Criders Lawn Care,LLc Equipment Pics, Work Pics

[CriderLawn09]

Originally Posted by Paragon Ridge

Do you go to college or did you decide that highschool was enough and go full time into your business?

Im 20yrs old too and run a part time landscape & tree service company during the weekends and go to college during the week. Its hell trying to major in civil engineering while run a landscape company on the side, but once I get my degree I'll have something to fall back on.

and damn 230 properties is a lot. I'm only in the double digits.

I started out as welder and i got hired at the rail road as a carman in 08 when i was 18 fresh outa high school but in 08 when the econmy went south we got **** canned and they shut the shop down and i always wanted to completly do this full time but you no the story everyone tells u ur crazy and u cant cut grass for a living and u wont have insurance or retirement blah blah well i did it anyway i luckliy kept all my accounts that i had like 50 or so while i was working at the RR so i just took what i had and ran with it and havent looked back since sometimes i wish i had some schooling in diff stuff and always keep saying ill go back and take something one winter but it isnt looking good lol but one word of advice ill give you if you r debating on doing this or a public job ITs NOT EASY u have to LOVE this industry and i mean love it bc it will suck at alot of times and i was complety broke for my first couple of yrs i sank every dime i had back into the business and still put alot into it today but i still lived at home with my parents and i just recently bought a new house with my finance we are getting married april 30th 2011 but anyway my advice to you is if your not in a hurry to do this for a living then go ahead and get ur degree like u said ull always have something to fall back on and i dont except for my welding stuff but theres no work for that here anymore but all i have to fall back on is my gf (shes a nurse lol) but no really its always a good idea to get ur ducks in a row first and plus this will give time to grow ur business little by little sometime i often think i grew way too fast but whats done is done and its been a great ride but you sound lik you no what your doin so just work hard and youll be fine!!!

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by CriderLawn09

Where im at its very hilly areas around here maybe 15-20% of my propertys we mow are fully zturn safely accessible i do have one 60 inch z mower i bought a while back but its my last one but ive found that when using walk behinds its way easier to tech employees how to run them alot easier to get them striping well with one too bc the wb pull them selfs in a straight line with a zturn you have steer it ur self and be able to hold a straight line and u have to have some experinece with one of course i can stripe with anything and im sure you guys can too but some of the dumb guys i get for help just cant get it with a zturn and also with a wb mowers the cut quality i think is alot better in my opion but thats just my thought in wet grass they seem to do alot better also with a wb u can virtually mow anywhere thats a smooth grade and u can walk on the ferris will go we put our mowers in some places u prolly shouldnt lol but the number ONE reason i use all wb is for safety issues, with the way workers comp is these days it can ruin a guy but if u get in trouble with a wb u simply can step off the sulkey and let the mower go and my guy wont get hurt but if u turn a zturn over even with the rops on it u are likley to get hurt bad i can replace a 7k dollar mower but one of my guys legs or feet, hands lives etc. i cant replace that and not to menchin i would be paying for it till the day i die lol. And on the shop we just broke ground last sunday and between the snow and the cold weather it seems lik a slow process but i took some pics the other day on my camera and i also took some of us plowing last nite and ill get them up asap.And 1400sqft? thats not bad and free ELECTRIC!! Sweetass deal man mines usaully bout $400-$500 a month so that would just bout cover your rent sounds good to me man!! And haha i was handing out Just For Men last nite plowing next to one of my big competers last nite lol jk but hey man post some pics of your stuff to id love to c it i could talk bout this stuff for hours haha!! Thanks man sorry we started off on the wrong foot btw.

yea i hear ya man, a lot of our stuff out here is real flat lazer works perfect and i like the cut. Im picking up a 48 tthp soon so that will be a good addition.IM a big exmark fan, i have a bobcat but i love my exmark, what kind of handhelds do you use? we uses echo trimmers, redmax blowers, stihl chainsaws. Thats exciting with the shop my goal is to have a nice shop someday with a few other business ventures, but right now ill rent till i find the perfect place and with the steal im getting it would be stupid to go somewhere else. What do you do daily basis like do you stay in the office all day or you out and about? Do you guys doing landscaping work or just mowing? you advertise a lot? And im like you i can talk about this stuff all day, but im beat was out all night plowing we have been having a great winter up here in PA this is my first year plowing and i love it picked up an 8' snow dogg. I leave you the link to my old picture thread i havent updated it in a while and its on a different user name i just stopped posting pictures on it idk why but i did but ill leave you the link.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=272402

[RPM90]

page 15 on is where the good stuff the first 15 pages are from 2 years ago

[CriderLawn09]

Lazer Z are very good machine thats my fav zero turn but we use echo trimmers but ive had alot of carb problems with them so im slowly switching to stihl i really like the fs90s i have three of them and 1 660 back blower but it will prolly be next yr until i can get all new ones i have bout 10 or so echo trimmers but yea the shop is our big goal this yr and im gettin married in april and im pretty excited bout that but i do fair amount of advertising i of course handed out business cards and flyers for a long time but all my trucks are yellow my guys wear a uniform and we have two big yellow page ads in two different local phone books and i do a really cool radio ad through out the yr but good quality and word of mouth done me the best. And what i do just varys i my favorite thing ever is mowing i love that part of the business but i dont get to do it as much as i used to i still occassionally run a lawn crew from time to time but im not in the office to much i have a sec that takes care of alot for me shes is my brain most of the time lol keepin me on track but yea we do alot of landscaping and landscape maintenance its a very good profit for us i have a landscaping crew that runs bout 4-5 days a week. but ask away i just put a 8.5 ft meyers on the old f450 so we r suppost to get a little snow tonite im curious to c how she plows ill post some pics of some stuff.

[CriderLawn09]

And your set up is nice man i really enjoyed reading it!!!

[CriderLawn09]

my guys decided to take my new ferris for a swim !!! at a chemical plant we maintain luckly the guys there got there crane out and pulled it out i was PISSED!!!

[CriderLawn09]

Some more on the surgery of the f450 last nite...

[LawnEnforcement25]

Hey crider good job. ive only been in the biz part time for the last 4 years and i have to say, threads like this still inspire me. keep up the good work. that sux about your new walk behind.

[CriderLawn09]

ahh its a ferris drained the oil new spark plugs new air filter and she fired right up i have to say ill only buy kaw motors from now on that mower had been running for bout 8hrs that day and that was in oct when it was gettin chilly out so the motor was hot and the water was cold and i thought for sure it would crack that aluminum block.. but no problems yet thanks man good luck this season buddy!!!

[modedicebox]

Love the 450 man. I have 90 I plow with it, plows great. Looks like you got it going on man. Best of luck you this year.