Scrub Watching

[Charles]

Saw this lawncare? dude cutting a commercial peice of property with a toro Z. i was sitting at a redlight. All he was cutting was strips of grass with a 60". The he runs off the curb and gave the tall cement curb a good cut. My GF had to laugh at that. I saw him this morning again at a gas station cutting that in very damp conditons on a sunday morning at 730am(heavy dew). Anyone got any funny siteings?


[Edited by Charles on 04-01-2001 at 10:00 AM]

[Richard Martin]

One of my competitors who I have mentioned before uses Scotts 20-48 lawn tractors. One of the disadvantages to these <i>fine</i> machines is that they don't have a limited slip differential. What this means is that if one tire is off the ground the other one won't drive the mower. On more than one occasion he and his helpers have been seen trying to get the mowers unstuck when they try to cross berms and other uneven objects that a commercial mower would walk over. And when he gets them stuck in mud it can be a real circus to watch.

[KirbysLawn]

I enjoyed watching one of the local big boys crew (no scrubs) spray the other day with a good 20 mph wind. I assume they were spraying round-up since they were spraying grass in the beds and around paved areas. Can't wait until next week to see what it looks like. :)

[kutnkru]

This morning on the way back from church (had to edge the beds next door), I saw a new guy who gave the term Wide-Area-Mowing a new meaning. He had taken three 21" mowers and fixed them so the ran side by side like a gang mower does and then had another handle bar like a wide lawn sweeper or something to hold onto.

Next Sunday if he's there again I will take a photo and submit it here.

Lauged all the way home after I saw the persistance of that guy. I hope he doesnt find this site and realize the potential his contraption can gross. -LOL

Enjoy whats left of your weekend!
Kris

[linky]

Last week i saw a homeowner vacuuming his just trimmed hedge! He was not using a shop vac but a hoover wind tunnel.LOL i wish i had a camera-say no to drugs!

[bob]

My neighbor's not in the lawn care business, but he was using a shop vac in his yard to pick up his gum balls.

[eggy]

I would love to see the three mower set up...ohhh I started crying thinking about that!!!! I cant stop laughing...Are you sure that wasnt here in Indiana?

[1MajorTom]

Bob: Quote: My neighbor's not in the lawn care business, but he was using a shop vac in his yard to pick up his gum balls.

What exactly are gum balls? If it is what I am thinking of, we call those monkey balls.

[little green guy]

One day last year, we just finished one of my jobs in a real nice development and as we where leaving we saw another "landscape company" pulling in. They where pulling a 4x8 trailer with a 36" bobcat. There vehical was a Ford Tuarus coop with a trimmer hanging out the back and 4 people in the car. It was the funniest thing, I wish I got a picture. I wish I had gotton to see tham work. They must have spent all thier money on the mower and didn't have enough for truck.

[gogetter]

little green guy wrote:
I wish I got a picture.


This might be a good time to suggest that we all carry disposable cameras in our trucks this year. LOL!

Hmm, then again, maybe this is a bad idea. I could end up on here myself!

Jonathan

[Plowzer]

I am just LMAO!! Funniest thing I ever heard of was a kid with a Pontiac Firebird with mag wheels. He had a 21" Toro in the little trunk with a blower. He had just cut down a hedge and stuffed it all in the back seat. I can't believe it all fit! He then put the trimmer across his lap and proceeded to the next job! LOL.........
that was me 12yrs ago....I would suggest, make freinds with them and be helpful or they will definitely take aim at your accounts. I, from the get-go, would not intentionally take let alone bid on some else's business. Sometimes i would call the current LCO and explain a situation if it came to it. I actually feel bad for a guy if someone cuts them and calls me. Hopefuly some of the new guys will show the same respect to people's livelihood. Keep the funny stories coming, best laugh i've had in a while...er...memory

[kutnkru]

Originally posted by Plowzer
Funniest thing I ever heard of was a kid with a Pontiac Firebird with mag wheels. He had a 21" Toro in the little trunk with a blower. He had just cut down a hedge and stuffed it all in the back seat. I can't believe it all fit! He then put the trimmer across his lap and proceeded to the next job! LOL...
ROFLMFAO HA HAHAHAHA HA, HA HAHAHAHA HA!!!!!!!!!!

