Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Jul 30, 2019 12:35:40 GMT -5
My riding mower's engine just blew out and it was only 9 years old. Have the option to replace the engine for $800, buy something new, or just hire someone to take care of the grass.
I have about 1/2 acre, so I could do the walk-behind mower but it would definitely take me much longer to cut the grass than what it's currently taking me. With that option, I could spend maybe $300-$400.
A good riding mower would probably cost $1500 or so, but would allow me to get the job done faster obviously. Obviously could get the old one fixed, but not liking the idea of putting that much money into an old tractor.
Final option is to pay a company to cut my grass weekly, that would run $30/week. That could be up to $900/season, so would get expensive quickly. However everyone that pays for this service around me seems to think it's money well spent.
What would you do?
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jul 30, 2019 12:40:51 GMT -5
What's more important to you?
Summer is half-way over. If you want, have someone mow the lawn for the rest of the season. Take a break especially if you live in a hot area.
Look for a riding mower on sale in the Fall.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jul 30, 2019 13:15:01 GMT -5
If I thought I'd be happy with the results of hiring a company, I'd probably just do that because I don't love cutting the grass. As someone who has 1/2 acre currently (but also has pretty significant hills) I had a walk-behind mower and the time it was taking me was definitely NOT worth it. I have a rider now.
Given the time of year, I'd echo what Tennesseer said...I'd hire someone to finish out the year for me, then I'd figure out how I felt about paying the $30 vs mowing it myself, and I'd start fresh next year with whatever I decided.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Jul 30, 2019 13:37:33 GMT -5
$30 a week for half an acre? Seriously? I can't tell if cost of living is insane where I am or where YM'ers seem to live.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jul 30, 2019 13:46:58 GMT -5
Don't know where you live, but $30 per week? Are you sure?
I pay $15 per time (no set schedule) for both mowing and snow removal done by my next door neighbor when he does his. The lot isn't even .5 of an acre.
Yes, he uses a riding mower but he uses a snow blower that he pushes for the snow, so it's harder work. I've checked the commercial places and they would charge me $20 per week for the lawn and it would get done every week whether it needed it or not.
The last few years my parents had their house, I don't know how much dad paid to have it done, but he found a guy who mowed with a push mower every 3 days and trimmed. The guy wanted to do it weekly, but dad insisted he had always done it every 3-4 days so that is what he paid to have done.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Jul 30, 2019 13:53:30 GMT -5
my next door neighbor's kid does mine. One of my better decisions. I had a lawn mower named SON for years! Although I did mow from time to time just because I love yard work but old age set in and had to drag out the SON mower again. I drug up and moved into apt again so put the mower up for a while till I decide I miss the yard and well - you get the picture.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2019 13:53:37 GMT -5
I would totally mow a half acre for $30. That would take me like a half hour on the rider at most. I think smaller with a push mower would be more of a PIA actually.
Of course, right now I'm really neg on the whole riding mower situation at my house.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Jul 30, 2019 13:55:41 GMT -5
Don't know where you live, but $30 per week? Are you sure? I pay $15 per time (no set schedule) for both mowing and snow removal done by my next door neighbor when he does his. The lot isn't even .5 of an acre. Yes, he uses a riding mower but he uses a snow blower that he pushes for the snow, so it's harder work. I've checked the commercial places and they would charge me $20 per week for the lawn and it would get done every week whether it needed it or not. The last few years my parents had their house, I don't know how much dad paid to have it done, but he found a guy who mowed with a push mower every 3 days and trimmed. The guy wanted to do it weekly, but dad insisted he had always done it every 3-4 days so that is what he paid to have done. Is that high or low? One comment seemed to think it was low, you're saying it's high? I personally think $30 is low when you consider the cost to transport over the equipment and then do the job (including trimming). It's $40 if I want to bag the grass for removal.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jul 30, 2019 14:12:53 GMT -5
Do what Tenn said. Hire out for the remainder of the season and buy a new riding mower in the fall. Enjoy your free time.
Of course, I actually know nothing about how much of a deal you can find in the fall. We have a real mower for our postage stamp yard.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Jul 30, 2019 14:14:33 GMT -5
Do what Tenn said. Hire out for the remainder of the season and buy a new riding mower in the fall. Enjoy your free time. Of course, I actually know nothing about how much of a deal you can find in the fall. We have a real mower for our postage stamp yard. I already have him lined up for a few weeks for sure, so I can keep my eye out for a deal. I doubt the deals will be that great because I don't think the margins are that high on power equipment, but we'll see.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jul 30, 2019 14:32:15 GMT -5
I don't care what kind of mower my lawn guy uses as long as he shows up and mows my lawn when he's supposed to.
