If Zsprays are so great...

[gqnine44]

I am considering buying a Z-Spray or Perma Green sometime in the near future. But I was wondering, If they are so great and such great time savers why doesn't Chemlawn or Davey or other national companies use them? They certainly can afford it and they want to save $ every way possible. Do they know something those of you with Zsprays don't or is it the other way around? Just wondering.

[Runner]

Scumlawn does use permagreens. They are making a transition and have more and more of them every year. One of the things that is considered by tru-brown is the cost factor of maintenance...yes,...you do have tokeep these machines up. When you have 20 year old hosejockeys out there who are spraying for what are basically Walmart wages, you have to expect there is going to be some neglect and abuse there. Another thing is that the guys actually have to know what they're doing when messing with sprays that are that hot. It is nothing like the 2 gallon per 1000 water cocktail they are used to working with....It is serious business.

[indyturf]

I would say they don't use the PG's and Z sprays because they don't want their employee's tearing them up! you know how employee's are.. They do have large capacity spreaders and boom sprayers for the larger properties but I'm sure they don't let just anyone use them. I have the PG Magnum and it saves me a lot of time and energy! just yesterday I serviced a commercial account that use to take me an hour to do in about 30 min. when I did this property with the hose I had to move the truck 6 times. Plus it has saved me over $500 this spring in herbicide cost by being able to spot treat weeds. you cant go wrong with the PG or Z spray, if you do a lot a large commercial accounts go with the Z, if you have mostly smaller residential lawns I would go with the Magnum.

[sclawndr]

Chemlawn is an all liquid company and it just wouldn't make sense for them to switch everything over to granular and liquid. It's much easier to train someone to drag a hose and there isn't much to break. You'll get a very quick payback with either unit. I'm averaging 300,000 SF a day and I'm not half dead at the end of the day. You'll never push a spreader or drag a hose again.

[Tscape]

Ah, you're thinking too much here. It is a no-brainer to switch to a Z-spray, and proof that Chemlawn does in fact have NO brain.

[rodneyskip]

Chemlawn is an all liquid company and it just wouldn't make sense for them to switch everything over to granular and liquid. It's much easier to train someone to drag a hose and there isn't much to break. You'll get a very quick payback with either unit. I'm averaging 300,000 SF a day and I'm not half dead at the end of the day. You'll never push a spreader or drag a hose again.


Mowed an account on Friday that chem lawn had granular- saw another this week with granular on the drive and the Chemlawn sign right with it.

[Tscape]

Chemlawn does granular. That's not news.

[ThreeWide]

If I had high turnover employees who made a relatively low hourly wage doing applications, one of my concerns would not be how tired they were at the end of the day. Nor would I want them using a piece of equipment where there is so much potential for abuse or misuse. These pieces of equipment are great for true professionals who have interest in doing the job more efficiently, not big volume companies using shotgun approaches. I cannot see training someone for a week and then turning them loose with a PG or ZSpray.

[teeca]

the TRUE question is, do you think that trugreen cares if their employees are tired at the end of the day?? just like many employers, NO, as long as you have someone willing to do the work and someone to fill his shoes (sparyboots) if he doesn't.

[PR Fect]

Scumlawn does use permagreens. They are making a transition and have more and more of them every year. One of the things that is considered by tru-brown is the cost factor of maintenance...yes,...you do have tokeep these machines up. When you have 20 year old hosejockeys out there who are spraying for what are basically Walmart wages, you have to expect there is going to be some neglect and abuse there. Another thing is that the guys actually have to know what they're doing when messing with sprays that are that hot. It is nothing like the 2 gallon per 1000 water cocktail they are used to working with....It is serious business.

Joe hit it on the head. In my area they do use them on some of their crews. Mags and Z-sprays trailered behind the tank truck. My guess would be its their season guys who use them. New guy gets the hose. Also check out ProLawn Shielded sprayers. If you can get one from Randy they work very well and cost a little less.PR

[sclawndr]

Chemlawn does granular. That's not news.


True - but not much. I'd rather see them stay this way because if they ever started focusing on quality at the right price, they'd be a real competitor.

[fert40]

I was talking with one of the trugreen techs a few weeks ago and he told me that our area was one of the first test areas for the perma-greens. He then went on to tell me that they were getting rid of them because most of the techs were over appling product with them and costing the company too much money.

[americanlawn]

You guys crack me up! too funny. LOL. I started with ChemLawn in 1978 - after I left, ChemLawn got "bought out" 3 different times. The Duke family nolonger owned it.

1st buyer was Ecolab, 2nd was Waste Mangement (an appropriiate name for TruGreen), 3rd was TruGreen (America's 2nd largest lawn care company).

TruGhost entered my market (Des Moines) in 1989, and since then we have saved big money on advertising. "As long as TruQueen is in business, we will have a job".

Here TruGreen runs about 20 trucks. This year, they are now using only one permagreen ride-on for the 1st time. I expect they will use more of these units in the future.

Their 1st app this spring (same as last year) was 1/2 pound of UREA per 1000 square feet (dry app).

We only run 8 trucks, but we have 2 Permagreen ride-ons and one LESCO Z-two.

Our Z-two has broke down 3 times, but I think we have all the kinks figured out, and it has worked fine the past few days. There are only 3 LESCO Z-two units in Iowa, and TruCrap does not have one in my state.

We have installed a 1.8 gpm Shurflow pump in each of our Permagreen units. Now our weed control is nearly 100%. (we run Ultras)

Our new LESCO Z-two puts out as much spray as one wants -- works great!

All our ride-ons have one thing in common >> regularly clean out ALL screens to get the widest, smoothest 'spray pattern'. In this regard, LESCO & Permagreen have the same needs. >> valuable assets, but need the appropriate maintenance they deserve.

[teeca]

hey american, what modle # pump did you put on? any problems w/drawing more current then the 1.0 pump? thanks