Lawn Care & Snow Removal Professionals
International Falls, Minnesota 56649
Satisfaction Guaranteed: Mike's Odd Jobs
Serving International Falls, MN 56649
See an article on "ideal lawn height here
We would like to do the lawn maintenance for your Lawn. We generally do lawns on an "as needed basis" during the lawn season.
Every lawn grows at a different rate, but generally all need to be cut between 7-10 days at the beginning of the season and taper off throughout the year. Most all of us know a "tall" lawn when we see one. Although we keep a pretty good track of when the 'typical' lawn needs to be mowed again, if you feel you need a sooner service, please let us know. That said; If the grass does not require maintenance, we do not want to cut it over and over.
Research suggests that a lawn that is cut to two and a half inches is ideal. Lawns should be cut at two and three-quarter inches to four inches. Lawn care personel should never take more than two inches of lawn in and given lawn session/pass. Most cities consider lawns that are five or six inches tall to be a 'blight' violation. Notices are often given. As you may know, over trimming a lawn could destroy the overall appearance/ look of the lawn. This is often referred to as scalping the lawn. Lawns that are cut too short or scalped, have a harder time growing. This is especially true in the hottest days of summer. Short cutting of lawns, could also result in 'burning' or other harm to the lawn. As business professionals, we prefer to set up a schedule with you to go to your property when you need it maintained.
Due to Fuel prices and the uncertainty of the economy, prices change from time to time.
Our Satisfaction Guarantee: HERE
We will not do cut rate work, or work for cut rate wages. We are licensed and insured professionals. If you are looking for a cheap 'lawn boy', this is not the place. We are confident in making this assumption due to our reputation in the city. Our valued customers enjoy hassle free lawn maintenance, provided by a contractor with an eye for details. Feel confident that you will not have to call us back to your property to finish the job. We have only been recalled to a job once since 2003 to fix a minor problem. [That is pretty good service if you ask me. One recalled error in 15 years.] We do a customer quality check/approval before leaving the property to be sure you are satisfied before we leave.
When you find/hire that cheap 'lawn boy' and are not satisfied with their work, please give us a call. We will be happy to provide you excellent service and fix their 'errors'. When you see what we do, and how your lawn looks when we are done, you will be happy you choose us.
We recommend that the lawns be cut "as needed". At the start and end of the growing season we recommend that the lawn be cut at a 'minimum' of bi weekly [14 days]. This works well when the grass is not growing very fast. As the season progresses to 'Peak" we suggest a weekly service at a minimum of 7-10 days. Though we specialize in dealing with lawns of all heights, we do prefer to keep lawns manageable & looking great. After-all we have a reputation to uphold. These 'maintained' lawns are lawns that are between 2" and 4" in height. The ideal post cut height being two and a half inches tall.
You want a nice looking lawn after all. That is why you choose us to provide you lawn care services. We have a reputation in The Falls, to uphold, and we will do what ever it takes to keep a good name in town. The appearance of your lawn is a reflection on our work and our company.
Generally speaking most people can look at a lawn and tell if it is too tall. Some signs of a tall lawn include
• Clumpy appearance before the lawn is cut [from past lawn service]
• Clumpy appearance after lawn care is provided.
• Lawns with a height OVER five inches [5"]
• Lawns that bog down mowers while running at normal ground speeds.
• Lawns in which the city has sent you a blight notice on.
Need help with your lawn? check out this informative article
Lawns which fit this category will be charged at the hourly rate of [see graph below] for 5"-9" Grass, [see graph below] for grass 10+ " grass....
As you can see you don't want your grass to get tall, it will cost you more in the long run then to just keep a presentable lawn.
• It takes more engine effort to cut clumps/ tall grass.
• We will need to cut your lawn at a slower ground speed. which will take allot more time.
• Short grass saves our equipment from abuse.
• Lawns will be recommended for weekly service until raked or mulched in.
* There is a minimum tipping fee of $25/load to haul off clippings in addition to the hourly rate to rake/ collect/ load/ unload the debris.
