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[stslawncare]

Hi, I would like to introduce myself and tell you a little about myself. I am 14, and live in wilmington DE, my name is scottie. I live on a tiny property with my mom and sister. my grandparents own a farm in lincoln university, PA, and have about 13 acres, thats my favorite place to be. Now since i am just starting and dont have a truck i dont make that much but i must say i think i am doing pretty good, last year i made about $400, during this winter i made about $100. now for my equipment, i have a craftsman 6.5hp 22&quot; self propelled mower, a residentual curved shaft craftsman weedwacker, and a residentual craftsman blower, i also have a 21 year old craftsman 16hp tractor with a blade, 44&quot; mower, and a 10cubic foot wagon, plus i have all the hand tools and shovels possible. Now one of my questions is what equipment should i keep and what equipment should i get rid of. I know my weedwacker needs to go (i hate it) i am not a craftsman fan by any means, the weedwacker and blower were a gift, the tractor i got for $200 ( i think its worth $500) and the mower i did choose (and love it), all equipment except for the tractor is less then 3 years old. mower runs great, and the tractor is doing darn good for its age. Now some of you might be guessing that im just some teen looking to make some money, well yes i am looking to make money but, something i feel you should know is that i am excellent with money, i have a job at a garden center in which i am learning about plants and everything related, i am very mature for my age, and i wish to become a full time landscaper after college, i am very interested in horticulture and agriculture, and machinery involved in both fields. questions are, what equipment do i keep, what do i need, and so on. Till i am 16 and have a truck i do wish to keep it down, but what i have been planning on is this year and next is gather all the equipment i need, and learn all i need to do. Also do any lawn care projects for family and friends needed, this year since i moved i am not doing any advertising and am not planning on making much, just side projects. I hope you guys dont mind having a teen around, but once i do get fully set up i hope to be doing as good as you. Thanks a lot,<br>Sincerely<br>Scottie<p>----------<br>Scottie Schmidt<br>STS Lawn Care

[columbiaplower]

Scottie- i started in this biz when i was 12. i had a few lawns and i did ok. Now i am 18 and own one of the most suggsesful companys in my area. i have 68 accounts. and have 4 large commercial mowers. If u work hard u can make it in this biz. Next year i want to attend University of Maryland a get a degree in landscape disign. Dont worry there other teens in here.<br>-Nick

[Bobby]

Hey Scottie, Welcome to Lawnsite. You have a great attitude. I'm sure your parents are proud of you.Study this forum. You'll learn a lot. <p>----------<br>Bobby <br>Ft Lauderdale

[bill phagan]

Hi Scottie,<p>There's always room for a professional like you in our industry. Please advise if I can help you.<p>Bill Phagan gibiz@aol.com

[ant]

hi scottie welcome. most of us started out like you i could remember towing my 21&quot;mower with my bike.keep what you got. be relieable,fair,honest.<br>anthonygrelli

[stslawncare]

WOW you guys are so kind! WHat a wonderful welcome. Ok in repsonse to the last message here ill keep what stuff i have but what should i add? right now with all the money im making at the garden center i would like to spend it on equipment instead of cds. <p>----------<br>Scottie Schmidt<br>STS Lawn Care

[fdew]

Scottie You want a bigger better mower and that makes sense. But you have more time and less money then most of these guys (Because you cant use a truck) I would make it known to everyone at the garden center that you are looking for a used commercial walk behind. Find a cheep one and fix it up until you can depend on it. You will save money, learn a lot, and be on your way. Hint, I would jump at a machine with a blown engine. You can get new engines quite cheep on ebay. <p>Good Luck<p>Frank

[pottstim]

Scottie,<br>Hey my name is Tim, and i'm 23. I just got done reading your post, and i'm trying to get started just like you are. <br>I'm buying equipment a little at a time, and hope to be started by the beginning of the 2001 mowing season. Tuesday, I bought a 92 Murray 12hp that i am fixing up. I'll be using this one as a secondary rider, and I plan on buying a new Lawn Tractor after the first of the year. I also need to pick up a weed eater, blower, and i've got my eye on this used trailer that a friend of mine has.<br>I'll be doing this part time, because I work a full time job. So my primary job won't allow me to go full time with my mowing business. Who knows, maybe if I am successful enough, I may be able to go full time in the Lawn Care Business someday.<br>Let me know how you progress, and I wish you the best of luck in the future!<p>Tim

[yardsmith]

Hello to all the new guys out there.<br>When I first got started years ago, I had an Ariens rear engine rider- 10 hp & 30&quot; cut (Forrest Gump style mower), then lucked out the next year; a 1987 Exmark 48&quot; walk behind with an 11hp Honda motor (great!) AT AN AUCTION for $400! Best move I ever made. <br>It used to take 2.5 hrs. to do the yard with the Ariens tractor & my wife on a 32&quot; Bolens tractor (actually more like 4-5 man hours). When I got the belt drive WB I did it myself in an hour & 45 min.! Commercial equip is where it's at. Shoot, the 11 hp Honda was worth half of what I paid for the whole thing.<br>Little by little I worked my way up to where I am now years later. That old Exmark WB seems like a dinosaur now, but it was miles ahead of any homeowner crap-watch your auctions!<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[MOW ED]

