New lawn care business. Please help

[Gilitar]

Guys, I recently got laid off and I'm seriously thinking about starting my own lawn care business. If I do this my main investment will be a lawn tractor and of course I want to know what you guys would recommend. I am currently looking at the following models:

Husqavarna YTH2348

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=84182-41798-YTH2348&lpage=none

John Deere LA130

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=212386-573-BG20404&lpage=none

Cub Cadet LT1050

http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_14101_10227_33810_-1

I really leaning toward the Cub since it has the Kohler, but hey what do I know?

I know that these aren't top of the line machines in any way, but I need to keep my startup cost down and if I could get a couple of seasons out of one of these I could then upgrade if everything goes as planned.

 

[JTK]

Sorry about the job loss. I've been down that road! I think you'll find LT's in that price range to be of similar quality. Check Stuarts post here: http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...ge=0#Post851755

Joel

 

[Johnny]

Go to this website. There is a wealth of knowledge here.

www.lawnsite.com

Good luck

 

[dwendt44]

All of the lawn care businesses around here use John Deere tractors. Parts and service are easier to come by, I'm guessing.
Often end up with too many doing that. Ends up being a part time job for many of them.
Commercial accounts are the bread and butter of this line.

 

[lobo11]

Sorry about the job loss as well. My brother was in the same situation & tried to make a go of a lawn business (snow removal in winter up here) and really had problems making money. If your location is anything like around here you will find the competition stiff and profit margins low--unless you are a big service that does more than just lawns (i.e. trees, sodding, spray seeding etcetera). After 2 years and a lot of headaches he kept on the job hunt and is now working 8-4:30 for someone else and enjoying it much better, this is definietly not for everyone--really think about it becasue you need to invest a significant amount of capital to be competitive.

 

[lobo11]

Another thing just based on his experience going the LT route. He said you really need a zero turn commercial grade mower like and Exmark/Dixie/Toro, etc. & that the time saved by those quality commerical mowers will pay for itself in the amount of accounts you can take on.

 

[JTK]

All good points. I've never done it for a living, but worked with some X-landscapers over the years. You need to mow a LOT of grass to keep affloat. Much more than a lawn tractor can do for you.

Joel

 

[obbop]

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/lmower/

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/tractor/

Easy to get into the lawncare biz.

Thus. LOTS of competition.

Investigate thoroughly.

And, from my own observations when living in California, if you are in an area with too many ahem undocumented immigrants, you will likely be facing an inordinant amount of competition AND, from a people who will not have your overhead such as insurance, social security payments, business taxes, etc.

 

[Bill Kapaun]

I'm not sure if I wouldn't get my feet wet doing smaller lawns with a walk behind.
You still need trimmers, edgers etc., so your initial outlay is more than just the mower. With a riding mower, you still need a walk behind to do otherwise inaccessible areas for a "big" mower.

 

[Gilitar]

Yeah. I already have everything but the rider and trailer.

 

[wileyE]

Lowes and Homedepot do not service or repair them or deal with warranty issues. You'll need to deal with the local dealers (where you didn't buy to save a few bucks). In my case a Deere from Home depot, that I've had to haul 40 miles to a dealer 3 times. They've been good about fixing it but I wonder if there own customers would gotten 1st crack at parts in stock and service scheduling. I also had to trailer each way (time, fuel, hassle). If I would've bought it at the farm store and paid more they would have picked up and delivered for free. So if I would have been using it in a business where down time meant money, the discount store savings would been lost easily. Just somethting to consider.

 

[T-Keith]

None of those would work well for commercial mowing. Buy an older commercial John Deere and you'll have a lot better investment. If your mowing anything besides nice flat fields your going to want things like a differential lock, that you can't get on cheap mowers. If you take a look at the difference between a residential mower and a real commercial one you'd be shocked.

-T

 

[Merkava_4]

My neighbour does small lawns, commercial and residential. He has 50 accounts and charges each one a minimum of $75 a month. Not a bad living, but he's constantly being under cut by the immigrants. He says it's hard to compete with people that sleep twelve to a bed.

He likes to use a HY-VAC Snapper commercial mower because he says it vacuums the clippings so well that can use it last.

His routine:

1. Edges first.
2. Blows clippings towards center of lawn.
3. Mows last and sucks up clippings with the HY-Vac Snapper.

 

[Gilitar]

Yeah... I'm going to think this over a little more. My cousin is starting a mobile detailing business that honestly sounds more profitable. I may just go in with him until I go back to work.