Cut Your Own Grass or Use a Lawn Service?
Given that our new house has a much bigger lawn than our old one did, we need to figure out how we’re going to handle lawncare. The lawn is big enough that we’re not willing to cut it with our walk-behind mower (which is a bummer, because we bought a nice one a year or two ago). That leaves us with two options: (1) buy a lawn tractor, or (2) hire a lawn service.
We’ve gone out and priced decent lawn tractors, and it looks like that route would set us back around $1500. In terms of hiring a lawn service, the first (and only, so far) quote that we’ve received has been for $50/cutting (includes trimming and cleanup with a blower). We’re waiting on a few more estimates, but I’m trying to figure out the tipping point.
On the one hand, we’d save money in the long term with a lawn tractor — given the above numbers, the break even point (ignoring maintenance, time spent mowing, and gas) is right around 30 mowings. That works out to about two years, after which we’d come out ahead.
On the other hand, it’s a much bigger upfront investment (though we can easily handle it as a cash transaction), and we’d also have to house it — when you think about how much real estate costs these days, you begin to realize that floor space (even in a garage) isn’t free. So… Does anyone have any thoughts on the issue? If so, please leave a comment.
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No question for me. I would LOVE to have a riding lawnmower. My lawn is too small to justify one. I also enjoy the immediate satisfaction of how good the lawn looks right after I’ve mowed it. I’d never pay anyone to do it.
I think you should get the mower. You’ll come out waaaay ahead in the long run (since you’ve already stated you’d break even in two years)
Pay my airfare and I’ll even come mow it for you.
Comment by Hazzard — Jun 9th 2006 @ 5:17 pmI’m a big fan of push mowers. Just think how much exercise you’ll be getting! I say save your money and use what you’ve got. I’ll wager I am the odd duck though in the likely responses you’ll get.
That being said, which way you go will depend upon where you live. If you get a lot of snow, I’d get a tractor that you can attach a plow to. If you don’t, I’d probably go with the lawn service. You can probably get a better price than $50/mow by signing an seasonal/annual agreement or some such. You might even get lawn treatments and fertilizer that way.
Comment by Blaine Moore — Jun 9th 2006 @ 5:22 pmOur lawn is an acre and we’re here in Texas, and hello, it’s summer! We pay 75 dollars for an off-duty firefighter who cuts lawns on the side to come out about once every week and a half or two weeks to cut and trim and otherwise keep things nice. Even on his stand-up, chariot-style [very fast!] riding mower, it takes over an hour to get it all done.
It’s been near 100 degrees and very humid lately, and it is very, very worth it to not do it ourselves.
Comment by Terri W. — Jun 9th 2006 @ 9:22 pmAre your new neighbors friendly? Could you barter with them for use of theirs? Could you go halvsies on the purchase of a new one with one of them?
Comment by mbhunter — Jun 10th 2006 @ 1:13 amMy fiancee is allergic to grass clippings and I get violently ill after more than 10 minutes exposure to sunlight, so we’ll be going with a lawn service once we get a house. But obviously not primarily for financial reasons.
While it’s certainly possible to compute the cost of that space in your garage, the lack of granularity in real estate and the sunk cost rule make it rather nonsensical to do so. Rather than asking whether the riding mower is worth whatever made-up number you’d compute for its monthly storage cost, consider the (very real) question of opportunity cost. That is, do you have anything _else_ that you’d otherwise be using that space for, if you didn’t get the riding mower, and if so, how much do you want to put the space to that use?
Comment by Matt — Jun 10th 2006 @ 1:29 amWe had this same question last year when we moved into our first house. We ended up deciding that the cost of purchasing and maintaining a lawnmower, weedeater, etc., the hassle of storing it, paying for the gas to run it, and my time in doing the work were too much to justify not using a lawn service. We have a dependable service that charges us $20 for our 1/5 acre (including edging, trimming, cleanup). Very happy that all I have to do to maintain our yard is write a check for $20 and tape it to the back door every two weeks.
Comment by Hal — Jun 10th 2006 @ 11:51 amI used to cut the grass in my own small yard and it would take about 30-40 minutes. After getting married, my husband insisted on getting rid of my still new mower and hiring a lawn service so that we could do other things with our time. Now that I’m no longer married, I’m once again contemplating getting a mower. I did switch lawn services and went from paying $100 per month to $50.