Scottie,<br>You sound like you are on the right track and this forum is a VERY VALUEABLE tool. If you have questions you can use the search function at the top. There is a lot of archived info. <br>My advise to you is to move towards commercial equipment. Do it slow, but do it. Even if you replace your tractor with a larger walkbehind your productivity will increase. Commercial units are easier to maintain (changing blades) as well as being much faster. Mowing is your priority so check out different mowers. <br>I started out with craftsman stuff also and it was o.k. for a while and I still have some of it as backup equipment but the rigors of commercial use is tough on it. You will find out, when you begin to drive, that the tractors dont do well bouncing down the road on a trailer. They are built for the homeowner.<br>Sorry to ramble but use this forum as another tool and learn all you can about everything that interests you. There are many opinions out here. Good Luck.

[grasscapeinc]

Just don't make the mistake of thinking &quot;anyone can mow a lawn, I'll start my own lawn company&quot;. There is a BIG difference between mowing lawns, and owning a &quot;legitimate&quot; company. If it is what you want, than go for it! The larger companies around here gross well over a million a year.

[bob]

Scottie, Be patient. Your customer list will steadily grow. Most of us have spent years building our business. Good quality work will speak for itself and you will get referrals and keep the same customers every year. Bob - Newark DE

[stslawncare]

in reply to the guy who said theres a difference between mowing lawns and a business, well if i read that 3 years ago i would have said i fall in the category of mowing lawns, but after 3 years of thought and looking at all the different aspects and recognizing that there are many challenges to the business i have decided that this is what i want to do for the rest of my life, i want to attend the university of Delaware and study horticulture and agriculture two fields that i feel will help greatly in landscaping.<br>Now on another note i was thinking that i should keep my tractor for winter use for plowing snow, it has a good size plow that has never been used and the tractor is very strong and i think it would work great in snow, i noticed that the old 16hp tractors are a a lot stronger then the new ones. should i keep the equipment i have now as spares or sell it and put it towards new commercial equipment. im going to follow whatever you say.<br>thanks a lot for all this help i am learning so much!!!<br>Thanks again<br>Sincerely,<br>Scottie<br>STS Lawn Care

[Eric ELM]

Scottie, your right, the older Craftsman tractors are better than the new ones, but when it comes to plowing snow, it's not the power that you need, it's traction. I've used the lighter tractors and tryed to plow with them, but you end up just spinning your wheels. The tractor I use now has plenty of traction, but it weighs about 2,000 lbs. the way I set it up for winter use. That's with an approximately 250 lb. cab, and about 300 lbs of suitcase weights on the 3 point hitch. It has hydraulic angle, lift, and down presure. It also has bar tires and traction lock differential, so it has traction galore. We use it to clean up small areas when plowing 60 plus driveways. If you want to plow a lot in a short time, you need something a lot bigger than what you have. If you have lots of time, the smaller ones will work. If you would like to see the JD we use, it is pictured on my Website on the equipment page. There is also a link to see a picture of it plowing.<p>For mowing, we use ZTR's, which are 2 to 3 times as fast as using a tractor. Anything with a steering wheel for mowing sucks after using a ZTR. With all the competition, you need to be fast and good at what you do to make any money.<br><p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://pages.prodigy.net/eric.erickson/&quot;&gt;Eric@ELM&lt;/a&gt;<br>

[MOW ED]

Scottie, <br>You have to sit down and do some math and find out what that tractor can make for you in dollars and cents now and if that figure is o.k. for you. <br>You have to realize that eventually you WILL need commercial equipment but if your tractor is making you money then you are just as well to keep it and use it making money off of it until one of a couple things happen.<br>1)It breaks. Which will happen when you dont want it to.<br>2)you cant keep up with your workload. Then you will get commercial stuff and not have enough work.<br>3)you make enough money to buy a commercial unit.<br>It may be fine for what you are doing now, if so use it but put money aside for commercial. Once you get on a ZTR or a large deck walk behind you will think that craftsman was mowing in reverse. Good Luck.

[HOMER]

Let me add that I would not get rid of any thing you had unless you can trade up. You will always need a spare somethin or nother. I have one tractor style mower just sitting in the shop and haven't used it this year but it ain't going nowhere! Its mine, its paid for, and it can sit. I might want to use it to pull an aerator or fertilizer spreader next year or something. Buy one piece at a time, set priorities, but buy good quality equipment from the onset, it will last a long time.<p>Homer

[bill phagan]

Scottie, I'm really impressed with your discussion. I've recently finished another &quot;Business Booster Book&quot; entitled &quot;How to be successful NOW in your new green industry business&quot; which may be helpful for you. Talks to getting legally organized, marketing and sales, pricing issues, competition and alot more chapters. E-mail me at GIBIZ@AOL.com with your mailing address and I'll send you a complimentary copy. Feel free to check my website www.greenindconsulting.com for other info, articles, etc.<p>Good Luck!<p>Bill Phagan<br>Green Industry Consulting, Inc.

