Commercial Mowing and Edgers Equipment

[josemontes]

Hello all,
I am starting on the landscape business and I was wondering if any of you can recommend the most reliable brand for commercial mowers and edger’s. I know this will be crucial for the success of my future business.
Thank you!
JM

[Allens LawnCare]

Well that's going to depend on what you have for local dealers!

[DLAWNS]

It really does depend on your local dealers. Personally I run Toro and Exmark for mowers and Redmax for all of my handheld stuff. Not saying it's the best for you, but I love it.

[IntegrityGuy]

What equipment you buy mostly depends upon the availability of dealers. some brands that will have dealers in your area that have really reliable products are

Hand Held:
- Stihl
- Echo
- Husquavarna
- Redmax
- Kawasaki
* do not buy from home depot or any other big box.

Mowers:
-Toro
- Scag
- ExMark
- Wright
- Bob- Cat
- Lesco
- havent heard anything good about Cub Cadet.
- Commercial John Deere -- not the Home Depot sh*t


You will be safe with any of these brands. ** just do not buy from any stores Like Home Depot or Lowes or any Big BOx stores. Most of thier stuff is chinese nock off and the Echo equipment is referbrished used equipment. (everything is new beside the engine.**

[Nick's Lawn Care]

You local dealers are going to be the most important... you could have the best trimmer on the market but if your dealer wont stand behind it and he is a jerk then you better hope it doesn't break down....

Just shop around at any stores that sell the products above and see what one treats you the best and go for it...

nick

[Lucky Star Lawn Care]

I use Toro mowers,Redmax blowers,trimmers,etc..,stihl chainsaws. When I go to purchase new mowers gonna go with Ferris. Your dealer might let you demo before you buy, I know mine does

[ACW lawncare]

l Love my ferris hate my toro but its old and have had all good luck with stihl blowers and trimers

[jhastrello]

I've been really looking at the mowers (same situation as the thread owner), closely the past 10 days. I'd agree on the 'dealer aspect', whoheartedly.

I'm down to Scag and ExMark. I was really impressed with the Ferris, but I've just simply read too much on this forum about 'cut quality and cut problems' on the Ferris. That, and if you read the brochures from all three (Scag, ExMark, Ferris) - both the Scag and ExMark brochures really focus and concentrate on the 'quality of cut' and the design of their decks.

Ferris - the 'ride'.

My clients are not going to care about the 'ride', but are certainly care about the cut. Far too many comments about cutting damp or wet grass. Here in E. Texas - lot's of 'dew' to deal with, and can't wait till 10-11AM when the grass is perfectly dry.

Having said all that, what have you found with cut quality with your Ferris? How about damp/wet conditions?

[IntegrityGuy]

I've been really looking at the mowers (same situation as the thread owner), closely the past 10 days. I'd agree on the 'dealer aspect', whoheartedly.

I'm down to Scag and ExMark. I was really impressed with the Ferris, but I've just simply read too much on this forum about 'cut quality and cut problems' on the Ferris. That, and if you read the brochures from all three (Scag, ExMark, Ferris) - both the Scag and ExMark brochures really focus and concentrate on the 'quality of cut' and the design of their decks.

Ferris - the 'ride'.

My clients are not going to care about the 'ride', but are certainly care about the cut. Far too many comments about cutting damp or wet grass. Here in E. Texas - lot's of 'dew' to deal with, and can't wait till 10-11AM when the grass is perfectly dry.

Having said all that, what have you found with cut quality with your Ferris? How about damp/wet conditions?

If your going to cut damp or wet grass do not go with scag. I sometimes use my buddies scag tiger cub and the deck collects the grass and then spits it out in chunks and it looks horrible. Exmark is your safest and best bet. I know that the deck is one of the older scag decks which are notorius for clogging but i wouldnt chance it with the new ones either. Exmarks have worked great for me.

[ACW lawncare]

i have been running ferris walkbehinds with the 23 kaw. I havent really had any problems with damp grass I allways double cut every time in two difrent directions, if it did clump up the second pass always looks amazing I also do not use gator blades.... and I put fresh sharp blades on every morning

[jhastrello]

Thanks for both replies.

ACW - not trying to be critical, but if I had to make two passes, I'd be getting another mower. Unless there is some reason, that I don't understand for the second pass.

[hseeder]

I had a scag when I bought my first and even back when the baggers had the auxiliary motor, it still clumped and looked terrible unless it was totally dry. I bought a Toro after that, and wasn;t all to happy there either, I bought it because it was supposed to have the best cut, then I went with Exmark, and I loved it. I got out of maintenance for a while and just bought a couple Ferris today. I stayed away from the exmark as the price is off the wall now, almost 12k quoted on a 6o" z, I went with Ferris as was mentioned due to dealer support. I was never able to get a machine out of the dealer I bought the Scag, TOro and Exmark from if something went down, the dealer I bought from today guaranteed me one. Another concern I had with the exmark now is that they are switching decks again, I come form the school of don;t fix what isn;t broke, they had a fantastic machine, then played with what worked, and the dealer told me it didn;t play out so well, now they are trying to switch back. I will watch and see where it goes. I truly wish there was a dixie dealer around here, or a walker, they are really where I want to be, but not local and the others are.

