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Math Teacher Venturing In To Lawns

4K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  BrunoT 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone, I’ve decided to enter the lawn business 4 weeks ago but am in need of much experience. Aside from some brief summers working on a golf course I only no the basics. I’ve been reading books and asking around but still have questions. I hope to bother some of you seasoned vets.

I purchased a John Deere 42 inch zero turn for my mower. It’s not considered commercial grade, but do I need to worry about over using it? I only have about 3 hours on it so far.

If I change the oil every 15 hours (or so) and at the end of the season have someone clean it, replace the oil filter, sharpen the blades, etc do you think it will last me a good 5 years? Any other suggestions to keep it running smoothly?
 
#2 ·
First off, change oil every 15 hours? sounds a bit much, I have 30 accounts and change oil once a month (but i have commercial equipment powered by a commercial engine.) You should be sharpening your blades more than once a year, because they are not as good as commercial blades, they will nick easier, and dull out quicker. I sharpen my blades once a week.

Most residential grade equipment lasts up to about 2,000 hours, and then it dies, so keep that in mind.

Hopefully your experience as a math teacher has paid off, lowballing doesn't make any money
 
#3 ·
Lots of teachers doing this it seems. I dunno about residetial equip lasting 2k hours. I figure 2k on the commercial stuff. I think it'll work good for the first few years and if your over using it then that means you should be making a buck to be able to upgrade. And if things start off slow your not sitting on a 10k dollar mower. Do sched. maint. yourself unless your too busy to do it. Good luck!
 
#4 ·
If I change the oil every 15 hours (or so) and at the end of the season have someone clean it, replace the oil filter, sharpen the blades, etc do you think it will last me a good 5 years? Any other suggestions to keep it running smoothly?[/QUOTE]

You can change your oil every 50 hours with no problem. But you need to learn that machine better. Change the oil filter every time you change the oil. Keep the air filter clean. Grease all moving parts regularly. Sharpen the blades weekly. Keep the engine clean at all times. If you do all of this that machine will run smoother but only plan on it lasting three years if you mow twenty hours a week, nine months a year.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Hello Everyone, I've decided to enter the lawn business 4 weeks ago but am in need of much experience. Aside from some brief summers working on a golf course I only no the basics. I've been reading books and asking around but still have questions. I hope to bother some of you seasoned vets.

I purchased a John Deere 42 inch zero turn for my mower. It's not considered commercial grade, but do I need to worry about over using it? I only have about 3 hours on it so far.

If I change the oil every 15 hours (or so) and at the end of the season have someone clean it, replace the oil filter, sharpen the blades, etc do you think it will last me a good 5 years? Any other suggestions to keep it running smoothly?
What model is it? It should last you five years if you are doing just your own lawn for the summers. It might be okay for starting out with for the business. A lot of it depends on how serious you are about this and how many properties you plan on mowing. If you build up a decent amount of customers I doubt it will last you five years. Like someone said already, if you do good and make some money you can eventually get commercial grade. If you decide it's not right for you, you don't have to make payments on this expensive mower you don't need.

Of course, I personally wouldn't be able to go back to residential even if I had to only cut my lawn.
 
#6 · (Edited)
No, you don't get experience by people teaching you...
Wouldn't you, a teacher, be the first to know this?
Do you even know what experience is?
Are you fresh out of college?

You need to change the oil according to the manufacturer's specifications, changing the oil more frequently
than the recommended service interval will not make the machine last longer, in other words if it wouldn't
have made it 5 years otherwise, it won't make it 5 years if you change the oil every 2 minutes.

It won't last 10 more minutes.
Well, maybe ... :p

Guess you can chalk that one up to experience.
 
#8 ·
It is quite interesting, any teacher I've ever had always told me that I shouldn't do landscaping and lawn care as my lifelong career, and tried to explain to me how nice office jobs are. But here you are... a teacher, trying to get into lawn care!

Things suck for teachers now because of districts cutting teachers (especially new ones). Cuz them old tenured farts are goin NOWHERES!:laugh:
 
#9 ·
Sorry but if you will need someone to change your oil filter and sharpen your blades for you I think you should consider a different venture. You need to be able to change a blade in the field on the spot any time.

We need to know what model mower it is. The Z225? Most budget homeowner Z mowers are poorly suited for commercial use to the point you'd be lucky to get a full season out of it. The decks just aren't sturdy enough and the hydros aren't very robust and if either of those go you may as well just scrap it. I think the motor is probably less of a concern in the overall picture of things.
 
#10 ·
Econ 101. More participants in a market = lower profits per participant, via lower prices as well as simple division of the pie.

Just be sure to also chime in on the hundreds of "prices are too low" threads too.

Then think real hard and try to figure out how the two topics are related.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the responses everyone. Someone asked about my teaching and if i plan on pursuing this full-time. I'm actually a college math instructor which basically means i earn a full-time income for working about 15 hours a week. I ventured into writing as of the last few years, wrote a couple books that made a little side money and started thinking about what was a job that I love that I could make some money off of. I came up with lawns.