[snow]

Scottie- My name is Bryan. I am 15 and have had a landscaping business since I was 8. Since then I have found that if you need good equipment, but don't have too much $$, buy used. The guy where i get my equipment fixed has sold me(all used) a 5hp little wonder leaf blower, a giant-vac 8hp leaf blower and a single stage snapper snowthrower. I got all reasonanably priced. You do not need new equipment to cut lawns. I have 3 mowers currently, a 21&quot; toro push, and a 21&quot; snapper 6hp 6 speed(both bought new). I also have a 1981 snapper 21&quot; 3.5hp that one of my customers gave me and was not working. I am currently fixing it myself so i know how to work on my equipment. If your situation, i wouldn't get rid of any equipment until you know how much money you have, and how much you want to spend, and on what. If you need any more info, feel free to email me at bkrois@aol.com<p>Bryan<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowplow.web.com&quot;&gt;The Snowplow Homepage&lt;/a&gt;<br>

[ashlandscaping]

hey scotty good for you. You seem to be heading in the right way to have a full business. Keep what you have just add on to it as you can. If I was you I would buy a fixxer upper walkbehind. Find one that the decker is still straight and not in need of welding. Then go thru it your self get the manuel and fix and adjust it all yourself. In the long ran it will save you LOTS of down time and money. I see guys spend way to much haveing machines repaired. Plus your down time is longer till the shop gets to it. But in the mean time decide what you want to add or what you need. Then take and place a set amount towards that. So by the time your 16 and have a truck and so forth you will have the tools to rock and roll in this business. So maybe one month you buy a new trimmer then next month you buy a new blower and so on. Just make a game plan plus a 5 year plan of where you want to be and work towards that plan. Best of luck to you. I came from your shoes I know whats its like. Any ? please ask me plus use this forum it is a great tool. For all!!

[Starling Lawn]

hey bill,<br>where is my complimentry copy?<br>dave

[little green guy]

hey scottie what's up. I'm 16 and have my own buisnes. I stated out a couple years ago with small equipment and I have upgraded to all commercial stuff. I have four commercial mowers and tons of other stuff. I have about 25 lawn acounts and do alot of landscape instaltion and landscape miantance work. You have the right attitude and sounds like you will get far. If i where u i would definitly upgrade eqipment. you can get a good used 48&quot; or something mower for a good price and you'll definitly get ur moneys worth. The other good thing about commercial mowers is they cut real nice and give you a more profesional image thus more buisnes. I would also buy a good straight shaft trimmer and a backpack blower. anyway if you have any questions or anything emial me or make a post or something. good luck

[stslawncare]

This is unbelievable! One post and ive learned so much, i hope you guys dont mind all these questions, i just have so many of them. ok well ive come to the conclusion (correct me if im wrong) i need to keep everything i have plus get commercial equipment. sounds good to me, i am taking my time and getting the right stuff. i just keep putting my pay check towards equipment. now a question on the mowers. the yards around here are not that big. What i have found is that there are a lot of old people who cannot do the work them self and love to have young kids like me do it for them. What size walk behind would you guys reccamend for me, the yards are between about 1500sq feet and 4200sq feet.most are right between but there are a few small and a few big. Do i have to worry about getting to big of a mower? transportation is not a worry for me, i have plenty of relatives with trucks and could go ahead and buy my trailer now and jsut keep it in the garage. well enough for now. im on the verge of upping my amount to chuck from $5 to atleast $10, every day i want to up it :-)) <br>Thanks,<br>Scottie<br>STS Lawn Care<br>P.S my stslawncare@hotmail.com email address is not working right now so any email can be sent to scottieschmidt@hotmail.com

[kenneybros]

Out of all the people I learned from... this forum was(is) one of the best. I would say that you cant go wrong with looking for a job working for a local landscaper. You learn and get paid for doing it. (just make sure the guy actually does pay you.... finally squaring up after 4 monthes kinda sucks to put it lightly) As for your own business, since you dont have transportation.... keep your accounts within walking distance! I still do that and I have had my licence for a while now.... keeps down the cost so you can make some mean green. Well good luck, and dont be afraid to ask ?s they will get answered.<br>MATT

[stslawncare]

HI,<br>matt,<br>i already have a job, i work at a full garden center. working there i get payed good money (above minimum wage is good for a 14 year olds first job) and i learn about all the different plants, grasses, soils, fertilizers etc etc.<br>thanks<br>Scottie<br>STS Lawn Care

[Scraper]

Hey Scottie. Just thought I'd say hello as I'm a neighbor practically. I'm up the road from you in Chadds Ford, PA. Nice to see someone from nearby.

[lawnboyil]

scottie<br>craftman aint that bady when can only afford it. I am 15 trying to do the same thing. but i am helping my dad with his mowing,so not alot of time for mine.