Hydroseeding Business

bls1000

Does anyone here offer hydro-seeding services? I realize every area is different, but do you have a lot of competition in your area? Do you think this is a good avenue of expansion and do you find it to be more profitable than other services? What would be a good machine to start out with? I have a landscaping business right now and I'm looking for different ways to expand. Any information is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Nick

BreyerConstruct

While I don't know a lot, look around for info on blowing mulch & seed & topsoil. A local company I used to know would custom blend topsoil with organic fert. & seed, then blow it out on the yard with a big truck/vac-type setup. Very cool idea.
Instead of painting the seed on the ground, it's already planted & has a better chance of germination, and if it's with a builder who's stripped off the topsoil, it could be nice.

My .02

~Matt

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rino1494

We are looking to purchase a hydroseeder in the near future. There aren't too many companies around that has them. I am guessing that is because they are expensive. Around here, landscapers waster their money on pick-ups and 1 ton dumps. I did talk to one landscaper that has a Finn 800 gallon. He said that he bought it 3 yrs ago and it was do or die. He said that it was the best investment he has done. He has gotten alot more work since he started hydroseeding.

Depending on the size of the projects determines the size of your seeder. You don't want to go too small because you will spend too much time refilling your tank. You also don't want to go to big, because of cost and manueverability. For the average lawn, a 800 gallon would be ideal. I just got a price quote from a Finn salesman for a T90 and it was $38,621.

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LNG24

My friend in the landscaping biz bought a Hydroseeder a couple of years ago. She has done great with it. Picked up a number of Large landscape projects where hydroseeding was required and a number where they were not but liked the idea. Everyone subs out the Hydroseeding to her now. Even her competition in the landscape busiess.

It is still rarly used in residential applications, but thats where she is capitalizing on it. She gerts a great share of the commercial market as no one else has one in the local area.

backhoe1

Around here basically only DOT or state gov't jobs use hydromulch. If you relied on it to make a living you would probably go hungry. With that said, my dads ldscp co has had one for 10+ yrs now and gets alot of the work due to lack of competition. we have found that a smaller machine w/ tender truck (dump truck w/ 1000 gal. tank slid in) works pretty well to keep machine working even while tank is being filled. btw he has a Turfmaker 325?

rikanit

Make sure you have the prep work covered. Either be prepared to do it yourself or have a reliable sub lined up.

I would go with mechanical agitatation over jet unless you are only going after small residential lawns which you know will receive regular irrigation after application. A lot of DOT and municipal jobs are spec'd out with heavier slurries only a mechanical unit could handle. Finn is a good machine. The T-90 is a good starter size. Or possibly a T-60 with a nurse tank set up. Turf Maker has a decent unit from what I hear as well. Having supplier and dealer support close by is imperative.

Prepping and seeding is usually a good profit center and an excellent add on for an existing landscape company. It will also turn out to be the biggest PITA segment of your business so be ready to deal with the complaints and constant schedule changes.

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AintNoFun

we hydroseed, its probably about 50% of our business. we only do state,federeal,county,municipal contracts though and we stay very busy. about the machine it depends what your going to use to tow it. ours is on a single axle pete, we just bought a new machine and going to upgrade to a tandem in the spring. i would do whatever you can to get the biggest machine you can afford. we bought a t120 as our first machine and outgrew it in less than a year. we have an 1800 gallon bowie now and its perfect for us, not to small. there isn't a tremendous amount of development going on in NJ anymore where 100+acres will need to be stabilized so a big 3000 gallon machine wasn't a good fit for us, send me a pm if you got any other questions, try to help ya out..

rbsremodeling

Back when I grew Hydro I got 1200 per pound. I think it was a profittable business!!

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tnmtn

i hydroseed. what size unit you need to start with will depend on what market you are going after. i do primarily residential and have done well with a 300 gal turbo turf jet unit. with this size i can easily seed an acre in a day by using my nurse tank with it. most of the jobs i do are smaller than an acre. i also like being able toi load it in a one ton truck and go. supplies on the trailer behind. my reasons for not going with a mechanical unit to begin with was money and wanting to crawl in before running. there is more to it then just mixing the brew and spraying. if i get jobs that are any bigger than what i would be comfortable with doing with my machine i will rent a larger one for the job. if you will have one 5 acre job a year it just doesn't make sense to run a larger machine. give us a better idea of what market you are expecting to get into and maybe we can give better pointers from there. also, you can spray wood fiber blend mulches with a jet machine that work well for erosion control. it is true for the mixes the state and highway dept. prefer a hybrid or mechanical machine might be better.
good luck,

AintNoFun

whats it going for now?

bls1000

Thanks for all the info!

Right now I'm still looking into it, but I figure starting small with residential like you did would probably be best. In my area, I don't think I've seen anyone doing residential hydroseeding so perhaps I can fill the gap there. I admit I don't know all that much about hydroseeding (any ideas on where to educate myself more on it, other than working for someone who does it?), but is hydroseeding strictly for new lawns? If it is, are you working for builders doing residential lawns on new homes or just working for homeowners that have poor quality lawns? Also, is turbo turf a good quality machine? It seems to cost a lot less than other brands. Are any other licenses aside from chemical applicator's license required to do this work?

Thanks again!

rikanit

I don't know much about the turbo turf machines- for a jet machine I believe they are ok from what I hear- but you can link to an informative hydroseed forum from their home page.

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AintNoFun

i dont know much abou turbo turf and not bad mouthing them, but this still holds true -- you get what you pay for...

LNG24

Most Homeowners ARE NOT going to pay for Hydro Seeding unless it is part of a major remodel. The Residential Market will be builders putting up a sub division. Thats where you want to be. Then commercial next.

sckeeth

I had my slopes at my house done twice and it was great except for the fact that the weeds outgrew the the grass and wildflower mix and choked everthing out, and the 500 dollar water bill in the summer. So instead I am going to put shrubs trees and ground cover soon. Anybody in los angeles that is a landscaper?