How many lawns are you cutting with a 3 man crew?
A great question came up on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum, you can join in here.
Q: How many lawns can you cut with a 3 man lawn care crew?
Chuck responded by saying: “I currently run a 3 man crew (myself & 2 helpers). One truck, one trailer, 2 zt’s, 3 trimmers, 3 blowers, edgers etc….
Typically on a 10,000 sf residential lot, we pull up, one man on each of the 2 mowers, one does front & one side, other does rear & other side. 3rd guy line trims & edges. 1st 2 guys done blow off while the 3rd closes up the trailer.
We are in & out in 10-12 minutes, 15 including drive time (yes clustering the jobs together & tightening your route helps the bottom line a ton, but this takes time!)
I average 28-30 properties a day, currently running 4 full days (9-10 hours per day) if all goes well with no breakdowns, snags, or rain delays.”
Q: What is more efficient a two man lawn care crew or a 3 man lawn care crew?
Chuck: “I anticipate next season expanding & adding a 2nd truck, & running each with 2 men on it. I’ve found 2 man teams to be more profitable, 3 is faster but eats up profit as guy #3 adds slightly more producion than his payroll expense. I just can’t swing another full rig right this minute & 2 guys can’t keep up so the 3rd is a nessasary expense for me right now.”
So ultimately as you expand, you might want to scale up from a 2 man crew to a 3 man crew. Then hire a 4th employee and create two (2 man crews).