Comment by Penny — Jun 10th 2006 @ 12:40 pmMow less lawn. Add landscaped areas, plant additional trees, or just let it grow in the corners…if your neighbors can stand it. Goal: make it small enough to mow with the walkbehind mower. Also reduces air pollution (by mowing less), provides diversity for wildlife habitat, provides a visual buffer between you and your neighbors, and can even reduce heating and cooling costs.
Comment by Daytonscott — Jun 11th 2006 @ 8:15 pmMatt: I agree on the sunk cost issue, and wasn’t trying to come up with an exact cost — just noting that storing big things takes up valuable space.
Daytonscott: We already have a lot of non-grass areas (proportionally) and can’t easily add more.
$50? Ouch!
We cut our own (I have an old — 12 year old — lawn mowner with no power assist) and I count it as part of my exercise routine.
However, our neighbor has a service I’m considering. It’s only $10 a cut and it takes the guy 20 minutes or so (he has a big machine). For $10, you really can’t go wrong.
Can you?
Comment by FMF — Jun 12th 2006 @ 8:12 amNo, for ten bucks you really can’t go wrong. How large is your lawn, and how long does it take you to mow it yourself? We also have a non-power-assisted walk behind, and it would take me hours to get through our new lawn (it used to take me 1-1.5 hours at our old house, but it was good exercise).
What is your time worth? I pay $40 to get mine mowed and let the tractor sit in the garage. I would rather spend $40 and have the time to do something else where I can make more money.
Comment by Mike — Jun 14th 2006 @ 2:09 pmOne thing to keep in mind when it comes to spending what would otherwise be mowing time earning money with other endeavors is tax efficiency. If I choose skip the mowing in order to earn more money, I have to make substantially more than $40 to break even. Given that my side work is self-employment, I pay upwards of 40% in taxes (income + self-employment). So to break even on a $40 lawn bill, I’d have to earn close to $70. Just something to keep in mind.
I have a bad back and a lot of other things that need done. I also hate mowing the grass and have a lot of allergies and after mowing my eyes burn and I sneeze and have a runny nose. How much do you like mowing? I hate it but some people enjoy it. If you really love to mow the grass buy the tractor and have fun! But if you are like me and hate mowing the lawn service wins hands down! Keep in mind you will have to do maintenance on the tractor (oil changes and such) and that is more time out of your life.
Comment by Jennifer — Jul 1st 2006 @ 3:18 pmI am going through this exact same thing with my property. The question for me was what type of tractor to get. They range from 3k to 10k, depending on who you talk to. I am leaning toward a lawn service for the following reasons:
1.Time saved to do other things (Weekends free)
Comment by bob — Jul 12th 2006 @ 1:41 pm2.the cost of buying a tractor that only lasts a couple of years would be a penny wise pound foolish scenerio.
3.A strong possibility we could only be at the property for 5 years or less
if you think your lawn service is too high; you should consider what it cost for anyone with a skilled trade to come to your house to service anything. plumbers, electricans, appliance repair, ect. the list could go on and the guy cutting your lawn is doing the most labor intense job of them all. he is also paying about 50% of what he charges in taxes & maintaince cost. i am a lawn care prof. i once gave a guy a price of 75.00 to cut his overgrown lawn (4 summer weeks worth) & he said he could rent a pushmower for less. i dont think he considered that it would take him most of the day. to do half the quality job we would have done. things like string trimming garden edging clean up & to haul off all clippings. my point is if you consider all of a lawn services cost you will see they are a really good value for the service.
Comment by erf — Jan 13th 2007 @ 12:43 pmAfter 25 years I am switching to a lawn service. I like mowing my lawn but hate having to mow it.
I don’t care what lawn mower or tractor you buy, that is not the end of the expense. Sharpening and replacing blades, filters, and if you have a repair after 2 or 3 years, not a trivial expense.
If you can find a reasonably priced lawn service, that has a lot of charm. Keep an old lawn mower around if you get the urge.
Comment by geek — Apr 23rd 2007 @ 9:53 pmWe hired a lawn service which also does the work for couple of houses in same street. So for 1/2 acre of land, we pay 35$ per lawn mowing and 45$ per application for all fertilisers and stuff. Its so relaxing to come home after work and see your lawn well cut and clean.
Comment by Kay — May 2nd 2008 @ 2:42 pm