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Our Equipment over the years...

1M views 2K replies 352 participants last post by  kawasaki guy 
#1 ·
Not sure what I'm gonna post here...just a bunch of pics I have floating around from over the last few years...

This is what I started with in 2001...two Scags and a landscape trailer...I had been mowing lawns in the neighborhood with a Craftsman rider since I was twelve...2001 was when i first started to get the ball rolling...

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Vehicle Window
 
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#1,377 ·
I posted this in the Commerical Lawn forum, but thought it was pretty good so I would share it with everyone on this thread as well..

At this time every year I sit down for a few hours and reflect on the past season. I make a list of the following:

All of the positive things that happened:
Some examples are, equipment purchases, new customers, things I've learned, new employees, improvements to current systems, snowy winter, built a salt dome at our yard, get my CDL, become more DOT compliant

All of the negative things that happened:
Some examples are: Losing customers/contracts, equipment damage, losing a good employee, a Snow-less winter, keeping a bad employee around too long, had X amount of workers comp claims,

My predictions for the upcoming season, things I want to focus on, make changes to, get better at etc:
Some examples are, invoice on a weekly basis, not monthly. Email more invoices, start accepting credit cards, build a new website, take a vacation, improve our employee handbook, put out more job signs, update the business facebook page more often, take more before & after pics, focus on raising employee morale, take a company deep sea fishing trip, keep trucks/trailers washed & clean more often, put GPS units in all trucks

Then I do a follow up on the previous year's predictions.
So I list my thoughts on last year's predictions...did they go as planned? Did they totally get pushed to the side & forgotten about? There are some things that have been on my list for years to try & change and they never get done!

This is one of my favorite things to do each year so I thought I would share it with everyone. I have been doing it since 2004. It is interesting to go back a few years and see what things I used to worry about etc. It also helps you see the strides you've made year to year.

The examples I gave are not my actual 2012 list, but they have all been on my list at one time or another throughout the years. I just wanted to give some random examples.
 
#1,378 ·
PRO TURF- I am blown away at this thread everytime I read it. Your post on your rental property and investing was awesome and hit home with me cause I'm at the age where I can still do something about investing and saving before its too late. I also enjoyed reading your last post about your goals. Glad people like you are on this site
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#1,381 ·
JP...I have not looked into the Ferris units at all. I've been an Exmark guy for quite a few years, so that's why I"m leaning towards the TT.

Can you adjust/fabricate the Pro-Slide to ride above the pavement?

Yes the salt bin is built into the hill. So far we have not had any water issues, probably because we haven't had any rain or snow...uggh!! We'll be keeping an eye on the water as time goes on.
We run walker, exmark lazers and ferris walkbehinds. IMO the ferris dd hydro is by far the most rugged mower around. I have a 52" that is atleast 14 yrs old. But if your comfortable with the exmark tt then stick with it. As far as the proslide goes it works by dragging u around on the skid. So I don't think you could use it like a platform held off the ground.

We have a salt bin that is butted up to a hill and had about 10 yds of mix wash out in the middle of winter during one of those freak rain storms. What a pain. Had to dig the hill away and put a drain in. Fixed the problem for now. Just waiting on snow now.
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#1,382 ·
:clapping:
We buy quite a bit of our equipment used. It usually works out just fine for us, but we have also had some bad luck over the years. If you know where the equipment has come from & have a copy of the maintenance records then that is a BIG plus. You can tell alot about how a piece of equipment was treated just by looking around the shop/operation of the person selling the equipment. If the place is a mess, old broken equipment every where, very unorganized etc, then chances are they weren't too strict with oil changes, air filters & greasing. If the place is clean & tidy, the seller has maintenance records, and appears organized overall then chances are they also took the time to care for the equipment. It's always a risk that you take when buying used equipment, but that's the reason you are getting it for a cheaper price than brand new from the dealer.

We are hoping to purchase our Turf Tracers used...so we will see what we can find...

:walking:
How many acres did you mow with the zero turns during the growing season? making the switch to the Turf Tracers i guess you plan to still do the same amount of acres? At this time i am a small operation, but i am thinking of trying out the same Turf Tracer to mow bigger properties, since there cheaper and easier to find used. What your advise?
 
#1,383 ·
My guys will ride the proslides across sidewalks, driveways or short sections of black top. They got pretty crafty for long stretches of blacktop, and actually stand on the back of the walk-behind and 'ride' it, as not to wear out the wear-plate of the pro slide. We've been able to make the wear plates last an entire season. Not much of a pain to replace (4 bolts) and not really a big expense, when compared to replacing tires on a velke or sulky (we had rocks get stuck in between the tire and housing, run over nails or sharp objects, etc). And, no greasy hands/ clothes from hanging a velke on a chain.
 