You may choose to bag and dispose of those clippings on your own, and save money. We can pile clippings on the lawn for you to deal with.
Areas around house, trees, sidewalks and driveway will be Trimmed [weed whipped]. Clippings will be cleared from driveway & sidewalks each time, via broom, or leaf blower.
If there are excessive amounts of rocks/dirt/debris from the winter plowing, that will need to be dealt with to avoid harm to our lawn equipment, it will be cleared at the hourly rate.
As of 1 July 2017; we will no longer will move anything on your yard. That is we will not move gas Grills, boat trailers, trampolines, etc. those items will be mowed around or the customer would be responsible for moving them for us to mow under.
Please be sure that all obstacles/ hazards are clear of your lawn on the day we provide service. •Dog Toys •Children Toys •Pet leashes •Rocks •Trash •Animal Feces •Etc.
BLIGHT NOTICE?
We do offer 'Blight notice' lawn care. If you have received a notice that your lawn is too tall, WE CAN HELP. Our service is for cutting the lawn down to 'legal length'.
Weed trimming can be left to you or is an option that you can hire us to do...
Raking of lawn clippings & disposal another option to consider and is highly advised.
The 'Blight notice/over grown lawn rate' is dependent on the height of the grass. 5-9" grass is [see graph below] /hr and 10"+ grass is [see graph below]/hr. This rate applies to all workers individually. It remains in place for all Mowing, Weed whipping, raking, loading, time driving to the dump [windshield time] and unloading time.. all hours are 'start to finish' will be billed at those rates. There is an additional $[see graph below] tipping fee to the dump, per load to the dump. When you compare this rate to the city's $150 administrative fees plus; $60/hr or more that the city's contractor charges, you will realize that we are going to save you money. And get the city off your back.
Acreage/Farm & out of town Lots:
Out Of town lots/ Farms/ Any lot that requires a big mower: I have (2) 60" Zero turn mowers that I use on larger projects.
I could use a 32" conventional Mower, or use the 60" Zero turn. essentially doing 2x the work, at up to double the ground speed. That the idea behind using the Zero turn.
Knowing the Above: Customers would want to have the Zero turn on their jobs at the $lower rate on the graph below Example:$30; to "Save money". Zero turns go through allot more gas and maintenance than a standard 'conventional' mower. And they are many times more expensive to purchase.
The rate for using the Zero Turn is [see graph below/hr.
Depending on how far out you want us to go there will also be a fuel charge. or mileage charge, which we will tell you about when bidding the job. Generally speaking our "Local" area is 2nd bridge auto; menards; and why 53 by the airport. if you are outside of that area, there will be a milage fee, or time starts upon leaving the area on hourly jobs.
what that is would be; you live in Loman, (for example) when I get to menards, the time starts, and the time to drive to loman is counted on the hourly job, then I do the job, and I drive back home, when I get to menards I stop the clock. to figure your bill.
option 2: charge milage - according to the graph below.
Permissions
Client or his/her agent agrees to allow MOJ on the property for the purposes of cleaning services. Client understands that there is no set time frame for the completion of services and multiple visits to the property may be required. MOJ also has the permission to visit the property with little or no notice to assess service needs prior to the date of service, as well as to check completion after services have been rendered.
The Client also agrees to release MOJ of any or all liability for injuries sustained due to equipment placement to include injuries from tripping/falling, striking equipment, falling debris or equipment.
See our collections policy & media policy.
*We found this sidewalk was roughly twice as wide as the customer thought. It went from an over grown 'cow path' to a 2' wide sidewalk.
Edging is NOT part of the 'Standard Fee'. Edging around trees, sidewalks etc., can be done upon request. If edging is required by you, we recommend edging monthly. Many places in 'The Falls' do not do edge. Edging is done at a rate of [see graph below]/hr. There is a two hour minimum to do edging. After the initial edge is set up there is a one hour minimum to maintain the edge. We recommend re-edging monthly.
