In the landscaping and snow removal world, estimating can feel like a bit of a guessing game. But if you're tired of crossing your fingers and hoping your pricing works out in the end, it's time to dig into something more reliable: production rates.
At their core, production rates help you determine how long a specific task should take — and more importantly, how much it should cost. Understanding and using these rates can make your estimates more consistent, your pricing more profitable, and your conversations with crews a whole lot easier.
In this post, we’ll break down:
What production rates are (and what they’re not)
How to calculate and track them
How they differ based on job types
Common pitfalls
How they tie into crew performance and estimating accuracy
Production rates tell you the average time it takes to complete a specific task (e.g., square feet of turf mowed per labor hour). Once you know your production rates, you can use site measurements to determine how long on average your services will take to perform at specific job sites. Finally, once you know how long a job will take, you can multiply that by your charge rate to determine an accurate price for the job.
Let’s say:
Contrast that with alternative estimating styles:
Eyeballing it (a.k.a. "I’ve got a feeling")
Flat rate or tiered pricing (which still require accurate production rates)
Copy/paste from last year (not ideal if your costs, crew performance, or client expectations have changed)
Production rates create a feedback loop that helps answer questions like:
Was this job unprofitable because of a bad estimate or a slow crew?
Did that new mower, new team member, or crew size change affect output?
Is it time to raise prices, tweak your estimating rate, or retrain the team?
It’s important to start with the end in mind. Meaning, your production rates should be based on tasks that your crews log time against. Many companies try to get super granular by creating separate production rates for mowing with a 21" mower, a 32" mower, line trimming, edging, etc. However, if you're crews can't realistically change their clock-ins for each of these tasks, you'll never be able to determine if your rates are accurate or how your crews are performing. We recommend by starting with production rates for the service type as a whole (ie- cut & clean service production rate groups mowing, trimming, and edging together in one rate).
Here's an example for determining your mowing production rates:
Measure the lawn area of a handful of your existing properties (ex- 100,000 sq. ft.)
Gather the timesheets from the mow crew servicing these properties (ex- 20 man hours)
Divide the total square footage by the total amount of man hours to determine your production rate (ex- 100,000 sq. ft. / 20mnhr = 5,000 sq. ft. per man hour)
Once you have your production rates, you can easily apply them to your estimating process:
Measure the lawn area of a new property you are bidding (ex- 10,000 sq. ft.)
Divide that measurement by your production rate (10,000 / 5,000 = 2mnhr cut)
Multiply the man hours by your charge rate to determine the cost per service (ex- 2 mnhr X $80 = $160 per service)
Not all properties are created equal.
Smaller residential jobs often require tighter turns, more gates, and more detailed work, meaning slower production rates.
Larger commercial jobs may benefit from long open stretches and better equipment access, allowing for faster completion rates.
It’s okay (and smart) to use different production rates for different job types or client segments. Over time, you’ll build a library of realistic rates for different property profiles.
Production rates aren’t just about estimating — they’re a great tool for coaching your team.
Let’s say one crew is struggling to get through their route efficiently but you're not sure if it's due to poor estimating or some production related issue. Now that you have production rates you can easily compare them to your other crews performing the same service...
Crew A mows 1,000,000 sq ft of turf in 300 hours → 3,333 sq ft/hour
Crew B mows 1.3 million sq ft in 320 hours → 4,062 sq ft/hour
Now that you know Crew B is more efficient, and you have data to back that up, you can dive into potential solutions to help Crew A. Are they using different equipment, do they lack proper training, what happens when you switch the crew leads for a week?
Even better: when teams can view and track their own production data, they become more engaged in hitting the target.
Production rates may not sound flashy, but they’re the backbone of accurate estimating and profitable growth. If you’re still guessing — or sending out quotes based on feel — it’s time to evolve.
Start tracking, calculating, and tweaking. You’ll be amazed at what it unlocks.
🎧 Want the full breakdown?
Check out our latest episode of The Beer Garden podcast:
“Production Rates: The Secret Sauce to Profitable Estimating”
Available on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you need help implementing these strategies or have questions about growing your landscape or snow removal business, feel free to reach out. We're here to support your journey toward a successful and stress-free future, don’t hesitate to contact us here. We’re here to help you every step of the way.
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