#1,384 ·
What problems have you had with the Pace trailers? I thought they were one of the best.. Is the Pace the trailer with the irrigation set up inside?
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The frame was poorly built...quite a few broken welds at the joints. We had to pull out the floor of the trailer & reinforce quite a bit of the frame. Our Pace has quite a few miles on it from the last 6 years, but I still expected it to hold up better than it has. I took quite a few pics of the poor workmanship, if I can dig up the pics I will post them. I would not buy another Pace trailer.

:wall
 
#1,385 ·
PRO TURF- I am blown away at this thread everytime I read it. Your post on your rental property and investing was awesome and hit home with me cause I'm at the age where I can still do something about investing and saving before its too late. I also enjoyed reading your last post about your goals. Glad people like you are on this site
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Thanks alot for the kudos BigIrish!! :drinkup:
 
#1,388 ·
:clapping:
How many acres did you mow with the zero turns during the growing season? making the switch to the Turf Tracers i guess you plan to still do the same amount of acres? At this time i am a small operation, but i am thinking of trying out the same Turf Tracer to mow bigger properties, since there cheaper and easier to find used. What your advise?
I have never done the measurements to figure out the acreage that we do on a weekly basis. We still plan on doing the same amount of properties with the TT's that we were doing with the Lazers. I can't give you much advice on what will treat you better with the TT/Lazer because we have yet to put the TT's to the test. I think you would be very pleased with either machine though, Exmark puts out a great machine overall.
 
#1,389 ·
My guys will ride the proslides across sidewalks, driveways or short sections of black top. They got pretty crafty for long stretches of blacktop, and actually stand on the back of the walk-behind and 'ride' it, as not to wear out the wear-plate of the pro slide. We've been able to make the wear plates last an entire season. Not much of a pain to replace (4 bolts) and not really a big expense, when compared to replacing tires on a velke or sulky (we had rocks get stuck in between the tire and housing, run over nails or sharp objects, etc). And, no greasy hands/ clothes from hanging a velke on a chain.
What is the wear plate made of? Has anyone made their own wear plate out of a different material that they found to last longer or be more cost effective?
 
#1,391 ·
The wear plate is a hard plastic. Had a local guy try to make one out of a heavy gauge tin basically and it worked ok for a while.

Why no sulkies? Could get some 2 wheel sulkies that would maintain a decent stripe.
Sorry if you have already answered that
We have always used the one or two wheeled sulkies on our w/b's over the years. I was unfamiliar with the ProSlides until we got to talking about them a few weeks ago...so now I'm curious. They sound like the way to go, or at least something worth trying.
 
#1,392 ·
The frame was poorly built...quite a few broken welds at the joints. We had to pull out the floor of the trailer & reinforce quite a bit of the frame. Our Pace has quite a few miles on it from the last 6 years, but I still expected it to hold up better than it has. I took quite a few pics of the poor workmanship, if I can dig up the pics I will post them. I would not buy another Pace trailer.

:wall
Ill keep that in mind! I thought Pace were high dollar trailers? Oh well that reminds me of the saying a happy customer well tell 10 people about you, an unhappy one will tell 100!
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#1,393 ·
I got my Eagle at 15. Had to get it done before High School go too busy. Scouts has obviously given me the most worthwhile experiences of my life.

I've been to Sea Base in the Bahamas and Philmont. I've met lifelong friends and have learned leadership skills I'll use for the rest of my life. I'm sure glad I stuck with it.
I wish i had gone to sea base, I also went to philmont and got the 100 year anniversary belt buckle! All of my troop looks to me if they need help with landscaping or tree care on there home or our 300 acre camp ground.
 
#1,400 ·
Pro Turf i have a question about the mini skid steers, I think i seen somewhere in your thread you have a bobcat, I'm looking at the MT52 i'm set up to do a demo this week if the rain ever stops, but how effeceint are they when doing landscaping, i have a small 453 bobcat that i use in the shop and in my salt bin loading trucks, its really small and will just about fit in the bed of a pickup lol, but it being small works great, but small tires no tracks and it gets stuck on wet blacktop:dizzy: and i always thought that the compact size would be great for landscape maint., how do they do as far as going on turf without damage? and i see guys all the time using them, my bobcat dealer says that it will replace most of our wheelbarrow use? Any truth in that? Also we dont do very much hardscaping at all maybe some pavers or something its mostly just maintenance, does the attachments work good like the augers and such we plant alot so that looks like it would be great, also any maintenance issues with yours? I'm a bobcat man but i have looked at toro and vemeer, but will probably stay white and orange. Thanks man!!
 
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