The Green Industry's Resource Center

Mikegyver · #41 03-09-2012, 09:55 PM

Mccoys sells HRCs for 900? Most of them up here go for at least 1200.
I would look into Ybravos if y'all have a dealer down there. I am very impressed with their machine.
@plantscape...what do you do for theft protection for the blowers? Anyone can grab one if they are right inside the cage unlocked.
Mike

PlantscapeSolutions · #42 03-09-2012, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCC LAWN CARE

Mccoys sells HRCs for 900? Most of them up here go for at least 1200.
I would look into Ybravos if y'all have a dealer down there. I am very impressed with their machine.
@plantscape...what do you do for theft protection for the blowers? Anyone can grab one if they are right inside the cage unlocked.
Mike

The Honda Commercials are the same price here. I don't use the feature but my modified Trimmer Trap hooks have a spot for a lock. My trailer is enclosed so if my guys are out of sight they close it up. Enclosed are expensive but they improve you efficiency and protect your stuff enough to justify the expense.

I think for $400 those blower boxes are a waste of money and over priced to still have your stuff out in the rain and sun. Here's shot of my last open trailer that I sold. I had lots of sealed boxes to protect my stuff but it still wasn't enought.

ed2hess · #43 03-10-2012, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlantscapeSolutions

Bigtex makes great trailers but they can be pricey when you get all the extra landscaper package type stuff. I think the blower box on the front is about $400. The string trimmer racks allows the units to spin and twist up the grips and they are slow to open and close.

Ed you really need to try one of the Extreme Series racks for your string trimmers. It the fastest rack to operate and the only one that doesn't twist up the handles or let them spin. Once you get an Extreme Series rack you will never want to buy any others.

I would not use the blower box for blowers either. Your guys will be wasting time all day trying to pull and push the blowers out of the box. Utilize that high trailer side by having hooks on the top to hold your blowers. You can use a bungee cord to hold the blower tubes flush against the expanded metal. Your guys will spend all of two seconds storing or removing blowers. That's more money in your pocket at every stop.

Here's a links that might give you some ideas for setting up your trailer http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=328865. My strapless push mower storage blocks work great and allow you to secure your mower in about two seconds. Good luck setting up your trailer.

Also glad to see you didn't buy any of those Trailer Man junk trailers McCoys was selling.

Thanks for info...we already have a heavy duty trailer from Trailer Man and it is the heavy duty on for mulch and trash. Actually it is pretty well built all the way around don't see many that heavy built. It doesn't matter if the trimmers spin but not likely since we pad racks with gas hose and use irrigation wire to hold them vertical when necessary. A unit should not leak if upside down. Those blowers have to be locked up tight as we can and not that bad just unlock door and it hinges down. It is a good place to gas up from and start and you can back up to blower when putting it on. We got a lot of experience with them. We put a political sign in the bottom of the racks so blowers slide in out easily....easy to find the heavy duty ones after elections.

PlantscapeSolutions · #44 03-10-2012, 10:41 AM

I know the list price for your trailer is about $4926 and the best price I've seen was $3795 cash. I only paid $6500 for my enclosed 8'x16'. The best place for enclosed trailers is in Waco and it's where Greater Texas buys their trailers. You may want to ponder increasing your crews efficiency for just a few grand more. Keep your stuff out of the rain and Texas heat that takes a toll on equipment.

Plus you can have an advertisement on wheels. I never thought I would buy an enclosed but once you get one you realize how much the open trailers abuse your equipment and the inefficiency of not having a garage on wheels wastes you money at every stop your crew makes.

If you do stick with open trailers you may want to check Elliot Trailers in Kyle. He makes some and resells several brands and can save you some money over Bigtex. The Heavy Equipment Trader used to be a print publication but now it's online only. The Equipment Trader will list a bunch of the east Texas trailer manufacturers that could cut out the middle man and save you an easy $1500 on your average 16' landscaper trailer.

The reason you see most of the national companies with enclosed trailers is their bean counters and efficiency consultants they pay big bucks see the long term savings of going enclosed.

