FrankenScagMachines
03-29-2003, 07:54 AM
Here's mine. I guess I'll copy and paste it into the new forum for sharing how you started and where you are today.
I learned to mow on a 30" rear engine Snapper Comet rider with a manual start 8hp B&S, must have been around 7 or so at the time.... but that was just at our house. Then we moved to this house and doubled property size to about 2 acres, mostly hilly, and we got a '93 Wheel Horse 520H hydro tractor with a 48" hydro lift deck with it and a 36" tiller. It "came" with the house. Man I was in heaven! Then maybe 3 years ago I noticed my neighbors were getting very old maybe too old to mow their lawn anymore so I asked them if they wanted me to do it for them. They said oh yes we were wondering how we were gonna do it this year. So I started using their MTD 30" rear engine rider which I now despised after having been spoiled by that Wheel Horse, and also used their 20" Craftsman to trim with. Made all kind of excuses the year after that for mom and dad to let me use their Wheel Horse whenever I could get them to let me!! I couldn't stand that 30" rider they had...the first year they paid me $10 to do it (with their equipment so it was maybe $6-7 an hour no travel) and every year I have gotten a $5 raise. So in the fall of the second year working for them I inherited a 32" Toro rear engine rider. It was a nice mower, a Cadillac in comparison to that MTD 30" they had. So I was using it and their push mower sometimes ours to trim with and somewhere in there mom and dad got a WeedEater brand trimmer (now I laugh at) and they let me use it at the neighbors because the 20" craftsman wouldn't get against the fence. Then the next year (spring '02 I think) I was given a Homelite curved shaft trimmer and needed to sink $40 into it to get it going. We had a trailer by that point so mom and dad were hauling me to a few jobs to do. I was doing a good job working, the Toro rider did a great job cutting and striping and the Homelite got the job done. I didn't have a use for a blower too much because upto that point most of my jobs had gravel driveways but the one or two that had a paved drive I just used a broom or the mower to clean off. In spring '02 I also got a used Toro 21" sp bagger mower for $30, fixed it up had $60 into it now. It was a nice mower except for the Tecumseh engine on it. Then in July my Homelite kicked the bucket and I had enough money I wanted to get a commercial trimmer. That was where I really needed to upgrade the most. So I made a few phone calls and went to the Stihl dealer and walked out with a brand new FS80R trimmer. Found out what commercial equipment is all about!! Somewhere in that summer I sold the Toro 21" for $75 because I wasn't really ever using it. Wish I still had it 'cept for that engine but it had steel wheels too. Well in fall '02 I fell upon some good deals got a LawnBoy 21" push, Echo SRM2400SB with a hedge trimmer attachment, Echo HCR1500 hedge trimmer, Kawasaki KRB400A backpack blower, bought and sold some junk made some decent money doing that this winter, and then in January '03 I bought a 52" Scag hydro walk behind for $800. It needed no work but I have since done alot of modifications to it. Now I ordered 2,000 doorknob hangers and plan to get into it more this year. I got a $1 million insurance policy, registered my business name and am ready to plunge right into it.
Thats my story. From scrub lowballer to pro thanks to lawnsite!
Eric
I learned to mow on a 30" rear engine Snapper Comet rider with a manual start 8hp B&S, must have been around 7 or so at the time.... but that was just at our house. Then we moved to this house and doubled property size to about 2 acres, mostly hilly, and we got a '93 Wheel Horse 520H hydro tractor with a 48" hydro lift deck with it and a 36" tiller. It "came" with the house. Man I was in heaven! Then maybe 3 years ago I noticed my neighbors were getting very old maybe too old to mow their lawn anymore so I asked them if they wanted me to do it for them. They said oh yes we were wondering how we were gonna do it this year. So I started using their MTD 30" rear engine rider which I now despised after having been spoiled by that Wheel Horse, and also used their 20" Craftsman to trim with. Made all kind of excuses the year after that for mom and dad to let me use their Wheel Horse whenever I could get them to let me!! I couldn't stand that 30" rider they had...the first year they paid me $10 to do it (with their equipment so it was maybe $6-7 an hour no travel) and every year I have gotten a $5 raise. So in the fall of the second year working for them I inherited a 32" Toro rear engine rider. It was a nice mower, a Cadillac in comparison to that MTD 30" they had. So I was using it and their push mower sometimes ours to trim with and somewhere in there mom and dad got a WeedEater brand trimmer (now I laugh at) and they let me use it at the neighbors because the 20" craftsman wouldn't get against the fence. Then the next year (spring '02 I think) I was given a Homelite curved shaft trimmer and needed to sink $40 into it to get it going. We had a trailer by that point so mom and dad were hauling me to a few jobs to do. I was doing a good job working, the Toro rider did a great job cutting and striping and the Homelite got the job done. I didn't have a use for a blower too much because upto that point most of my jobs had gravel driveways but the one or two that had a paved drive I just used a broom or the mower to clean off. In spring '02 I also got a used Toro 21" sp bagger mower for $30, fixed it up had $60 into it now. It was a nice mower except for the Tecumseh engine on it. Then in July my Homelite kicked the bucket and I had enough money I wanted to get a commercial trimmer. That was where I really needed to upgrade the most. So I made a few phone calls and went to the Stihl dealer and walked out with a brand new FS80R trimmer. Found out what commercial equipment is all about!! Somewhere in that summer I sold the Toro 21" for $75 because I wasn't really ever using it. Wish I still had it 'cept for that engine but it had steel wheels too. Well in fall '02 I fell upon some good deals got a LawnBoy 21" push, Echo SRM2400SB with a hedge trimmer attachment, Echo HCR1500 hedge trimmer, Kawasaki KRB400A backpack blower, bought and sold some junk made some decent money doing that this winter, and then in January '03 I bought a 52" Scag hydro walk behind for $800. It needed no work but I have since done alot of modifications to it. Now I ordered 2,000 doorknob hangers and plan to get into it more this year. I got a $1 million insurance policy, registered my business name and am ready to plunge right into it.
Thats my story. From scrub lowballer to pro thanks to lawnsite!
Eric