Most profitable piece of equipment:

[mike payne]

What was the most profitable piece of equipment you ever purchased for your business?

[STSLAWNCARE14]

it will have to be my case 590m backhoe

[AK Lawn]

It would have to be going from 4 21" comercial mowers to my first deck mower three years ago definitally
AK Lawn

[stslawncare]

id guess its my craftsman tractor, pics can be viewed on my website, its served from plowing snow, to hauling heavy landscape material.

[rodfather]

Shindaiwa Power Broom for getting stones out of the lawn from snowplowing. God I love that thing.

[SJR Lawncare]

Probably my truck, because without it, I wouldnt be going to any jobs.

[longviewlawncare]

i got to say my trailer, cause there is almost nothign you can't do with it, hual anything you want and you are alwasy using it

[Wayne Offiler]

For me, I would have to say its my old Billy Goat brush cutter. Bought it 3 years ago, in need of repair and not running. Did some welding and painting and got a used plain old Briggs engine for it. Stands me about $ 400. It just keeps working and making good money for me during the off seasons. I mow mostly "cluster communities" in rural areas. They usually have land beyond the lawns that looks much better thinned, and brush cleared. One job leads to another.

[tramahor]

Besides my truck and trailer, I view these as a needed item to have, but as far as equipment goes it has to be my aerator and dethatcher..

Ramirez Landscaping Co.

[LawnCrafters]

Mine would have to be my Billy Goat leaf loader. I do alot of leaf jobs.

[Guardian]

eXmark!!!

I thank the eXmark gods daily!

[LawnLad]

My 'puter. just kidding. It's just a business expense, but without it things would be different. When I went from using 21" mowers to a 36" at 17 yrs old, I saw the light. Any piece of equipment that increases productivity.

[Dennis Watson]

ztr mower. We went from three tractor mowers to two ztr's. couldn'tbelieve the amazing difference.

[mklawnman]

Well so far, since im only 18, the most profitable piece of equipment that i have is my 2001 Scag 52inch Turf Tiger. First ZTR i have had, went from JD Garden tractor to ZTR WOW big time difference. And also my truck and trailer of course to pull that toy around. :D
Matt (lawnman)

[PAPS]

either our 843 Bobcat
-or-
our Komatsu PC50uu Mini-ex.

[Bob Minney]

Ryan 4 aerator

[Nebraska]

My Telephone! It's the gateway to all the business we have obtained.

[KirbysLawn]

My aeravator during seeding season, othewise my 52" ZTR.

[Nebraska]

I would have to agree with SJR, followed by the 52" great danes.

[Mykster]

Truck and trailer. Post this thread at the end of the season and hopefully it will be my new 48"wb I haven't picked up yet.

[Planter]

For the dollar invested and hourly rate it has to be my aerator.
I make more per hour with it than I do the tractor. $1500 v. 17500 invested and get about the same money peer hour. Strange investing on my part.

[CHAN]

Computer

I would have to say my computer. Without it i would not be learning what i have from reading these post, it aids in my bookkeeping and billing and the internet, or would I have got the proposal package or the letters that i use. I guess those (prosal and letters) are the most profitable items I have ever invested in but they are not equipment.

Computer

[mowngrow]

Hopefully it will be my new toy listed above:D

[ohiolawnguy]

these 2 items dont make us the most moneyoverall, but i would say they have the highest profit percentage, as opposed to how work would be done otherwise.


both pieces can be quick attached to our power trac in under 40 seconds

1. aerator
2. power trac's version of the harley box rake.

[Currier]

Ryan lawnaire V 1400.oo and has made much more...
Walker mower. serious $$ but it really does bring it in.

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

It all depends. If you ask me now I'll tell you my ground/back pack blowers. But most of the year it would be my 61" ZTR and my 48" mowers. My 48" mowers first believe it or not. They can fit on any lawn that we cut.:D
Travis

[keifer]

My wife.
she makes a lot more money than I do.

[thelawnguy]

snowplow and blower

[1grnlwn]

Aerator gives highest payback. Just wish we could have more work for it. Too many rentals in our area.