If the property has not been previously edged, it will take a bit longer to set up the edges, so they look right/nice. Debris left from the edging process can be [option 1] left for the client to take care of/remove, or [option 2] we can haul it away. There will be a hauling fee; plus our hourly rate to load & unload this debris. We will estimate unload time based on load time, as to save us a trip back to collect payment.[as we are doing this work hourly] Option 3: We can also relocate these tailings to some holes/ low spots around your property, or build up the area around trees, under downspouts etc. [Put this debris to use.] It is also recommended that you let us know you wish to have edging done, when you schedule your job - as we may not always bring the edger to all jobs.
We use a non-toxic weed killer. If you request weed killer to be used against buildings, under and around fences, or under trampolines, gas grills or other areas. Please let us know prior to dispatching. This will allow us time to mix up the formula. We have provided the formula below, so you may apply it is you desire.
We generally do not invoice/ carry charge accounts for our services, thus payment is expected upon completion/ approval of services. If you are a commercial customer, with multiple properties, or Government entity; we could make an exception and give you 5-7 days to process payment. If additional time would be needed, we could certainly talk about those options at a meeting. Some customers who use online banking [Bill pay] will be given time to send checks. We will refuse service if we have not been paid for the last visit, and will refer the debt to collections in accordance with Minnesota law.
*Minnesota Sales tax is collected on certain services, as required by law. If you are exempt from taxes we kindly ask you provide us a W-9 form.
If the above is satisfactory to your party, I look forward to a meeting to wrap this up and tie up any loose ends you may require of us.
Do you have trees in your yard that need trimming?
• We can trim your trees back so you can walk under them with out getting branches in the face.
Is your house getting hit with branches?
• We can trim back the branches that are hitting your house and dispose of them.
Other services you may be interested in: We offer pressure wash services. This could include house washing, concrete/ sidewalk cleaning. We have even washed vehicles in the past, after a weekend out mudding.
We offer Tree Removal Services as well as brush removal services.
We offer Trash Removal Services; We are not a Trash Service; but if there are things your trash man does not take; we can help remove those items for you. We have worked with 'hoarders' and cleaned out entire homes, or simply a stove in the back driveway. We offer services big and small. Please see our trash page.
[NO SNOW REMOVAL 2024] We would like to be considered for bids on your properties for winter snow removal. We generally do things flat rate. We could set these properties up to be cleared 'every time it snows', or we could set them up to be cleared based upon 'snow accumulation'. [Ex: We would plow when we get 2"+]
Keep in mind that we are licensed and insured. I have been doing this kind of work over 30 years and have had a business doing this kind of thing since 2000. You will find that my staff and I are professional and detail orientated.
If you have any questions or wish to schedule services, my number is 218-242-1698
Online information on pricing is not guaranteed, talk to the provider to see rate changes. Due to Fuel prices and the uncertainty of the economy, prices change from time to time.
We provide raking services. at an hourly rate; [see chart below]
We provide services hourly, so both the customer and provider are guaranteed to receive fair compensation for work received
Generally speaking it takes us about as long to rake up the leaves as 2x the typical lawn mow job.
Self Estimator:
You know it takes 1 hour to mow your lawn [include total time on the lawn, count trimming time too.
Expect it to take us 2 hours to rake your lawn
Expect an hour to load the trailer.
Expect the unload time and round trip to the dump to be an additional hour.
The Estimated time would be 3-4 hours. [roughly 2x the price of your lawn service if you are a typical in town customer.]
The above estimate would be for the leaf raking job pictured below. [there are 6-8 tall trees in this lawn.] If your lawn has less leaves, it will take us less time to do your job. Call for Estimates.
It is far easier to MULCH leaves into the lawn and provide nutrients back to the soil. This is a much cheaper option.
We provide lawn raking and leaf raking services
We provide brush clearing and Downed tree Service. Call for Estimate
Each load to the Dumping area will be charged Minimum of $10.00 per Trailer Load [Tipping Fee]. We heap our trailer full, so you are getting allot moved for the price
Each Pickup load carries a $5 minimum [tipping] fee for the dump.
RECLAIM YOUR YARD!
