 Singles, Which is Better

First! LOL

Today was my first time with 60" zero turn, and i've gotta say i was all over the place with it. Took me about 3.5 hours or so to mow 5 acres, but i know i need to learn a good technique like the pro's do it.

if you take 5 singles, you have 5x the opportunity to up sell bushes, pinestraw,mulch, cleanups, etc.....really helps out during the slower months having more people to sell to.

I agree. I'd much rather spend half a day or a whole day on one property, than have to drive all over and load and unload all day.

Brian,  I ran some numbers. If your calculator said 3.3 acres per hour that's .055 acres per minute.  If you take 5 acres and divide by .055 acres per minute you get 90 which means if your numbers are correct you can mow that property in 90 minutes, 1.5 hours.  We can check the math using square footage. The mow calculator said in one hour you can mow 3.3 acres or 144,144 square feet. There's 43,560 square feet in an acre and 217,800 square feet in 5 acres. Divide the square feet you can mow per hour 144,144 into 217,800 and you get 1.5 hours to mow 5 acres so the math checks out.  But I think 7 mph sounds too fast and keep in mind the 3.3 acres per hour assumes you never slow down for edges, turns, etc. I know with my zero turn I'm closer to 4-5 mph.  What I do is measure a known area of lawn. Then go cut it with my mower. Then I know exactly how long it should take. On top of that I always buffer. If I think it takes 90 minutes I assume 120. However, the last several properties I have estimated I mow them almost to the minute what I estimated. Good luck.

Simple here in Texas we charge 120 a acre if they have over 2 acres we drop the price to 80 a acre that's the lowest

thanks for taking the time to analyze and make the comparison. answered a lot of questions, some I didn't know I had....lol

Hey Brian...love the videos. There is a lot of competition with many low ballers (as there are everywhere I am sure)but, personally I do not lower my prices to compete with them. I just let the customers know that I probably won't be the lowest but I am one of the best,fully insured and experienced thus I bid accordingly. I normally bid between $80-$100 per acre depending mostly on the edging and blowing around obstacles. Almost anyone can mow the property reasonably well but edging the property and the blowing out of flower beds with mulch or small river rock done right is an art. I hate to see people speed edging then scalping the Hell out of the yard. I hate when other lawn guys blow debris out into the street and just leave it there.. plain lazy. Just my thoughts. I really could care less what other companies charge and when some customers ask me why another company bid the same job much lower I tell them that I cannot speak for them or their quality of work and if price is all that matters then by all means choose them but if quality and experience are important then consider me. You know what? Most of the time they choose me.

Good stuff Brian. I always bid mine by time / Difficulty level / and obstacles. So it may only take 4 hours but if the difficulty level is high then you have to add more for that as well. Edging, trimming, hills, ditches etc. I also add in if there is a ditch bc it is most likely 50% or more of the time going to be too wet to mow so I have to figure in trimming the whole thing. I always bid enough as well so that if I get the job I do not feel like I underbid because then you will hate doing the property. Keep up the good work!

I can't wait till I'm older and can drive right now my business is great I do about 8 singles and it takes me 2 hours to mow and edge and I'm making 150 a week so for 15 I'm coming out pretty good

Hi Brian, I'm not a lawn professional, I run a manufacturing business. It may be helpful to break up your business into components. (Loading & Unlaoding fee, Cut per sqft fee. Trimming fee, etc) These could be used to understand your cost and margin. Once you do this you could calculate your margin on the commercial job to see if you're keeping your margins uniform throughout your business. It may help you understand if you're pricing effectively.

Brian, I use that same method.. Works perfect when you put it on paper that way and figure it out..

Very good way of doing it. I do it similar myself. I never thought about making more money just being in that one area. Thanks for the advice.

This really helped me a HUGE thank you ...you put things into perspective

wow. exactly what I needed to hear. I just closed a deal with an HOA that is under developement. 16 acres for the empty lots plus the HOA entrance. my bid seemed too high at first and it was. after re-approaching the same way you did my bid readjusted much lower and now the job is now secured and we actually start maintenance there this week. good video.

Awesome Video! in our industry there is no one set rule! Honestly I have never compared a larger property to to smaller property. This was spot on my friend! On these slow cold days up north its nice to sit and listen to other business owners trying to figure out the ins and outs. thank you.

First off, let me say I'm not in the lawn care business....but I've watched many videos about it and have an interest myself. As I was watching your video, I used the same logic and came up with the exact same numbers as you! While I do think you might squeeze out a little bit more money (say $50), I think you are spot on. Just my $.02😎

Brian I agree with you a 100 percent makes clear sense to me definitely the 5 acres also saving on wear and tear on you truck plus saving on fuel for your truck

I can't believe the amount of people that commented on this video with comments that either had absolutely nothing to do with the video or giving you crap about your prices when you specifically stated you were just throwing numbers to show your method of bidding.

thanks for the information and. great video u put out