Also, the whole reason the local power house Magnum Trailers and others all dumped Bigtex was they were no longer competitive on a lot of their trailers and it was hurting sales big time. PJ came in and offered the same quality for less money and scooped up a bunch of Bigtex's long time resellers. The best place to buy PJ trailers is National Trailer in Houston http://www.nationwide-trailers.com/. They will beat Magnum and make the trip worth while. I saved about $1500+ on my 20' PJ dump. Sorry for the long rant but hopefully it will help save you money!

ed2hess · #45 03-10-2012, 06:22 PM

We have an enclosed coming it is have inside outfitted. Actually fairly happy with this Big Tex trailer has several L beams under it to limit that twisting that can take place when trailer has different weight stuff in different positions. Boy you don't like those boxes eh....well they only cost $200 and ours will be retrofitted with a cover to keep out rain. We put tarp on all our trailers with equipment every night. I used to tarp trailer in field if it started to rain but those days are behind us. With exception of those stupid fuse holders most other stuff don't matter. You got all these guys on lawnsite washing their stuff with pressure washers

I thought I had put those gas hose on the trimmer rack but guess not looks like they go in all kinds of ways. I cut this one off the fender and moved it forward and down for easy access. This is unlocked to take trimmer off and then relocked.

PlantscapeSolutions · #46 03-10-2012, 07:47 PM

I like the Bigtex trailers I just don't like the price. Their quality is usually better then other companies. I never used to think how how long it took to get a mower secured, blower out of the trailer, time to access and refill equipment and things like that. I assumed I was doing OK. Wrong.

I realized getting string trimmers out of my old Trimmer Trap rack wasted .25 man hours per day. Getting to the mix cans wasted .17 man hours per day. Securing mower with straps instead of Pro Lockers wasted .33 man hours per day. And so on. Not using GPS (59 cents a day) to track your guys is the biggest mistake of all. No GPS cost me at least a grand a year.

Things are so competitive now you need to excel at business efficiency every way possible. I wish I could get back all the money I wasted before made efficiency a major priority. Lots of guys are wasting thousands of dollars a year to inefficiencies that could be money in their wallet where it belongs.

With my enclosed I bought it as a base model trailer (so does GTL) with no extras and customized it with the best of everything to save time and fit my exact equipment needs. I probably spent $2000 on the interior of my trailer. Packages often come generic string trimmer racks like the Bigtex and other things that will nickel and dime you to death in added labor costs at every stop your crew makes. If you ever want to peek at my trailer on a weekend down in Buda just let me know. I guarantee that you will go home with a bunch of ideas you can utilize.

Mikegyver · #47 03-10-2012, 11:31 PM

Mr Hess what are y'all doing with the old trailers or are y'all adding some more crews??? Gotten a new irrigation van yet?
Tell me more about how y'all pad your trimmer racks I am trying to figure out the best way that does not look totally trashy. How is the gas hose attached to the rack????

ed2hess · #48 03-11-2012, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCC LAWN CARE

Mr Hess what are y'all doing with the old trailers or are y'all adding some more crews??? Gotten a new irrigation van yet?
Tell me more about how y'all pad your trimmer racks I am trying to figure out the best way that does not look totally trashy. How is the gas hose attached to the rack????

In the end we will have at least on extra trailer but my son never gets rid of anything. The gas line pads the bolts that the trimmers set in on both ends. I tie rap the hose to the bolts. But as you see this trailer has gone many years without it and I don't see any damage on trimmers. We did get a new irrigation van but again he will probably get the black Ford van. I will probably go back to using it since our F160 Ford won't be able to pull this trailer or the new enclosed one.
When you get these 16ft size trailers the small V8 struggles.

ed2hess · #49 03-11-2012, 05:32 PM

Well we are in the second part of the leaf season. These oaks are falling big time. Thankfully these machines with mulch kits get rid of them quick. The guys go thru and roundup all the leaves and get them into grass areas so I mulch them when I cut. This is just one of many piles from this condo.