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Henderson, Michigan | I owned my own landscaping and lawn care and snow removal business for nearly 10 years. You would be surprised at the hours those guys run and the headaches that you have to deal with. You are working on someone else's ground doing their job for them. Not your job for you. Rain and weather are a complete factor. A day can put you behind two days and then you are working week in and week out. Not complaining but it gets tough to get caught back up. I used to charge $50 for an acre of mowing, weed whipping and blowing the remaining grass off the pavement and driveway. It wasn't enough but I couldn't charge more as the local competition was at the same price.
The biggest trouble became when I mowed yards in town for people that had nothing to do with their time other than look at their yard and think...hmmm...its past time for that guy to be back to mow and then the calls would start.
I liked mowing commericially for apartment buildings and schools. They wanted mowed one time per week and all they cared about was getting the job done in one day. They also usually requested edging, brush hogging and additional work if I had time.
I owned a compact tractor with rake, rototiller, brush hog, disk, plow and loader tractor. It also had a backhoe which was handy for trenches annd post work.
It is a good business to be in but it never ends...it is much like a dairy farm. You work 24 hours 7 days a week. When you arent mowing and trimming you are blowing leaves and raking sticks or you are snowblowing, removing ice and piling snow or you are seeding, cleaning up after the snow and prepping machinery.
I would go back to doing it if I was given the chance. I would have to rebuy the machines all over again and if I did I would buy machines that would last longer, and take more of a beating.
Doug | |
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tractor thoughts
