I mow the lawn with a 54 inch John Deere 920Z, the fields with a John Deere 3032 and Massey 1240, and trim with glyphosate (generic RoundUp). Tuck frimming it's a pain. If I did both sides of all my fencing, I'd have two miles of it.

Thing is, I like it. After a day on the phone and computer, a hour or two per night taking care of the place is relaxing and pleasant.

I mow 3 acres every 5-7 days during the growing season. I have a Kubota 22 hp mower, a wheeled string trimmer and a tow behind 52” sweeper. We fertilize 3x a year and put a bunch of water on the yard. I love it.

Buy quality equipment up front and it will last for many years if you properly service it. Ask me how I learned this.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
You have to spread those costs over say 6-10 years. At 10 years, that's $100 per year.
I doubt you would find someone to do the lawn for an entire year for $100.

I do my own, and have for 40 years.

Can you really get that much service out of homeowner grade equipment? Oh, don't forget to add what your time is worth?

I bought a Gravely Prosumer 42" zero turn in 2001 and still use it weekly to cut my 1/3+ acre lot. Short of two pairs of tires, blades, and standard service, it just keeps on keeping on. At this point I don't think it owes me anything. And doing all my own maintenance has both saved me time and money over the years.

I think you can get really good use out of older equipment if you take good care of it.

Agree on higher end equipment. I bought a higher end Ariens rider. And a service contract that stipulated the dealer come to the house and service it when grass season begun. They would also come to the house and pick it up if it needed any shop time. Trying to haul that tractor around would have been a PITA.

Mow my own. 50" Cub Cadet XR3

I hire a guy to do it. I figure I can easily afford it, so why not.

I have a Scag 48” walk behind with a Kawasaki 17HP and velke that is now over 20 years old. I was on an acre when it was purchased and have been on 1/2 acre for the last 16 years. I’m on my third trimmer and second leaf blower since I got married in 1994. Even when I travelled extensively I managed to cut and maintain my yard. There are plenty of times I have thought about hiring a service but the $1500-$2000 a year used to buy a good amount of ammo. Truth be told, when this mower goes I will not be purchasing another.

Also, I can cut, trim and blow the yard in under an hour.

I used a service a couple of times when I had an injury, but other than that, I've always done all of our yard work. I did buy a riding mower after our first two summers here. It saves time and makes it easier during the most miserably hot part of summer down here. My trimmer, hedge clippers, and blower are all cordless and have worked great. They're made by E-Go. I don't need to trim the hedges every time I mow, so it's really not that bad.

I’ve pretty much always done it and I’ve had a few places where I had 2-3 acres to cut. I generally did it myself unless I was traveling and the cost was mind-boggling on those occasions.
We had a place with acreage in Horseheads NY once where the grass grew incredibly thick and wet. If you didn’t mow it every week you had a real challenge on your hands. Raking 3 acres… no thanks.

Around here it seems to be 50% on friends who either pay dearly or do it themselves. What I found interesting was since we have been in the COVID pandemic people have been home more than normal. So they could look out and see what exterminators, lawn services and other businesses actually do at their houses.

In the last summer many friends observed that they paid lawn services to trim, cut, (bag cut grass/leaves). And their expectation was that a lawn service would NOT come in the middle of an extremely wet period when their yard was very soft.
Wrong on all counts- the service came on the same day same time no matter how mushy the yard (even when raining) and left tire ruts in their yard, didn’t trim every time and not only didn’t bag the scraps/leaves, they didn’t even HAVE the bagger attached on the mowers. They were charged for extra services like blowing off walkways and driveways but the service kinda skipped that also.
Not everyone saw this, but enough to make them go hmmm-

And there are NO lawn services in this area that cuts for less than $50 bucks+ for a small yard each individual session. (Other than kids and that’s a rare thing). Perhaps if you get out in rural areas- But $25 a week is a fantastic deal...

I live in a townhouse and the front lawn is owned by the HOA and they take care of it. My back yard is mine, but I had it covered in gravel many years ago and it doesn't need mowing (it's only 20x40 anyway).

flashguy

I do my own. It would cost $60 per cut and a normal season is approx 25 cuts so $1500. My equip is approx $6000 cost and I haven't bought anything new since 2013 so I'm ahead of the game big time plus being retired it's not a big burden. I can do a rush mow job in 30 minutes if I don't edge or trim and an hour gives me a clover field to be proud of. My ztr is light commercial and Hustlers/Kawasaki routinely go 2000 hours. I put about 20 hours a year on mine so, at age 70, I expect it will be extra low hours at my estate sale.

String trimming is messy and my least favorite part of lawn maintenance but with a commercial Husqvarna straight shaft I trim and edge 400' in about 20 minutes or less. I bought my first expensive piece of lawn equipment back in the late 70s, a Kubota B7100 hydro, and I've had good equip since. It's not what I consider work to ride this ztr around for 30 minutes a week.

I've always done my own.
Started out mowing for the neighbors before I was old enough to work at a regular job. I never stopped except when I first went out on my own and paid rent.
I normally buy quality equipment slightly used, often in the off season. The trimmer and blowers, usually new (Stihl or Husky commercial grade that last me for decades).
If the job's done poorly or the guy doesn't show up, I know where to find him.

I'm also in the camp of "enjoy doing it myself". I like nice straight lines in my yard.

That said, we also don't have a large lot, so I can be done in about 35 minutes, and the house is a rental, so I look at the investment in a decent lawn mower as something I'll need anyway when we buy our own. Throwing money for a service to do the work on someone else's property seems like a bad idea to me.

Worst of all, around here, most of the cutting crews are yahoos, despite the serious wealth of the area. Like the kind who are done in 15 minutes (my neighbor next door's yard, for example) and leave it looking like shit. If I had the scratch for a 30 million dollar house, maybe the mowers would be more careful, but for the average folks, they do crap work.

Plus, I have off for 3 months out of the summer, so I can mow whenever I want.

I mow my own plus 6 rentals. My trimmer is round up. Cut the first time and spray what you can't get with the mower. I have to spray 3 or 4 times a year.

We use a lawn service that has been reliably good, but never great.

I like doing it myself but during the growing season here in Florida (early May through mid November) the lawn needs to be done every week or it gets out of hand. I don't love paying the lawn guys but if I was doing it I would be giving up 2-2.5 hours of every Saturday or Sunday so I look at it as though I am paying to have my weekends free to do other things.

I have 2 teenagers do it. It costs me an arm and a leg. Not only do I have to provide them the equipment and the gas, but they also demand I provide them room and board plus health care, free vacations etc. On top of that I also have pay their school fees too.

I used to do my own when I lived in Michigan but when I moved to Texas 30 yrs ago, I never new I had allergies and it gets bad during the summer hence I have a lawn service.

No option, 78 and pinched nerve in back. Contract out.

I can't cut, trim, and blow our property for what the guy that comes twice a month to do it does nor do we have the time!

It is unfeasible and would take me years to get back the cost of a large zero turn and what all is needed to keep up this place.

I do the bush hogging and keep the fields cut along with scraping the back roads in and out but that is it!

Our place in downtown does it all as we park and walk a few steps into the townhouse...I can deal with that!

Sounds like you need to outsource....

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Originally posted by BB61:
I have 2 teenagers do it. It costs me an arm and a leg. Not only do I have to provide them the equipment and the gas, but they also demand I provide them room and board plus health care, free vacations etc. On top of that I also have pay their school fees too.