Thanks for the info about changing my oil (I was going by the info a Lowes guy told me). I've changed the oil on cars and mowers before but have fallen into the habit of outsourcing these tasks. As someone mentioned I need to change this approach and start doing it myself. I've been watching some videos on how to sharpen blades and check if their balanced.

I'm pretty aggressive with advertising and have began filling my week with lawns already. I think I'm undercharging--not 14 year-old kid undercharging but still about 25% below my competitors. I don't wish to lowball but I can't compete with the other guys on quality (yet) and feel like I need to charge lower until I get better at my job.
 
#12 ·
....
I'm actually a college math instructor which basically means i earn a full-time income for working about 15 hours a week.

...
--not 14 year-old kid undercharging but still about 25% below my competitors. I don't wish to lowball

....
Thanks for the info. We now know why college tuition payments are unreasonable.

Undercharging by 25% and not wishing to lowball are inconsistent.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the responses everyone. Someone asked about my teaching and if i plan on pursuing this full-time. I'm actually a college math instructor which basically means i earn a full-time income for working about 15 hours a week. I ventured into writing as of the last few years, wrote a couple books that made a little side money and started thinking about what was a job that I love that I could make some money off of. I came up with lawns.

Thanks for the info about changing my oil (I was going by the info a Lowes guy told me). I've changed the oil on cars and mowers before but have fallen into the habit of outsourcing these tasks. As someone mentioned I need to change this approach and start doing it myself. I've been watching some videos on how to sharpen blades and check if their balanced.

I'm pretty aggressive with advertising and have began filling my week with lawns already. I think I'm undercharging--not 14 year-old kid undercharging but still about 25% below my competitors. I don't wish to lowball but I can't compete with the other guys on quality (yet) and feel like I need to charge lower until I get better at my job.
You probably would have been better off starting out with a commercial walk behind mower.

I think that most of us undercharged when first starting out. But you're right, if you do top notch work you can get a premium for it. If you're mowing is more toward the homeowner-grade quality then you won't get top dollar for it. Anybody can mow a lawn, mowing it to perfection takes skill and experience (and the proper equipment - cough). But some people do just want their lawn mowed and could care less about stripes and skillfull trimming.

Just don't leave clumps!:laugh:

So what's your backup plan to get your lawns mowed if your Z or truck breaks down? Think about it. Thats the part that too many leave out.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the info. We now know why college tuition payments are unreasonable.

Undercharging by 25% and not wishing to lowball are inconsistent.
The price factors in quality. I've been riding a zero turn mower for approx 4 hours. I'm still learning how to operate it as well as to what extent it will cut on hills, when wet, etc. I've already put my wheel in a garden patch, mowed a piece of tarp and made a couple spins too fast leaving dirt tracks. I simply can't compete with the professionals until I get better and thus why I compete with price.

That of course is not the point. I can charge 25% below and still have a healthy profit margin, my investment is small in comparison to most and I don't pay labor costs (I don't even need a license unless I make over $25,000).

As for your college price comment, I would agree that we are paid way too much for the hours we work. But, not too many people have the inclination, resources or mental ability to spend the majority of their 20's doing graduate work. Colleges can't fill their math positions. Most leave to make triple their salary as a contractors.
 
#15 ·
I'm still learning how to operate it as well as to what extent it will cut on hills, when wet, etc. I've already put my wheel in a garden patch, mowed a piece of tarp and made a couple spins too fast leaving dirt tracks. I simply can't compete with the professionals until I get better and thus why I compete with price.
Hmm... So in the course of a couple of hours you've made a career's worth of mistakes with your Z? Oh, you get to get stuck twice. :) That's been it for me and I have 11 years with a Z under my belt.
 
#17 ·
Just hang in there...I've noticed that guys on this site enjoy busting peoples balls a fair amount, especially new guys starting out. That's ok. You've handled the comments rather well. Just continue to focus on getting more adept at using the equipment you possess and build up from there. I will say, however, that there is such a dramatic difference between a low quality mower and a solid commercial mower (like a Scag, etc.) that you will want to employ some of your profit into a commercial set up if you continue to grow...
 
#20 ·
I'm sure he includes "i'm learning on your lawn!" in his advertising. : )

There is indeed currently a scandal in higher education. Due to the ease of getting loans backed by the government tuitiion has gone way up and kids are graduating with semi-worthless degrees and thousands in debt that cannot be bankrupted out of. It's a new form of indentured servitude. My wife has MBA's working for her that can't write a business memo w/o tons of grammatical and spelling errors. They're rubber stamp degees. She just fired one last momth who was worthless.

Interesting videos on the topic on youtube and even books on the subject are coming out now. Search "the college conspiracy" or "why college is a scam". Gerald Celente is no lightweight and he agrees.

Then again, if anyone here had a decent education, they' know not to rush out to help a competitor charging 25% below "market price" with answers here. You're sharpening the knife that's cutting your own throat for your executioners.
 
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