Managing Mowing Efficiency: Mowing Crews

Getting the most out of mowing crews is one such example. The biggest company in the land can be at a disadvantage competing against a two-person operation if the smaller company has a better, more efficient plan of attack for getting the most productivity out of its crews.

THE DOLLAR DICTATOR. Some contractors side with larger crews in order to spend less time on properties, while others like covering more of the market with smaller crews. For John Bates, vice president, lawn care division, Down to Earth Inc., Garland, Texas, his maintenance estimates tell him what size crews to use.

"We define crew size by the size of the jobs we’ll send them to and the dollar amounts we can earn for that job," Bates explained. "It doesn’t make sense to send a four-man crew to a job that you charge $25 per man hour for and expect to require three man hours to mow. Even if the crew is only at the job for 30 minutes, the job will end up costing you four man hours because of the time required for travel, unloading and loading the trailer."

Bates noted that when planning is being made for an entire season, it’s impossible to always forecast how much time will be required at a job from week to week as the weather changes. "We gear crew size by the amount of budgeted hours on a per-visit basis," he said. "We average the time out over the course of the year and figure out the average time the crew will be able to spend on each job each week."

Down to Earth has settled on a six man-hour job as the maximum amount of time to be spent on a job by a three-person crew. Sites requiring more than six man hours will be attacked with a four-person crew or more.

LESS IS MORE. Bill Gordon, president, Signature Landscape, Olathe, Kan., settled on two-person crews for his 1998 season. His goal with these smaller crews isn’t maximizing productivity as much as it is minimizing a lack of productivity that plagues his larger crews.

"A problem we’ve had is having a crew chief who does nothing but sit on the riding mower all day and expect everyone else to do all of the weed eating and cleaning," Gordon admitted. "All that does is build resentment among the crew and hurt productivity."

"However, it’s almost impossible to have a lazy crew member on a two-person crew," Gordon continued.

Setting up a management structure within a crew can be another benefit of smaller crews. "Larger crews can be a real challenge for one foreman and an assistant foreman to handle," noted Tim Lynott, branch manager, Chapel Valley Landscape Co., Woodbine, Md.

There are limitations to the jobs suited for two-person crews, but the job size isn’t the only determining factor. "Some clients really want an English speaking individual on the crew, and with two-person crews it’s important to make sure both people speak the same language," Gordon added, noting that his non-English speaking employees oftentimes end up working on the larger crews used for bigger properties.

Gordon also believes two-person crews can be more efficient on a property. "We tried using three-person crews with one person mowing, one edging and trimming, and the third using the blower for cleanup," he recalled. "But we figure someone can trim at a rate of 10 acres per hour and someone can mow about one acre per hour. So we set the crew up with two mowers and have the first one done come behind with the trimming."

Two-person crews are as small as most contractors will go, however. "People working alone tend to be less productive and have to motivate themselves," observed Lynott. "Plus, we don’t want to have anyone alone if they get hurt."

SUPERSIZE YOUR CREWS. Some contractors have found using a supercrew can provide some unexpected and oftentimes hidden benefits.

"We’ve found it works well to combine a couple of three-person crews to knock out a larger job in one day rather than leave one crew on a job for a couple days," recognized Bates. "If you leave one crew on a property for two or three days and they know they’ll be back the next day, they can let things go undone. But if they’re expected to get in and out in one day, they’ll work harder."

"We set up a supercrew with six crew members early in the spring, especially with all of the labor intensive spring cleanup work," noted Dan Daulton, landscape service manager, Glen Gate Co., Wilton, Conn. "We want to get the most properties done per day, but this also lets us put new employees with a group of experienced crew members so the new individuals can really see our way of doing things in the field."

Once the spring rush slows into the regular summer maintenance schedule, Golden Gate’s supercrew is divided into two three-person crews. At the same time, Daulton likes to build some flexibility into the crews’ scheduling for when his plans are thrown off by unexpected events.

Gordon will test the supercrew concept for jobs larger than 25 acres this year. "We want to see if we can’t maintain or improve productivity if we stock the crew with the right equipment and have a real good crew chief who we pay a little more," he shared.

With the ever-present labor challenge facing his company, Gordon appreciates the fact that putting a supercrew in a truck that seats six people means he doesn’t have to buy an extra truck or find as many employees who have a driver’s license.

Gordon also noted that his approach of sending multiple two-person crews to handle jobs between 10 and 25 acres often results in the formation of an impromptu supercrew. "When you put a couple of different crews with Hispanic crew members on the same job, they will usually all end up working together because they tend to be more social in their work and they look to help each other out," he observed.

MAKING ASSIGNMENTS. How to handle task assignments is one question that produces a two distinctly different options.

"Specific duty assignments vary from job to job for our crews," noted Bill Bray, east regional maintenance director, Landscape Resources Inc., Irving, Texas. "The decision is usually left up to the crew leader because each site may have its own opportunities for efficiencies that require taking advantage of certain crew members’ skills."

"We encourage crews to develop regular tasks to help them develop a rhythm," added Bates.

Gordon, however, believes in training crew members to handle a range of tasks so they have variety in their workday. "But I want them to do the same thing every time they report to each job," he added. "For example, if a crew member handles the 36-inch walk behind at Mrs. Jones’ house one week, he should do that every time he’s at that job. Using the same equipment every time you’re on a particular job helps them learn the details like where the wet spots are. It’s more efficient."

The other option companies are faced with is dividing certain maintenance responsibilities up among different crews.

"We have specific crews to handle mowing, fertilization, color replacements and other tasks separately," shared Bray. "We tried mixing the responsibilities together in a crew, but it was difficult finding a way to carry all of the materials the crew might need on one trailer. Instead, having crew members focus on one task that they do well means they can end up doing it very well."

Bray also noted that his customers have mandated the separation of residential and commercial crews. "Residential clients require more attention," he observed. "They require a crew leader who is more knowledgeable in current horticultural issues."

Down to Earth has vacillated between having its crews handle everything on a property and using separate crews for weeding and trimming work and another to handle mowing responsibilities. "This year, we’re going back to separate crews," commented Bates. "We think this setup will help us control the quality aspect of the weeding and trimming. When one crew is responsible for everything, if it ever gets behind schedule because of weather or equipment problems, then the weeding and trimming is what always seems to be forgotten. Then, the next week, it will be twice as bad."

Chapel Valley managers believe that having one crew entirely responsible for all of the maintenance needs of a job is the best option. "By splitting the responsibilities up, you might be more efficient," Lynott recognized. "But is the client receiving the best service possible? We’d rather have one person responsible for the entire job so there’s no finger pointing between crews or communication problems. For example, what if the client asks the mowing crews to prune a tree a certain way, but that message doesn’t get conveyed to the pruning crew?"

THE WHOLE PACKAGE. Contractors also noted that developing efficient mowing crews involves managing time spent off the job.

"We watch for efficiency getting out of the yard in the morning," related Daulton. "It used to be a real Chinese fire drill for us, so we adopted a system where each crew has a specific truck and specific equipment to use every day. Also, we have the person who is second in command on each crew start 10 minutes earlier than the rest of the crew to get the trucks loaded up."

"The other big change for us was a switch from belt-drive mowers to hydrostatic drives," continued Daulton. "They’ve made a huge difference in productivity."

"Having a good shop is also a key," Lynott noted. "Our crews never go out with broken equipment, so we think that gets them to take better care of it as well."