Finish Grade, Seed, Straw

NasConst_land

Just wondering if any of you guys do alot of large seeding projects. I was looking to see what other guys were charging just wondering is all.

When we bid large seed jobs, for schools, or highways, or whatever it may be usually it contains many things. First being finish grade, we remove stones, and loosen the dirt with a pulverizer, beind a compact tractor. Then we would spread fertilizer, then run the pulverizer again at a shallow depth, less then an inch. Then we would broadcast or drop seed 10lbs per 1000 sq feet. We would then run the pulverizer at a shallow depth to put the seed into the ground. After that we would blow straw on it, with a straw blower over the whole area. After the straw we would run a straw crimper over it, just an attachment on the tractor that tucks the straw into the ground.

So you see there are quite a few steps in this process. We charge 0.42 per square yard. I was wondering what other guys are getting for seeding similar to this. I know in my area there are guys all the way down to 30 cents a square yard and i cant even think about that. Usually their seed doesnt grow though. With that price of 42 cents a SY we are responsible for bare spots over 1 square foot, and must have 98% lawn coverage. Also alot of times we will have to water the entire area. In that case we bring the water truck out with fire hoses and water it once, usually right after we crimp the straw. Not a huge cost but some time into it.

If you guys have any suggestions let me know, thats what we do around here and seems to work. Let me know on your prices for seeding.

rino1494

Well, we don't do landscaping, but we do site development. We don't go as far as you and running the pulverizer or hand raking. We will pick out the bigger rocks and then lime, fertilize and seed. Then we use a straw mulcher to blow straw on it.

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NasConst_land

Not to be mean, or maybe Im wrong but isnt there 9 square feet in a square yard. Which would make your price, $1.08 per square yard. Just wondering, maybe my math is wrong.

Also with price i know it depends on the area as well, heck if we go east for 2 hours we are getting like 60 cents a square yard, almost 20 cents more. With your talking thousands of square yards, thats alot of money.

We bid 90% of our work to site contractors, for some reason the guys around here just dont want to deal with the seeding. Im not complaining though.

rino1494

Hmmm.......that is weird, I realized my mistake and I edited my post this morning

Anyway, I double checked my price sheet and the prices I gave were wrong. I didn't have my coffee yet

We charge 0.06 per sq ft and 0.08 per sq ft if it requires crown vetch. This comes out to 0.54 per sq yd or 0.72 per sq yd for vetch.

Around here, most companies do sub out the seeding, but we like to do it ourselves.

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NasConst_land

might be a stupid question but what is crown vetch? I have never heard of anything like that.

dozer22727

Crown vetch is a ground cover used on steep slopes here in Va. They use it alot along highways where it is too steep to mow

rino1494

^ Yeah what he said. It is used on steep slopes for erosion control. It is also quite expensive. Last time we bought it, it was $60 lb.

http://www.scienceu.com/library/arti...own_vetch.html

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NasConst_land

Ahh I see.. we dont have many steep slopes.. just on ramps and exit ramps. There we will seed and then roll out a erosion control mat. Just Straw wooven into fiber mesh that gets staked into the ground. Use different thicknesses for different slopes.

Is this stuff like an actuall seed mixture that you would spread and it grows or is it similar to the erosion control blankets i talked about.

rino1494

Ahhh......good old erosion blanket. Last big job we had, we laid down 7,000 sq yds of it at 3.5 staples per sq yd

Anyways, crown vetch is a seed that gets mixed in with your permanent seeding mixture. Then lay down your blanket.

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NasConst_land

Heres another questions for you.. Do you have a square yard price for the erosion control blanket? and if so what it is.. We are at a 1 per square yard installed.

rino1494

0.80 per sq yd installed ....not including materials (blanket and staples). I think that this year, we will bump it up to 0.90 per sq yd.

On average, with 2 guys, we lay down about 100 sq yds per hr.

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groundcontrol

What is the average for laying sod per sq. yard with some topsoil preparation?

peteo

Maybe its just my area but everyone around here charges by the sqft. Usually by the time I get there the grading is done and I just have to fine tune it and rockhound. Then I get the hydroseeder and that is all there is to it. I dont like the seed/hay method unless I am doing something like a horse pasture mainly because all the birds come and gobble up your seed before it germinates and it doesnt seem to grow very well. I dont mind having to go back and touch up the hydroseed since its usually pretty limited and we get in and out quickly but I'll be damned if I'm spending a half a day spreading seed and hay for the second time. Hell, I dont even like spreading seed and hay the first time! What do you guys normally get for hydroseeding? I usually figure anywhere from .25-.75 cents/sqft depending on how much grading and erosion control I have to install. I have only ever bid .75 twice in the years I have been doing this and both times I thought I bid it high enough I wouldnt get the jobs mainly because I didnt really want them. It all worked out though and we made a few bucks on both jobs.