We provide brush removal and tree trimming services. HERE
Billing: We haven't had much problem with this, but it's worth saying "In-case"
1st bill will be given the day of the services; at which time payment is expected.
2nd bill will be mailed out 10 days after the day of the service as a courtesy - we expect to be paid soon after. • lawn will not be mowed until payment has been made.
3rd/final notice will occur 20 days after the service was provided.
If payment in full is not made 30 days out: We will be referring your bill to collections with additional assessed finance fees of $10/wk until the bill is paid.
• These fees will back date to the day of the service.
In addition: we reserve the right to REFUSE SERVICE to lawn customers who owe back bills. NO exceptions.
| Product | Hourly 1st hour |
Hourly after 1st hr. | Minimum If any |
Flat Rates |
|
Conventional Mower/ push mower *If zero turn is capable of doing your lawn: it'll be used. dragging out this mower is time consuming, i am set up for zero turn on a day-to-day basis. |
$ 50.00 | $ 60.00 | $ 50.00 | |
| Zero Turn Rate | $ 60.00 | $ 60.00 | $ 60.00 | |
| Lawn Care of normal height (1" Cut off Lawn) Take 1" off your lawn height Ex: 4" lawn to 3" Lawn [1 hr minimum] |
$ 60.00 | $ 60.00 | $ 60.00 | |
| Lawn Care - up to 6" tall (3" cut off lawn) Take 3" off lawn ex: 6" to 3" $75/hr all hours [$75 minimum] |
$ 75.00 | $ 75.00 | $ 75.00 | |
| Lawn Care - Blight Over 6 inch 6" or taller lawn cut to 3-4" tall $100/hr all hours [$100 minumum] |
$ 100.00 | $ 100.00 | $ 100.00 | |
| having to mow lawn + Unraked clumps in lawn, unkept lawn --Flat fee | $ 10.00 | |||
| Same day service / rush service FEE | $ 25.00 | |||
| Excessive Dog Waste FEE | $ 10.00 | |||
| Mileage out of service area [per mile] | $ 0.50 | |||
| Mn tax | 6.8750% | |||
| Local Tax | 1.5000% | |||
| Tilling 1hr Minimum of $40 |
$ 40.00 | $ 40.00 | $ 40.00 | |
| Edging - 1hr Minimum of $40 |
$ 40.00 | $ 40.00 | $ 40.00 | |
| Loading/ Hauling and disposal of Trash/ Yard Debris Including drive time |
$ 50.00 | $ 50.00 | $ 50.00 | |
| All Tree Work will be hourly. | $ 100.00 | $ 100.00 | $ 100.00 | |
| Tipping Fee per trailer [Tree/ Grass/ organic] | $ 25.00 | |||
| DeThatching Lawn & Raking | $ 50.00 | $ 50.00 | ||
| Windrow & Rake | $ 50.00 | $ 50.00 | ||
| Billing Fee if not paid day of service | $ 10.00 | |||
| Clean-outs I pick up and haul your trash Actual time + windshield time to and from property & dump |
$100 per load + disposal | |||
| Minimum fee PER LOAD + disposal fees | $ 100.00 | |||
| Hourly Rate Load/ unload/ Drive + disposal fees | $ 50.00 | $ 50.00 | $ 100.00 | |
|
summary: Trip 1 takes 1.5 hours: I get $100 Minimum + disposal if trip 1&2 were the same customer [same job] I would get $300 + disposal. because time starts over per load, not per job. & there is a $100 minuimum load fee. |
||||
| *per load not per job. | ||||
| Dump Fees BASED ON load ticket | ||||
| 1 cubic Yard | $ 12.00 | |||
| 2 cubic yard | $ 24.00 | |||
| 3 cubic yards | $ 36.00 | |||
| *my trailer is often charged 2-3 cubic yards per load | ||||
| Rev 5-1-2024 | ||||
Thank You,
Mike's Odd Jobs LLC.
Phone: 218-242-1698
Text: 218-242-1698
Email: lawn@bahrindustries.com
® Bahr Industries LLC