I demoed a "Turf Revitalizer" today

[Victor]

There's a new customer I picked up recently, that I'm doing a renovation for. He's got a tiny front lawn, that's only 1k sq. ft. Since I found out that Home Depot is now renting Turf Revitalizers, I decided to try one out.

I found it to be extremely maneuverable and liked everything about the machine except two things. The engine on it was so weak, that it kept stalling when put under even the slightest load. For example; I had the knives set at roughly 1/8", to 1/4" and whenever the machine went over a raised area in the lawn, the engine would stall. It would fall flat on it's face when the knives dug into the crest of the hill. The other thing I didn't like was the incessant rattling the auger in the seed-box made.

While the machine looked almost new, there must have been something wrong with it. Had it not been for these 2 things, I'd give it rave reviews.

[Runner]

The rentals had smaller engines on them. All other models have more than adequate power to cut through virtually any type of surface. The newer ones especially have greater powered engines on them. Two features of this machine give that great of power. First, the hydro system, and secondly, the unique cutting knives that act as saw blades - rather than blades like that of an edger. Each revolution of the shaft equals 8 cuts of the blade. This is why it cuts down and levels hard surfaces and mounds with ease.

[Victor]

After using that 6hp model yesterday, it would be a huge understatement to say that my interest in these machines has been peaked. I've been doing a lot of research into these machines lately and think that when I'm finally ready to pull the trigger on getting one, I'd get the 9hp model like you and Dusty have. I have a lot of respect for both of your opinions. If the two of you have such great things to say about your 9hp models, then that's more than good enough for me.

[Victor]

How much do those 9hp models sell for, with and without the sulky?

[LawnSolutionsCP]

Buckeye Power Sales rents and sells the 9-hp models in Columbus. They have 2 locations: on the east side and north west side of town.

The 9-hp models makes the 6-hp models feel like a toy. The 6-hp is designed for novice homeowner rentals and is ideal for that application. The 6-hp is adequate, but keeps homowners from destroying the machine.

The 9-hp and larger models are a totally different animal. They drive the same and are just as easy to maneuver, but they are quick and very powerful.

Rent one of the 9-hp models and tell me what you think...

David

[lawn king]

Unfortunately ,they have no pto (3 point hitch) model on the drawing board.

[CHARLES CUE]

There's a new customer I picked up recently, that I'm doing a renovation for. He's got a tiny front lawn, that's only 1k sq. ft. Since I found out that Home Depot is now renting Turf Revitalizers, I decided to try one out.

I found it to be extremely maneuverable and liked everything about the machine except two things. The engine on it was so weak, that it kept stalling when put under even the slightest load. For example; I had the knives set at roughly 1/8", to 1/4" and whenever the machine went over a raised area in the lawn, the engine would stall. It would fall flat on it's face when the knives dug into the crest of the hill. The other thing I didn't like was the incessant rattling the auger in the seed-box made.

While the machine looked almost new, there must have been something wrong with it. Had it not been for these 2 things, I'd give it rave reviews.

victor i would try another brand i bought the 8 hp one and it does the same thing there not very good used mine six times and it broke they would not stand behind it.i bought it at buckeye power supply they bought the parts and sent them to me they are good people .the guy on this web site pm ed me about doing some up date work on it i pm ed him and sent him 2 emails and never herd from him again nice people
my thoughts
Charles Cue

[Victor]

Thanks for letting me know about your experience. I'm really sorry to hear about your trouble with that machine. Please keep me posted on if David resolves your issues to your satisfaction, or not. I'll be watching your situation closely. What kind of customer service David gives you from here on out will weigh heavily into my decision on whether to purchase one, or not.

One of the reasons why I'm always singing the praises of Gregson-Clark products, is because never in my life have I received customer service from any vendor that's close to being as good as the customer service I get from that company. I don't get any kick-backs from Rhett for saying the things I do about his products. I just think top-notch customer service like his should be rewarded because it is so rare anymore.

Like I said Charles, please keep me posted on how your situation pans out Buddy. I really do hope you're able to get that resolved. :)

[CHARLES CUE]

Thanks for letting me know about your experience. I'm really sorry to hear about your trouble with that machine. Please keep me posted on if David resolves your issues to your satisfaction, or not. I'll be watching your situation closely. What kind of customer service David gives you from here on out will weigh heavily into my decision on whether to purchase one, or not.

