If you could make equiptment for this business

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

I think for me maybe an edger that has a blower to blow out the edges right after edging. I thought about the hedge trimmer on the weed wacker about 8 or 9 years ago but I'm no mechanic. How about a hedge trimmer for a rider the has a hydro arm to cut long and tall hedges. (LoLs) I guess you can tell I had a good day!! Travis AG&G Lawn Maintenance ;)

[Greenkeepers]

Travis-<p>Probably robotic employees. They would never:<br>be late<br>take a lunch<br>steal from you<br>have a hangover <br>etc... you get the point!<p>But I guess they already have those with those little bumper electic mowers that take 8 hrs to cut 100 sq feet :)<p>Mike<br>Greenkeepers

[Twotoros]

ATOMIC POWERED EVERYTHING

[Lazer]

There are a number of innovations I think should be pursued and a couple I'm working on myself.<p>1.) All side discharge mowers should have an OCDC as starnard or optional equipment.<p>2.) A blower fan mounted to the mower should be an option. You flip a switch and the mower blades stop, flip another and the blower fan rotates, instantly turning your Z or WB into a 17-26HP ride-on/behind blower.<p>There is a company that makes a 8.5'(fully floating deck) 38hp ZTR, I cannot figure out why those aren't more popular.<p>Also, I'd buy a 72&quot; walk-behind if they offered one.

[MOW ED]

The blower on the mower is a great idea that I also am thinking about. Or mayby some type of mower mounted blower that really disperses clippings after they have been cut.

[Edited by MOW ED on 08-09-2000 at 10:58 AM]

[Richard Martin]

Scag makes a 72&quot; walkbehind.

[Richard Martin]

I think probably the number 1 thing I'd like to see is a mower deck that doesn't clog or allow grass to stick to it. I have put some thought to this and you might be able to accomplish this 3 ways. 1: Non-stick coatings. 2: A deck vibrator. 3: A heated deck. Of the 3 the heated deck is probably the most viable. The only reason the grass sticks is because it is wet and if you can get the deck warm enough the grass would stick for a second and then fall off once it dries up.

[Runner]

One of my ideas would be a backpack unt that could power things such as a pole saw, stick hedge trimmer, string trimmer, hydraulic pole pruner, etc. It could use a really light backpack like how some small backpack blowers are. This way, we could do things like trim hedges without holding hardly any weight at all. What do you guys think?

[Keith]

Stihl used to make a baackpack powered brush cutter, they still may. Shindaiwa has one too, but from what I understand it is not available in the states.<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: Keith

[Scag48]

More interchangeble attachments for trimmers. Yeah Stihl makes a bunch but most of the interchangeble stuff they make are hedge trimmers and crap. That doesn't sound great to ME, but in a few years it might. I wish Stihl would make a blower attachment for their trimmers. I know Homelite used to. I also wish they would make mounting brakets for WB's for like halogen lights, cup holder, etc.. I'm thinking about putting the halogen lights on my walkbehind 'cuz sometimes I mowing or loading a little late.

[RYAN]

I have an Idea. How about the Ginsu mower blade that never needs shapening and always makes a clean cut. I can see the infomercial now.

[DTM65]

Hey Lazer,<p>I'm making a OCDC for a Turf Tiger right now. Should have it done soon. Maybe some pixs to follow.<br><p>----------<br>D. Tom<br>

[osc]

Titanium blades that would never need to be sharpened. If each blade was $50.00 and you never had to buy a blade again, wouldn't that be worth it?<br>I'd do it if they lasted one season.<p>Lazer: where can I find that 8.5' deck ZTR?

[Keith]

If i am not mistaken Lazer was talking about the <br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lastec.com/domino/html/lastec/LTWebsite.nsf&quot;&gt;Lastec&lt;/a&gt;

[bdemir]

Lazer, <p>Whats the reason for choosing a walkbehind over a rider. Because i have trouble trying to get the workers to like the walkbehinds. Is there a differnce in cut because a rider can do almost what a walkbehind can. I notice you said you have a few tracers and i just want to sell mine because of the comfort factor.<p><br>One more question, i dont know what in ocdc is.<p><font size="1">Edited by: bdemir

[cantoo]

I hate hedge pruning. This winter I will make a pruner using a scafolding frame with bicycle wheels that will be able to straddle a long hedge. It will have a 6' long cutter bar mounted on it, the height will be adjustable and the bar will also swing down to cut the sides too. It will be powered by a small block chevy engine and will fold up and fit in your pocket to take to the next job. No, bettter yet you could drive it to your next job. Okay maybe I am working too hard, but it would be the only one on the block.

[eslawns]

Some kind of radio that isn't interfered with by the ignition of the engine. The day is long enough. Federal law that says if a homeowner can leave bags, we can leave them.

