It seems to most of us in the commercial mowing services industry that the number of commercial mowing companies has doubled since COVID. Surely that isn’t entirely true but still, the numbers bear witness to the fact that there are more mowing companies today than there were in 2020.

Competition in any industry is good for the consumers; however, multiple options also means choosing from those options, and that is the main focus of this article. How to you know you are hiring a qualified and trustworthy commercial lawn service?

We have compiled a list of questions you should ask as you filter through the many options in your city, questions which will help you decide who to trust and who to bid farewell to.  We are Keith’s Tractor Mowing, serving the Greater Fort Worth Metro area with outstanding acreage mowing. Call us today for all mowing jobs over one acre in size.

What are commercial mowing services?

Commercial mowing services may include any of the following services:

• Mowing the property
• Edging the property
• Weed cutting and brush cutting
• Grass and leaf blowing from the property
• Hauling away of the cut materials.

The word “commercial” sometimes refers to the mowing of business grounds, as opposed to residential mowing services. Still, mowing services will include some, if not all, of the items listed above.

In a city like our own Fort Worth, as you might suspect, there are dozens of commercial lot mowing companies to choose from.  How, then, do you narrow the dozens down to one?

Questions to ask.

Here is a list of questions which apply to the hiring of a commercial mower; some may not apply to your specific situation, but most do:

1. Do they follow proper mowing techniques?
2. Do they include additional services besides mowing?
3. Do they offer a satisfaction guarantee for their services?
4. Do they sharpen the blades on their mowers regularly?
5. Do they rotate mowing patterns every time they mow your lawn?
6. Do they adjust the height of their mowers depending on the grass type?
7. Do they include additional services with their lawn mowing service?
8. Do you need to see your lawn before accepting a service contract?
9. Is the type of grass in your lawn adapted for growth in your region?
10. What is the cost of landscape mowing services?
11. How frequently should a mowing service be performed?
12. What kind of equipment is used during a mowing service?
13. Does the mowing contractor carry insurance?
14. Do they offer any discounts for landscape maintenance?

Take the best and leave the rest.

Armed with that list of questions, you will quickly weed out the “posers” and find the real professionals. We suggest you narrow your search down to the Top Three, based on their answers to those questions, and then choose from the Top Three based on your instincts after meeting each of the pasture mowing service representatives. For an added sense of security, you can ask for references from the Top Three and follow up by calling those references.

If that all seems like a lot of work, well, it all depends on how important this hiring is. You will be spending your hard-earned money when you hire a mowing company; you might as well do your due diligence and hire a competent and trustworthy company while you are at it.

A final word about Keith’s Tractor Mowing.

Keith’s Tractor Mowing is locally owned and operated, a trusted name in commercial mowing. Ask us for references and ask as many questions as you need to ask to feel good about our work. We welcome the questions.

If you are straddling the fence about hiring commercial mowing services for that big mowing job of yours, we suggest you read this article first.

We are Keith’s Tractor Mowing, serving the Greater Fort Worth area with outstanding and affordable acreage mowing. Call us when the job is too large for you to handle, and you want it done right.

The cost of commercial mowing services.

This is a tough inquiry to answer.  Some commercial mowers charge by the hour; some give a job quote.  In addition, what is meant by “mowing?” Are we talking about just cutting grass, or is edging involved? Will there be other lawn care jobs included?

The best way for us to answer this question of cost is to say, on average, across the United States, commercial mowing companies will charge between $75-$100 per hour for a mowing job.  There may be surcharges tacked on for a variety of reasons, but for simply mowing an expanse of lawn, or pasture, that’s what you will be facing.

What will it cost for your acreage? It depends on the size of acreage and if there are any special impediments . . . and . . . what type of tractor mower will be used. The best tractor mower, like we have at Keith’s Tractor Mower, no impediments, count on about ten acres per hour . . . on average.

The cost of doing it yourself.

If you have acreage you are looking at using a tractor mower.  You can buy one, a quality one, for between $50,000 and $100,000, or you can rent on for close to $75 per hour.

But there’s more. What is the replacement value of your time? Can your time be better spent doing something other than mowing acreage?  And then you also have to consider the dangers involved with operating large machinery, and is it worth the risk of grave injury/

Weigh the pros and cons and decide.

We simply cannot answer this question for you.  If you are a farmer or rancher, and you already have a tractor, it may be cost-effective for you to purchase a mowing attachment and do the work yourself.  However, other end of that spectrum, most ranch and farm pasture only needs to be mowed, at most, a couple time per month.  You really need to weigh the pros and cons and decide which is better for your particular situation.  We have given you an honest appraisal as we know it.  To our way of thinking, if you are not trained to operate heavy machinery, like a tractor mower or a brush hog, you really are better off hiring that job out to the pros.

A final word about Keith’s Tractor Mowing.

At the risk of sounding self-serving and full of ourselves, Keith’s Tractor Mowing is as good as it gets in the Greater Fort Worth area when it comes to acreage mowing, pipeline mowing, ranch mowing, cemetery mowing, HOA regulations, or citation mowing.  Call us today for a free job quote.

Not every commercial mowing company can acquire a highway mowing contract.

Only the best need apply!

Highway mowing contracts are issued by the state, and acquiring a state government mowing contract requires experience, not only in acreage mowing, but specifically in highway mowing.  Learning how to formulate a bid, learning how to usher that bid through the bidding process, and learning how to do that all properly requires an attention to detail many commercial mowing companies do not possess.  A highway mowing contract can be won, or lost, depending on that attention to detail.

Highway mowing contracts require bonding.  Mowing at the proper height along a highway is crucial.  Mowing in a safe manner so that debris is not tossed onto the roadway is a matter of safety, and that degree of safety is literally a matter of life and death on the highways.  One highway accident or, God forbid, a highway fatality, is one too many for any state issuing a highway mowing contract, so only the best commercial mowing companies are even considered for those jobs.

And the best commercial mowing companies use the best equipment.  Whether the mowing consists of grass or the mowing needs the use of bush hog mowing for heavy jobs, it is vitally important that the mowing company has the proper equipment to do the job properly and in a timely manner.

And speaking of time, highway mowing contracts require that the job be done within a specified period of time, and not all commercial mowers have the ability to tackle miles of roadway mowing within a specified time period.

Contrary to what many people believe, the state does not issue these contracts to the lowest bidder.  Those jobs are much too important to be determined solely on price points.  This is truly a situation where quality wins out over price.

And so it all boils down to trust.  Can the state trust the commercial mower to do the job required and do it in a timely manner?  When looked at it that way, it is easy to understand that most states only contract out to a small handful of commercial mowing services.  It is just too important a job to trust to an unproven company.

To those commercial tractor mowing services just starting out in this business, we offer this word of advice from a company which has been there and done that:  learn the trade well, and build up trust.  Word-of-mouth advertising is crucial in this business.  The cream will rise to the top eventually, and people will take notice . . . even state officials who issue highway mowing contracts.

ABOUT KEITH’S TRACTOR MOWING SERVICES

Keith’s Tractor and Mowing Service is owned and operated by Keith Sturgeon, a life-long resident of Dallas Fort Worth. He has been a successful business person in Fort Worth for more than 20 years. Customers enjoy working with Keith because of his friendly customer service and his outstanding quality of work. Specializing in large acreage mowing, government contracts, vacant lot mowing and channel mowing in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.