One of the reasons why I'm always singing the praises of Gregson-Clark products, is because never in my life have I received customer service from any vendor that's close to being as good as the customer service I get from that company. I don't get any kick-backs from Rhett for saying the things I do about his products. I just think top-notch customer service like his should be rewarded because it is so rare anymore.

Like I said Charles, please keep me posted on how your situation pans out Buddy. I really do hope you're able to get that resolved. :)

I will that got there attention they pm ed me again lets see what happens if they return my email i am going to send right now
talk about good service i get if from srayer specialties and as i said befor buckeye power supply
thanks Charles Cue

[CHARLES CUE]

Buckeye Power Sales rents and sells the 9-hp models in Columbus. They have 2 locations: on the east side and north west side of town.

The 9-hp models makes the 6-hp models feel like a toy. The 6-hp is designed for novice homeowner rentals and is ideal for that application. The 6-hp is adequate, but keeps homowners from destroying the machine.

The 9-hp and larger models are a totally different animal. They drive the same and are just as easy to maneuver, but they are quick and very powerful.

Rent one of the 9-hp models and tell me what you think...

David
sn # tr000146
model # tr2085koal
David
you PM ed me but email didnt work last time and i dont like email tag call me mornings 304 775 2097 afternoons 304 775 2490
Charles Cue

[LawnSolutionsCP]

Charles Cue,

I had to walk away from this post and come back several hours later before responding...let me apologize for the long post before hand.

We contacted you on 11/15/07 about servicing your unit (on site, at your location) but you never responded. I went back through all our emails and PM through lawnsite which is tracked and found nothing from "Charles Cue". You also never took the time to pick up the phone and gave us a call but yet we "don't stand behind" our products.

In just over 1 year from when we started production on our Turf Revitalizers, we supply the majority of the new power seeders to every major lawn care company, every major rental store, several of the PGA's leading golf courses, and now to Canada, Europe, Australia, and growing.

The above would not be possible without the emphasis on customer service especially on power seeders. Our customers normally make $400 - $600 per hour ($200k - $500k annually) running our machines so to have a machine down for any amount of time is big deal. So we setup our customer service to be 2nd to none. We provide 7-day a week phone support and all parts orders ship the same day if they are placed before 4:30 EST. Yes, as late as 4:30 in the evening and you can have the parts shipped the same day. Our service parts are shipped out every day at 5:30. Please find just 1 other company that does either of the above. With the above customer service network, we are in the process of handling customer support for other companies who are looking for similar customer support services.

As for standing behind our products, again, there isn't a company out there who has done more for customer satisfaction. We sold 450 units our first year that I knew could be better (after the fact).... based on feedback from rental stores who put 8+ hours a day on our machines in the hands of homeowners. Instead of waiting 2-3 years for things to start breaking after the warranty period, we visited every customer and updated their 2007 units with the design changes that took place for the 2008 models. There are 30+ individuals on LawnSite who can confirm.

Most people find it pretty amazing that a company would go through the effort that we have in the last 6-months to ensure every single customer is 100% satisfied with our units. For customers who purchased units where we would not be able to service before this spring, we sent them new units and had them strap their old machine to the new pallet and ship it back. We paid shipping both ways.

Why would we do this, being the "new" company on the block you have to do EVERYTHING better. We have very high standards to say the least. 2nd best is never an option. I take every customer who has an "issue" with one of our units personally.

So what were the big changes from 2007 to 2008? We came up with a new reel design that is nearly unbreakable. Anyone who has run our competitors products, know that the plastic netting found in Fescue sod is death to the bearing, our units in 2007 were the same way. Our customers spoke and we designed a new reel that can run through that plastic netting all day long. With our new reel design, we have yet to send our first set of bearings. How do I know, we have a custom bearing design in our new reel assembly. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you make good money running power seeders, this simple design change is huge.

If you have ever called our office for support, I apologize on our behalf if this actally fell through the cracks. But there has never been a message PMed back to us through LawnSite about your unit. If there was an email, it may have been filtered by our spam filters due to the huge amount of mail we get daily.

Anyway, please give me a call at the office on Tuesday at 502-968-3188.