As for the smaller tools, I run billy goat walk behinds, and the rest are all stihl from the saw to the trimmers and even the smaller blowers. They have always been reliable for me.

[ACW lawncare]

second pass is for looks... go look at all your comercal lots around town most of them are cut in two diffrent directions for looks thats why I do it

[capnsac]

What equipment you buy mostly depends upon the availability of dealers. some brands that will have dealers in your area that have really reliable products are

Hand Held:
- Stihl
- Echo
- Husquavarna
- Redmax
- Kawasaki
* do not buy from home depot or any other big box.

Mowers:
-Toro
- Scag
- ExMark
- Wright
- Bob- Cat
- Lesco
- havent heard anything good about Cub Cadet.
- Commercial John Deere -- not the Home Depot sh*t


You will be safe with any of these brands. ** just do not buy from any stores Like Home Depot or Lowes or any Big BOx stores. Most of thier stuff is chinese nock off and the Echo equipment is referbrished used equipment. (everything is new beside the engine.**

You will get this opinion from a lot of guys on this site, and quite frankly it makes me mad. I would be willing to put money on it that 95% have ZERO experience with Cub Cadet. I however do, and can attest to a quality built machine at an affordable price. You get what you pay for with these machines, over and over.

Do not let others dissuade you from buying these machines. I have 2 60" tanks and one 36" walk behind and wouldn't trade these for either Scag or Exmark, not even if you put $1000 in front of my face to try and sweeten the deal. I know Cub Cadet, and I know that I have put mine through their paces. They have yet to fail me. Best of luck with the new business. :usflag:

[Lucky Star Lawn Care]

second pass is for looks... go look at all your comercal lots around town most of them are cut in two diffrent directions for looks thats why I do it


Cut one direction one week the opposite direction following week...if your looking for more equipment im selling an '86 F350 12ft stakebed(in for sale section)

[ACW lawncare]

Thats one way to do it... I think its worth the extra time to just cut it twice cause it looks that much better when your done. the company I have been working for cuts twice, we do joe bucks yeard got some blues players a bunch of high end yards in ladue and thay are always the best lookin yards on the street every week. I will look at your post on that f-350

[Lucky Star Lawn Care]

Ya whatever works for you, I just hate using more gas than really needed and using up all that time. Because most Ladue yards arent to small atleast the ones I have. Thats cool heard he has a beautiful home. I had Kyle Loshe's house last summer

[ACW lawncare]

his home is nice!!!! takes us about 1 hour 15 min to cut it with 4 guys runing 2 52 ferris walbehinds and one 60 dixie chopper i wish it iwas my account and not my hourly wage job... :(

[lifetree]

I recommend looking at the Quick 36" Samurai Dually WB, it's a good machine for less than everything else !!

[KENNY DEAN]

I agree with most of the other guys. Most of my equipment is husqvarna, and i have had pretty good luck with all of itand my local dealer is the best!! That is the most important thing, service.if and you will have a problem on any make, it must be fixed asap.you can't make any money sitting at home.even the best equipment out there is no good to you if you can't get it fixed in a timely manner.

[scagmower]

yeah ive been in business for 5 years, and have tried a few different brands over the years. My personal favorite is SCAG power equipment. They are reliable and effiecient mowers that just want to keep mowing. I have had one for about 4 years, and nothing has gone wrong except a few belts that have broke. The mower has over 1400 hrs on it, and its still going strong.All mowers that i own are scag now, and i wouldnt even hesitate about changing brands. Most commercial mowers will be all good, you just have to take care of them, and service regularly. For edgers i prefer stihl, however echo makes some good ones too!

[RonAyersMotorsports]

Find a great dealer with one of the following. Again the dealer is what matters hear. All the equipment listed are great units.

Mowers:
Hustler, Toro, Exmark, Scag, or Grasshopper. (All have high quality cuts and the thickest decks the industry has to offer)

Trimmers or handhelds
STIHL(Number 1 worldwide), Echo, or Shindiawa

In my opinion these are the only machines you can truly compare apples to apples.

[josemontes]

Hi all,
I just wanted to thank you all for you inputs, I've being visiting dealers around my area and that is also helping me a lot.

[nicktfd62]

We personally use Scag for our zero turns, stihl for all handhelds, and Honda for our 22". We have been using these for the last 7 years or so and have no complaints.

[Ruben Rocha]

All brands have pros and cons.
You could read posts forever on this site as to what is best or the worst.
If you buy commercial equipment you can't go wrong. For the most part.
As others have posted the most important item is the dealer you deal with.

When something breaks down which it will your dealer will become the most important person in your life.
So you should consider things such as:
Is the dealer going to be around the next few years. I have seen a lot of them close the last two years.
Days and hours the dealer is open. Remember things break when least expected.
What does the dealer offer if your equipment is down a few days.My local dealer will lend me a demo if it is available.

Where is the next closest dealer. In case something happens that your local dealer can't provide.

Whatever brand or brands you decide on. My opinion is the dealer or dealers will make or break your opinion on that product.