[Lazer]

Thanx, Keith, I see it's 8', not 8.5', but I don't understand why those aren't more popular. (I know they're expensive)<p>bdemir, ocdc: operated controlled discharge chute, aka: Dixie Chopper.<p>It has been my experience than a 60&quot; Hydro Walk-Behind with a stand-on sulky is more productive in many situations. i.e. Condominiums, heavily landscaped parks and homeowner common areas, as well as office parks and residential sites.<p>A walk-behind packs all the punch (5' cut, 23hp engine, full dual hydro drive) as a rider Z, with a lot less weight: 600 vs. 1000 lbs. Plus, with a rider you have to sit on it, bringing the total to DOUBLE the weight of a walk-behind. A walk-behind can be walked and the machines movement physically manipulated by the operator.<p>Richard,<br>The Scag 72&quot; that I ran had a fixed deck, the wheel stance was too narrow, machine was front-heavy and unbalanced and the drive tires were too small. The times I ran one, it scalped and was difficult to control. I wouldn't trust it on a crew.<p>I guess I was thinking about one built from the ground up, properly balanced, large drive tires (an industry trend) wide wheel stance and OF COURSE a floating deck.

[Eric ELM]

Lazer: You was very close on the OCDC. It stands for Operator Controlled Discharge Chute. I have a page on that on my website too for any of you new guys that want to see it. An OCDC is handier than a pocket on a shirt. :)<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://elmlawnsite.com/&quot;&gt;Eric@ELM&lt;/a&gt;<br>

[Keith]

Someone who came up with and marketed a OCDC for all popular mowers would make a lot of money. I think I'll try to make one for my Kees and Grasshopper.<p>

[Lazer]

The new Exmark Lazer Z XP weighs 1520lbs + operator. NO WAY can you keep up through turns with THAT vs. a 600lb walk-behind (ride-behind).

Sure on wide-open areas, the 11 MPH ground speed will pass the 7 MPH ground speed on a walk-behind, but ZTRs aren't designed just for wide-open areas.

The whole purpose of a ZTR is quick manueverability: Stopping, turning, backing and spinning a 1700lb (w/rider) machine will either be slow or destructive to the turf.

I think Exmark is going in the wrong direction with 1520lb. 60" mower.

[Eric ELM]

That is a lot heavier than a Dixie Chopper 60" gas or diesel. My gas 60" is 960 lbs. and my 60" diesel is 1200 lbs. What did they do to add that much weight? The reason my diesel is heavier is the Yanmar engine for one thing, but they added a solid steel bumper and the front of the frame is solid bar steel for extra counter weight. The 6 rail frame vs. the 4 rail frame adds some weight too.

[Cutter1]

My Laser is about 1000lbs. Its a 52/23. I like it more than the walkbehind, for a few reasons. It seems to cut better, its a heck of a lot faster, not nearly as much work, and I look damn good on it!!! Walkbehinds are nice on hills, a laser can be dangerous on hills if you don't know how to use it. I would rather give the workers a walkbehind than a laser to use. You can cause a lot more damage with a laser!!

[Lazer]

Eric,
The XP is their newest model with the Daihatsu LC engine: 27hp diesel or 31hp gas version. (I'm assuming same block and CID?)

Anyway, they have a new "unitized, tubular frame" and "DynaFocal engine iso-mount" which I'm sure make it strong and "vibration-free". But the wheel base is longer and the whole thing is over 200lb. heavier than their other LC models.

Plus is has 2 mule belts to drive the deck, each on a different angle. I'll admit, the existing mule belts are fairly trouble-free, but I'm not sure I add a second. Reminds me too much of a 1960's design garden tractor. I shouldn't critique it, because it might work flawlessly, but it sure does raise and eyebrow.

[Eric ELM]

I know the diesels are heavier, but to me they are worth it. The fuel usage is a lot less, they last longer, and the sound of the diesel purring is neat. It has 9 gallons of fuel on board, which is 12 hours of mowing. The DC has a mule drive also that doubles as the hand clutch, two B belts from the motor up to a shaft, all 4 pulleys are 6" and on the other end of the shaft is a 7" pulley with a C 158 belt that runs to the deck. These main pulleys have fan blades on them to cool them too, which I think is a neat idea. In other words, the blades are turning faster than the motor to get the blade speed up without making the motor scream. :)

[gene gls]

I would like to see throttle locks on trimmers and hand blowers to keep engin at full speed durning use.

[Guido]

I can sell you the use of your index finger for $100 a month!! LOL Whats stopping you from holding down the throttle on the trimmer while your running it? You have to hold it there anyway, might as well hold the trigger down, right? I dunno??

[SLSNursery]

First off - some of our trimmers and blowers do have throttle locks. Check the different brands Gene.