Thanks

David Cook
President
Lawn Solutions Commercial Products, Inc

[LawnSolutionsCP]

Unfortunately ,they have no pto (3 point hitch) model on the drawing board.


We don't plan on producing a PTO unit because our 30" machine will do more than any PTO driven power seeder, go more place, and can be transported in the back of a small pickup. Golf courses love our 30" machines because the are as fast, but can go almost anywhere and on any slope.

It does over 1 acre / hour and costs only $5,000

I really can't imaging doing any better, but we are open to suggestions. What would you be looking for in a PTO driven unit?

We have toyed with the idea of a tow-behind model. Again, it wouldn't be much better than the 30" units, but it could hold more seed. The 30" machine holds 60lbs which is the only limitation as compaired to a PTO unit.


David

[lawn king]

I would like to see a 60" unit for athletic field work. Keep in mind one of the great advantages of pto units of any kind is there is no engine to fuel and maintain, its a great system. I was not cutting you guys down, just stating a fact.

[turfsurfer]

Hey Victor, I purchased one of the 9HP Robin Suburu models last Aug?. I can vouch for it being a really amazing unit. It has way more than paid for itself already. And David is right, I received an unsolicited phone call from Buckeye Power late last fall to bring the unit in for new updates. I have to say that I dropped it off in early Dec. and as of early March the updates had not been done. But to be fair, the guys did make it in before the seeding season and did alot of updates including putting on a brand new reel with new blades and some other things. Overall I was real impressed that they did this on their own accord since mine was one that had reel problems last fall and I had been planning on having warranty work done on it anyway, BUT THEY BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH by offerring the updates first. As for the units bogging down, I don't know that you can get away from that. Mine does it sometimes if wheels go in a deppression or if it hits a big clump of tall fescue. Overall though, it was worth every penny. I've only run Bluebird and Lesco seeders and it is way better than either of those. Best thing going right now in terms of walk behind seeders IMO.
My only small beef is that the unit will stall sometimes when coming off an incline hill. I don't know if it's a carberator thing or a safety shutoff like on the Honda engines. It is annoying but the unit does start right back up. Any info on this to help me out David?

[Victor]

As always Rob. Thanks for the good info. Jerry was just telling me that you bought one.

[New Green]

We don't plan on producing a PTO unit because our 30" machine will do more than any PTO driven power seeder, go more place, and can be transported in the back of a small pickup. Golf courses love our 30" machines because the are as fast, but can go almost anywhere and on any slope.

It does over 1 acre / hour and costs only $5,000

I really can't imaging doing any better, but we are open to suggestions. What would you be looking for in a PTO driven unit?

We have toyed with the idea of a tow-behind model. Again, it wouldn't be much better than the 30" units, but it could hold more seed. The 30" machine holds 60lbs which is the only limitation as compaired to a PTO unit.


David

Your replys suggest your equipment is well made, but your site is not. It is down

[Victor]

I noticed it's been down for at least the last couple of days New Green.

[rcreech]

We don't plan on producing a PTO unit because our 30" machine will do more than any PTO driven power seeder, go more place, and can be transported in the back of a small pickup.


David

That is a pretty bold statement there David!

I have a LANDPRIDE OS1548 and it kicks butt!

The PTO unit is built like a tank and there is no user fatigue when using it. Plus I never have to worry about losing power between 37 hp and 4WD!

You may be able to do an acre/hour....but how many acres a day would you want to do in a day with your machine? I have done 11 acres in 1 day with my PTO seeder.

My seeder is 48" and I go between 3-5 mph depending on ground conditions and it holds 150# of seed per fill.

How can you say your 30" machine can do more then a PTO?

[LawnSolutionsCP]

My only small beef is that the unit will stall sometimes when coming off an incline hill. I don't know if it's a carberator thing or a safety shutoff like on the Honda engines. It is annoying but the unit does start right back up. Any info on this to help me out David?


Your oil is low. The sensor should not trip until about 30 degrees which is a very steep incline. Fill the oil until it just start to overflow on level ground. This will correct the problem. On steeper hills, there is an orange wire with a quick disconnect on the front of the engine that turns off the oil sensor.