We all had to start somewhere. At least you had a cool ride mine was a Ford Tempo with a two stroke oil holder where the radio used to was. The cool thing about the trunk set up in place of a trailer was that once the car is full you still had storage space between the rear window and the trunk lid.:)

I read your post and laffed so hard I almost chocked myself unconscious. But, like you said if people are going to get into this business we need to be professional and considerate of others.

Ahhhh, yes the good ol' days of summer, just me and my murray 18" couldnt afford the MTD upgrade at the beginning;)
Kris

[lawrence stone]

Even back in the old days I was at the top of the food chain.

I had a new long bed automatic jap truck, a new 4x8 kit trailer with 2ft sides, a 32" Toro 12hp briggs riding mower, and a 21" MTD self propelled (pos).

[LJ lawn]

you gotta love seeing people cleaning the leaves off their yard with one of those blower-vacs.you know the little crappy ones with the little cloth bag. i watched a guy spend 2+ hours vacuuming up each individual leaf off of his lawn.this whole job would have taken him about 15-20 minutes with a rake!

[Plowzer]

LOL kutnkru...i am sure that many of us here have a samilar beginning. These "new" scrubs might just be calling *us* scrubs someday. lol The "new" scrubs can make you look more professional. Make the most of it, but don't take it for granted. I for one, do NOT want the cheap customers. The "new" guys can have them. Isn't that what they're for?
I have 3 very good freinds starting a lawn biz this season.
Two of them worked for me last year. Talk to the trailer shops. They know how many "new" people are getting started. It's kinda' scary. And my freinds aren't buying trailers! LOL Good luck to all this season and work smarter :)

[Eric ELM]

For the new members that haven't seen the talk of Lawnsite picture taken last summer by Paul, here it is. :)

http://www.elmlawnsite.com/images/scrub.jpg

[lawnboy11]

I don't think that kid on the bike is a scrub at all. I think he's a rare exception to the fat,lazy, kids that shoot each other in school today.

I beleive that you have to be over 18, or not in school to be a true scrub. Young guys that go to school and work after and on weekends are simply hard workers doing the best with what they've got. Plus no driver's license.
I started out that way and am far from it now, but we don't need to get into that.

[Eric ELM]

Paul said the guy on the bike looked like he was about 35 years old, so he isn't a young kid. I will give him credit, he is out working.

[cos]

The gum balls that bob is refering to are from the sweet gum tree. I used to call them monkey balls as a kid, but now refer to them as itchy balls.

[cajuncutter]

This is in regards to the picture of the guy. Yeah it is a little funny and the guy may be a scrub but I agree atleast he is working. When this thread started I almost told a story that was some what similar but I thought about it for a minute and it was not really all that funny. The guy here has a trike and pulls a small trailer. I have seen him from one end of the town to the other. If he and his family is on welfare I respect the fact that he is out trying to make extra money. He is too consostant in his appearances around town to be a crack addict trying to make and extra buck for a score.

Now I do admit I did not see this when it happened but I heard of a guy that left a walk behind 36 belt drive running in neutral at the top of a hill so he could move a garden hose. When he walked away from the mower to retrive the hose the mower turned down hill and made a run at a brick retainer wall just on the other side of the main brick wall to the house. Mower took out the retainer and had the fella not grabed a hold of the mower and went for the ride down hill it would have kept going and hit the house. What an idiot!!! This happened when I went in for an emergency surgery due to an illness I had. The guy took over my business so I could keep my accounts. LOL I didn't know if i was greatful or regretful LOL... He is my best friend..he and my father tried to keep it a secret and the customer had agreed and luckly did not take any legal action and to boot they didn't even want it fixed for they admited it was already cracked..I was lucky.

[lawnboy11]

Ahh, I did not know that. That is pretty scrubby/funny!