Guides / Production rates
Landscape maintenance production rates, with sources
A production rate is how much work one person finishes in one labor hour. It is the biggest single input in a maintenance bid. These are the starting rates built into SodSum and where they come from.
The source
Every default in SodSum comes from "Sample Production Rates", an estimating sheet in the National Association of Landscape Professionals' BizBox operations resources, written by Bruce Wilson (NALP, PDF). The sheet calls them baseline rates to get started and says not to bid with them until you verify that they work for your company. We agree.
Mowing
NALP gives easy, moderate and difficult rates. SodSum's presets use moderate. The rates include unloading and loading the equipment.
| Mower | Easy | Moderate (preset) | Difficult |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21" mower | 12,500 | 10,000 | 7,500 |
| 36" walk-behind with push trim mower | 25,000 | 22,500 | 20,000 |
| 42–48" walk-behind with push trim mower | 35,000 | 31,000 | 27,000 |
| 52–61" walk-behind with trim mower | 50,000 | 45,000 | 40,000 |
| 52–61" rider with trim mower | 65,000 | 57,500 | 50,000 |
| 72" rider with trim mower | 90,000 | 80,000 | 70,000 |
Square feet per hour.
Edging, trimming, cleanup and beds
| Task | Rate per hour |
|---|---|
| Hard edges (bed-edging machine) | 9,000 lin ft |
| Soft bed edges | 4,000 lin ft |
| String trimmer along edges | 1,500 lin ft |
| String trimmer around obstacles | 50–75 obstacles (preset 50) |
| Backpack blower | 25,000 sq ft |
| Trash pickup: light / moderate / heavy | 80,000 / 40,000 / 20,000 sq ft |
| Bed detail, ground cover and shrub beds | 6,000 sq ft |
| Bed detail on slopes | 3,000 sq ft |
| Color beds: deadheading, grooming, weeding | 500 sq ft |
Pruning, mulch, fertilizer and irrigation
| Task | Rate per hour |
|---|---|
| Shrub pruning by bed area | 3,000 sq ft |
| Individual shrubs: small / medium / large | 15 / 10 / 6 |
| Hedges, power shears | 1,500 sq ft of surface |
| Hedges, ladder required | 500 sq ft of surface |
| Small trees: eye-level branches and suckers | 6 trees |
| Shaping small trees under 12 ft | 4 trees |
| Spread mulch by hand (moved under 100 ft) | 2.5 cu yd |
| Granular fertilizer, push spreader | 43,000 sq ft |
| Irrigation check and adjust | 8 valves |
The NALP sheet also lists a backpack spot-spray rate. SodSum leaves pesticide application out of its presets because licensing and label rules vary by state; enter your own rate if you do that work.
Measure your own
Book rates start a bid; your own rates defend it. Time each crew on a few typical properties, divide the quantity by the labor hours, and repeat during the season. SodSum Pro saves your own default rates and compares actual crew hours per visit with the bid.