David

[LawnSolutionsCP]

Your replys suggest your equipment is well made, but your site is not. It is down


Thanks, I'll contact our IT person. I know they are working on a new website design, but it isn't supposed to launch for a few more weeks.

[LawnSolutionsCP]

That is a pretty bold statement there David!



The original statement was from an earlier post, "Why would we want to compete in an estabished market if we don't have a machine that is hands down the best on the market?" It would not make sense. LandPride has a great PTO seeder as do some other companies.

The statement was intended to be: we have a very unique product that is more versitile than any PTO driven seeder. It will do more, in more places, than any other seeder on the market. Would you use a PTO seeder on a 1/4 acre residential yard and then off to do a 1-5 acre estate? Would you take a PTO seeder on a 30-45 degree slope? Can you put a PTO seeder & tractor in the back of a pickup?

What are the limitations, which were stated: Seed hopper capacity for doing acre, after acre, after acre. This is the real benefit of a PTO unit.

Will our machine replace PTO unit, NO, but it will allow more poeple to purchase or rent a seeder to do acreage unlike anything before.


If you would like to demo a 30" Turf Revitalizer, let me know. We are passing through Ohio all the time. I think you will be impressed.

[jsf343]

Hello, I came across this thread and am interested in more info, especially price. can someone pm me with the best and latest link available? thank you.

[LawnSolutionsCP]

The 9-hp retails for $3,500 and the 30" machines retail for $5,000.

Give me a call and I can sell it to you directly since we don't have a dealer in your area. Acutally, if you want to purchase a unit, we will work to setup a local dealer near you.

Let me know,

Thanks

David

[rcreech]

Actually I would love for you to stop in! PM me if you are ever in the West Alexandria area.

Last year I seeded about 34 acres of lawn.

As far as little seeders I currently have a Turfco LS20 and just bought a Lesco Renovator last summer. I do wish I would have bought your unit though, especially for the SPEED.

Actually I have yet to find a lawn where I can't take my Landpride, as I think you would be very surprised how versatile it is. I do mostly larger properties, but do take it on lawns of 5-10K with no problem.

The ONLY time I use my little seeders is when there is a 36" gate. I am not affraid at all to run my Landpride on hills. It is very stable as it has a very low center of gravity.

[LawnSolutionsCP]

I may be up your way later this week.

We just purchased some new forklifts from a company about 1 hr north of Dayton.

Email me your cell and address and I'll stop by later this week.

David

[LawnSolutionsCP]

Actually send me a PM with your contact info.

Do you have any med to large seeding jobs for later this week?

[rcreech]

Actually send me a PM with your contact info.

Do you have any med to large seeding jobs for later this week?

Just sent you a PM with my contact info.

I have pretty much been done seeding now for about a month or so, but I do have a small fenced in area at a church to do this week that is like 3K. I also have some areas to touch up in my lawn! :laugh:

You know the ol' plumber and leaky pipe saying!

[CHARLES CUE]

UPDATE
if any one cares
David came out and did all the up dates so now the bearings wont burn up on the blade carriage and some new bushings with more surface area and a support for the tranny and extra support for the motor
thanks dave
Charles Cue

[CHARLES CUE]

victor i would try another brand i bought the 8 hp one and it does the same thing there not very good used mine six times and it broke they would not stand behind it.i bought it at buckeye power supply they bought the parts and sent them to me they are good people .the guy on this web site pm ed me about doing some up date work on it i pm ed him and sent him 2 emails and never herd from him again nice people
my thoughts
Charles Cue

I have to explain my quote above when i wrote this i was mad because david had never returned my email or PM after he had PM ed me this last winter i thought it was not a good company to deal with but he has made it wright with me the bearing problem as i had stated before was not there fault i didn't't know this. until they said it not warranted and i had to fix it my self and seen the problem bailing twine around the shaft that pushes on the bearing and burns it up but they have fixed it with a different kind of bearing looks like it will work along with other things at there improving things i know of other thing that had problems and the company never fix them just kept on making them the same.so it looks like there improving and getting better.
Charles Cue

[selaeration]

I have used mine for 2 seasons now and i love it. I have put in a number of lawns and am very satisfied. I had a bearing issue early on and David took care of me with great efficiency. They even upgraded me some newer parts at no charge. I would not hesitate to get one. Mine has the larger subaru engine on it.