Secondly - we just put an Isuzu NQR on the road, as a multi-purpose vehicle for deliveries, landscape jobs, and also maintenance. It has a van body (fully enclosed like a moving van). It is very efficient, and easy to operate, however, when the crew returns from jobs (mowing, hedge clipping, etc.) the debris from the day's work is piled inside. I am going to research something similar to a garbage truck chassis that has a dumping hopper separate from the truck body, that will allow a truck like this to have a separate, dumping collection unit.

Along the same lines, we make several deliveries with our dump trucks. I would love to see an affordable compartmentalized dump body. I may check out a split body, with a dumping back half and a stationary front half, or two separate side dumping compartments. This would allow us to split deliveries of aggregates, or deliver both stone and loam for instance in one shot to a single customer.

[Runner]

SLS, Your idea of a split box is one that I've contemplated a few times before. Is yours a steel body? Mine would be simple because I run a wood stake bed with solid sides. (2x12 24" high)w/ hoist. My idea was to put brackets in so I could slip an insert in, the load. Sort of a[---------] configuration with more 2x. With a steel bed however, the brackets could be welded. I also have split tailgate so I could run it either way- across or length wise. We'd just have to plan ahead enough to know what to load first! Justan idea. Oh, also another idea for this topic? How about a giant crank operated tarp like the "Loadmaster" but for stake racks!

[eslawns]

Stihl BG-75 HH blowers have throttle lock, so does the lightweight trimmer I got from Lesco. Don't know about the new line of Kawasaki they carry now, though.

[tpirobert]

Swivel anti-scalp wheels on Z type mowers. My Toro " anti-scalp" wheel will tear up the turf if not careful/mindful of terrain while turning. I may fabricate one myself or find another brand that swivels, paint it red and weld it on that "super flow" deck.

[lawrence stone]

Little wonder hand blowers have a built in throttle lock but I just use my index finger anyway.

I don't like cruise control of any kind.

[Toroguy]

Night vision goggle equipped, super muffled exmark WB. And ambidextrous Owls to operate at night.

A blimp to oversee the operation.

[MLS]

The Ferris IS has anti-scalp wheels that swivel. Nice smooth ride also, and the rider and walkbehind are built like tanks.

[Edited by MLS on 08-09-2000 at 05:56 AM]

[yardsmith]

I have been thinking alot about my stihl hs80 monster hedge trimmers.
I'd like to see a small pc. of sheetmetal equal to the length of the cutter bar on one side with a vacuum suction bag near the handle with the end angled up 90* like angle iron.
Kind of a cross between a hedge trimmer & the leaf vacuum attachment from a blower.
That way you could trim, & clippings would follow down the tray & get sucked into a bag. No drop cloths, no raking, just trim & go & you're done!

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

Yard, I love your idea!!! You make it I'll buy it. All you guys have some pretty good ideas. Travis AG&G Lawn Maintenance "Always thinking to stay ahead"

[thelawnguy]

The local gas co. has bucket loader attachments on the front of their dump trucks Ford 8000. It lifts over the cab and dumps in the bed. Id like to see something similar but on a smaller scale for 1-ton trucks.

[jaclawn]

A backpack blower that you can start and operate the choke while it is mounted to your back.

[Runner]

As I was trimming today, I thought again about something I have been working on. I have made a prototype- and it works. I, with the help of my brother in law, am still working on the patent. Here in the northern region, we have some tall and red fescue grasses. For those of you who may not know what this is, it's a real thin bladed (almost like string) grass that is loves shade. This grass however has a strong tendency to lay over when cut at any significant height. My idea is a device to help with trimming. It is a propeller attachment that screws in to the gearbox spindle (where the head screws on) with a fitting at the bottom to hold the head- giving "lift" to the grass to get a clean cut. This would be useful especially around trees that are mounded around the trunk since this is one of those areas that lays down the most. I can see the ad in Pro magazine already- "Give your trimmer a lift"! Runner

[pete]

The place i buy my mulch has a couple of Hinos with the divided beds. I can look into it if you guys want me to.

[Guido]

PETE, let me know what you can about these when you get a chance, thanks man!!

You can e-mail me at guido1@surf.de

[Toddppm]

http://www.ntcdevelopment.com/ht_home.htm

Sort of what you were talking about but i don't think it will fit in your pocket. Wonder if they sold any yet?

[lawnMaster5000]

jaclawn- i have a Redmax BP-blower and have no trouble staarting when it is on my back.

tpirobert- another ZTR that has the swivel anti-scalp is the gravely

i would like to see a self dumping bagger, no more green hands form the grass catcher

[Eric ELM]

Could you explain how to start the Red Max while it's on your back unless you have someone do it for you? Is it the EB6200?