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jeffreymo
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Post by jeffreymo on Jul 30, 2019 14:33:55 GMT -5
$30/week is what we paid and the time savings made it well worth it.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jul 30, 2019 14:58:23 GMT -5
Don't know where you live, but $30 per week? Are you sure? I pay $15 per time (no set schedule) for both mowing and snow removal done by my next door neighbor when he does his. The lot isn't even .5 of an acre. Yes, he uses a riding mower but he uses a snow blower that he pushes for the snow, so it's harder work. I've checked the commercial places and they would charge me $20 per week for the lawn and it would get done every week whether it needed it or not. The last few years my parents had their house, I don't know how much dad paid to have it done, but he found a guy who mowed with a push mower every 3 days and trimmed. The guy wanted to do it weekly, but dad insisted he had always done it every 3-4 days so that is what he paid to have done. Is that high or low? One comment seemed to think it was low, you're saying it's high? I personally think $30 is low when you consider the cost to transport over the equipment and then do the job (including trimming). It's $40 if I want to bag the grass for removal. I think it's low, especially including trimming. My $15 doesn't require any transporting of equipment. He does trim, but he's trimming his own at the same time. We live in a duplex (we each own our own side). It does look nicer if the lawns are both the same length and I don't mow. For the first few years, he mowed with a push mower. Guess I paid for a riding mower.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Jul 30, 2019 15:00:29 GMT -5
I pay $40 for my half acre and I smile every time I send him a payment. I have hills, retaining walls, two dozen huge trees, etc. It's worth every penny to me to pay to have it done.
Hubs and I each work 60 hours a week. The last thing I want to do when I come home from work is mow the lawn or get up early on the weekend to do it.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Jul 30, 2019 15:07:59 GMT -5
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jul 30, 2019 15:14:31 GMT -5
Do what Tenn said. Hire out for the remainder of the season and buy a new riding mower in the fall. Enjoy your free time. Of course, I actually know nothing about how much of a deal you can find in the fall. We have a real mower for our postage stamp yard. I already have him lined up for a few weeks for sure, so I can keep my eye out for a deal. I doubt the deals will be that great because I don't think the margins are that high on power equipment, but we'll see. The deals may not be terrific but you can save money: From Angie's List: The Best Time of Year to Buy AnythingBest items to buy in Fall SEPTEMBER • Home improvement stores want to clear out their inventory of lawn mowers in early fall to make room for winter gear. So this is your best chance to cut a deal when buying a new lawn mower. link
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MN-Investor
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Post by MN-Investor on Jul 30, 2019 15:29:57 GMT -5
When my DH passed away last year, the decision was easy for me: I hired a lawn service. When you mow your lawn yourself you have total control of how often and at what height your lawn is mowed. That, along with the exercise, was my husband's rationale for mowing the lawn himself. For me, I had a torn meniscus in my left knee two years ago. There was no way I was going to risk hurting that knee again by trying to mow my lawn myself. Personally, I think the money is well spent on a lawn service. For an extra fee they'll do a yard cleanup in the spring - picking up sticks, etc., and collect all the leaves in the fall. The cost easily fits in my budget. I certainly wouldn't switch to a walk-behind mower if you're used to a riding mower. And if you enjoy mowing your lawn and don't mind the maintenance, finding a reasonably priced rider is probably a good option. But don't forget to include your time mowing and maintaining your mower when you evaluate your costs versus the cost of having someone else mow your lawn.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Jul 30, 2019 16:22:32 GMT -5
I pay $40 for my half acre and I smile every time I send him a payment. I have hills, retaining walls, two dozen huge trees, etc. It's worth every penny to me to pay to have it done. Hubs and I each work 60 hours a week. The last thing I want to do when I come home from work is mow the lawn or get up early on the weekend to do it. At first blush, the $30 doesn't sound too bad. Then I figure I'll be cutting the grass at least 30 times a year and that will be $900. I kind of dislike cutting it now, I'd hate doing it if I had a walk behind mower...although it would be good exercise.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jul 30, 2019 16:24:01 GMT -5
$30 a week for half an acre? Seriously? I can't tell if cost of living is insane where I am or where YM'ers seem to live. Yeah, I pay $25 a week to have my front and back lawn mowed (my lot is 45 feet wide and probably 100 ft long with a house in the middle of it). The lawnservice takes about 20 minutes to mow, edge, and blow all the debris off the sidewalk.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jul 30, 2019 16:33:55 GMT -5
What would I do? I don't have the time or energy to mow a lawn -- even though I like doing it (and like maintaining the mower and the lawn). Do you like doing the lawn? do you get satisfaction from doing? Is it providing something for you beyond a mowed lawn (like "quiet" time or "mindless time that accomplishes something" or sense of "good job" or an accomplishment or "satisfaction with a nice looking lawn")? If you aren't getting that from mowing the lawn how will you replace that 'good feeling'?? Since I LIKE to mow - I'd probably enjoy having a riding mower and using and taking care of it. I'd probably hire a service to finish the year - and start looking for a replacement riding mower. I'd probably think about NOT having the things I didn't like about the old one on the new one. I liked my gas powered walk behind mower and mowing and then edging (with an edger). I liked doing maintenance on the mower every spring and 'winter proofing' it for storage over the winter.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2019 16:52:02 GMT -5
Hire it out.