[Loosestrife]

I wish that we had some type of "criteria" to better define "Most profitable equipment". I often hear contractors say that they paid for a certin piece of equipment in X amount of time. I feel that many of these contractors do not accuratle cost out their equipment, and mearly will feel that if they do $3000 in sales with a piece of equipment that cost $3000, they feel that they have paid for it.

That being said, I feel that our most profitable piece of equipment is our Perma Green sprayer attachment for a push spreader. This unit allows us to greatly reduce the time spent when treating lawns. This unit consistantly over the course of several seasons has saved us many, many man hours.

Our core aerators and snow removal equipment bring in high dollars per hour when they are operated, HOWEVER, they have a very limited use period, and when factoring all the costs of ownership in for the time period that they sit unused, they are not as profitable as they first appear.

[Tyner Lawn Service]

I would have to say any type of lawn equipment pays for it's self real easy. Take good care of them and the return will make a lot of $$$ I remember once needing a new shrub trimmer(gas) so I found a $300 shrub job which payed for it and 6 years later it's never cost me a dime and i've made over $10,000 on the side with it. An aerator also is a good return on investment.

[RYAN]

I paid only $600 for it used. I wish I would have had years ago. I also wish I could aerate all year long rather than only spring and fall.

[Greenstar Services]

For me it would be our Exmark Turf Tracer.It has allowed me to cut staffing needs by one.

[slplow]

Hands down my 1t0n dump .

[dlandscaping]

machines that make the most for me aren't the cheapest but the ones that save me the most time. One would be this site for the help and input others would be my backpack blowers and billygoat during leaf season. My ariens snowthrowers in the winter and my 36deck toro mower that saves so much time over 21's. For aerators and detatchers, i haven't gotten to use them just yet but i got both for $250 both bluebird at auction and already got em working.

[Mow&Snow]

Most profitable piece considering the dolars I have into it would be my JRCO dethatcher for my 52" Z.

What I make the most money with in one year......well that would be my plow truck if we get any snow.....otherwise it would be my Bunton Z.

per hour I make the most money pushing snow hands down by far. I just wish we would get more storms. Last night it snowed here and I plowed all my accounts with 6" of snow. It only took me 5.5 hours to gross $1800.00. This works out to $327.00 an HOUR!!! Beat that mowing grass. And I don't have to hand any of that over to a greedy laborer either!

[Scotlawncare]

I guess for me the most profitable would be my trailer. Without it I couldn't haul equipment to the job site in order to make the money. Next would be my sulky. productivity went way up with it.

[mickman]

Besides the Lazer's, I definitely have to say my TRENCHMASTER. It paid for itself in the 1st season.

[ideallawns]

with out a doubt, it's my street blower, on commercial accounts we take 2/3 off the time to blow curbs. In leaf season, it's invaluable on residential too!:cool:

[lbmd1]

I'm with Bill the Lawnguy. My plow and truck (when it snows) can produce around $250 an hour by myself. Even though I hate plowing and swear to get out of it each year, it's still the most profitable service next to aeration.

Mike

[Runner]

I would have to say the V blade. Although, that's only by the night. As a regular thing, for all around profitability, especially for the cost, would have to be a Lesco spreader. The aerator is right up there, also.

[wayne volz]

:)

My most profitable piece of equipment would be our salt spreaders used for de-icing. These are best by far!

Thanks!

Wayne

[65hoss]

eXmark Lazer HP 52"

[David Haggerty]

Toro 580-D

The big 5' Mill Creek Aerator I bought last fall was great.
Paid for it's self and was making good money in a week!
Gotta love that dormant season cash flow!

But in terms of profit, the 580-D just dwarfs everything else.





Dave

[HBFOXJr]

My Brain!

[bubenberg]

it mowes, drills holes of all kinds, sweeps, grappels unwieldly loads, sweeps and it fits through small gates and lifts 800 lbs or better. likes the hills and the snow, the sand and the mudd and THE PRICE IS RIGHT

[turfinator]

My most profitable pieces of equipment would have to be my Blue Bird power rakes.