I haven't had to mow a lawn in over 20 years, I mowed 6 neighbors lawns for about 6 years growing up. I usually would do them all in 1 day and only the giant one was with a rider. I cleared about $100 each week doing that and that was in the 90's.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2019 17:28:39 GMT -5
I don't particularly like mowing the lawn but it's a good cardio workout and it saves $$$, The service I use when I travel costs $51 per mowing. House is built into the side of a pretty steep hill and it takes me 45 minutes. I may get a self-propelled walk-behind; I have to push the current one.
I've dealt with professional lawn mowing services before and a few have wrecked a sprinkler head or two with their mega-machines. This one doesn't. That makes it worth the extra cost compared to what some of you are paying; it's also a family-owned firm of local people and I'm pretty sure they were all born and raised in the area and not underpaid labor of questionable origin. That's important to me, too.
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jelloshots4all
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Post by jelloshots4all on Jul 30, 2019 20:46:00 GMT -5
When my rider and push mower wouldn't start this summer and a friend spend hours to try and fix them, I hired it out. LOVE IT!!! It's done when I get home from work, they weed whack and do a MUCH better job than I did spending hours every weekend. My time is worth more than the $50 a week I pay them, with me spending 3 hrs doing the work.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2019 21:48:14 GMT -5
My guy charges $100 to mow, edge, and blow every other week. I also have a half acre. The guy before charged $75, but he was undercharging because he had been doing it forever, even when I lived somewhere else! I still miss him.
So if you can get all that for $120 a month, I would go for paying someone else.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2019 6:25:43 GMT -5
I absolutely love mowing, and I do 4 or 5 acres (not sure). Or at least I used to love it before this year from hell with the mower breaking, then the new mower breaking.
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bookkeeper
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Post by bookkeeper on Jul 31, 2019 8:28:49 GMT -5
Bite the bullet and buy a new rider. You are not moving anytime soon and the grass will always need mowing. Your children will eventually get older and become your new mowing crew. Keep that in mind as your shop for a mower. Find a machine with simple controls at a price point you would trust a junior high kid with.
We bought a new craftsman riding mower for around $1500 when we bought our 2 acre property. It lasted 14 years and we sold it with the house. When our sons went off to college and we had to start mowing ourselves, we bought a second rider used. It was exactly the same craftsman mower with a large bagger. I told my DH we needed a second mower or a 12 year old to get some work done. He coughed up the cash for a used rider.
The price for having your lawn mowed seems pretty low, I would take advantage of the lawn service until I had time to purchase a mower.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Jul 31, 2019 8:56:13 GMT -5
When my rider and push mower wouldn't start this summer and a friend spend hours to try and fix them, I hired it out. LOVE IT!!! It's done when I get home from work, they weed whack and do a MUCH better job than I did spending hours every weekend. My time is worth more than the $50 a week I pay them, with me spending 3 hrs doing the work.
Exactly!- I'll pull into the driveway one night after work and think "Huh, Spencer came and mowed. Nice" and go about my day. I watch my neighbor struggle with his lawn- mowing it, weed whacking it, hauling all of the clippings to our green recycling space across town, etc. Takes him two evenings after work to get it all done. $40 to save me from spending two evenings a week doing yard work like my neighbor Tim- absolutely.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Jul 31, 2019 10:43:41 GMT -5
I'm assuming you can afford it so hire it out! Last thing I want to do is cut grass, clean toilets or do minor maintenance. My time is much more valuable to me than a little bit of money.
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chen35
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Post by chen35 on Jul 31, 2019 12:28:28 GMT -5
$30 a week for half an acre? Seriously? I can't tell if cost of living is insane where I am or where YM'ers seem to live. That does seem cheap. We pay the neighbor kids $40 for a 1/2 acre, and I feel like we're getting a real bargain!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2019 12:41:36 GMT -5
When my DH passed away last year, the decision was easy for me: I hired a lawn service. When you mow your lawn yourself you have total control of how often and at what height your lawn is mowed. That, along with the exercise, was my husband's rationale for mowing the lawn himself. One of the things I didn't like about the professional services was that they seemed to want to do it once a week regardless. It's certainly needed in the spring and the fall when it's cool and rainy, but not when it's hot and the growth slows down somewhat. I can understand that it would be chaos to juggle their schedules as the temperatures shifted, but I hate watching them run their mowers to cut 1/4" of growth and stir up a lot of dust and then getting billed for it. At some point I WILL farm out this work- just not ready for it. I do pay someone to apply chemicals.
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