It really is.. zsprays are 22-25 grand! Lazers 16-20! Nuts, I don’t know why people are buying the damn things at these prices

 

It would stand reason that everything else has gone up 35% Equipment is no different except you buy milk weekly so it goes up 2% here , 2% there. You don’t buy a mower ever week, so every 3 years go to buy one and suddenly the number you last paid doesn’t match the new sticker price.

What is interesting to consider is the life span. Might be worth it to repower equipment rather than selling it off

 

Scag tiger cats…bought 4 in the last year…all 10.5-12k depending on engine….but I agree things are nuts…my lowest paid full timer is $20/hour.

 

Yeah, not sure where OP is, but no one will work for less than $20 here.

 

Don't you watch NBC Slightly News? Hester Dolt explains that the inflation rate is 1% calculated using the Consumer Price Index formula. First, you take a marketbasket of items, exclude food and energy prices to get the core rate. Then exclude any item that increased in price. Finally add 1%. There is your inflation rate. So the rate of inflation is healthy and prices are not going up.

To calculate the unemployment rate, exclude everybody who is not working and add 3% to get an unemployment rate of 3%.

It is important to correct all of the fake news out there.

 

Don't you watch NBC Slightly News? Hester Dolt explains that the inflation rate is 1% calculated using the Consumer Price Index formula. First, you take a marketbasket of items, exclude food and energy prices to get the core rate. Then exclude any item that increased in price. Finally add 1%. There is your inflation rate. So the rate of inflation is healthy and prices are not going up.

To calculate the unemployment rate, exclude everybody who is not working and add 3% to get an unemployment rate of 3%.

It is important to correct all of the fake news out there.

 

My grandstand is my main mower. Bought it new in 2018 and it has 3300 hours on it now. I've had a set of hydros sitting on the shelf and I'm gonna get an engine for it so I can repower it to avoid buying a new one. I imagine it'd be tough to run old equipment up to high hours and then repower them if it was employees running the mowers and not an owner operator like me. Too much down time there.

 

We do it. Generally the older employees use the older equipment since they know the issues a particular machine has. The new guys get the newest stuff generally and as we train them in, we move them to older machines. We run our stuff until it is no longer reliable/repairable. You just have to stop them from doing stupid stuff like running over cement and jerking the cord 50 times with the switch turned off. It's frustrating how stupid some of the new guys can be.

 

But next year minimum wage is going to $15. So to attract and retain talent I'll need to be above that


You're paying below $15/ hour for labor, but complaining about equipment/parts costs?

 

Paying $15 now.

 

The prices are really making us rethink how we're doing things. Last week we shot a rod out of a block in one of our Exmarks. My wife asked if we were going to just buy a new one? Nope ordered a new engine and did the swap while the boys were out mowing with our other unit. This year we have bought used everything and stepped up our maintenance program in the shop. With everyone being squeezed cash in hand is allowing us to make some really good buys.

 

I usually buy a used 21in crapsman on marketplace at the beginning of the year. Then sale it at year end and start again. Always love having nice equipment it makes me so happy.

 

I have gotten some quotes on equipment and parts this year that have really made me start to question how much longer mowing will be a viable service to do and to do legit (taxes, insurance, work comp).

It may still be viable but business models may have to change with the changing economics in order to remain viable.

 

Been cutting for 40 years my last zero turn cost 5 times what i paid for my truck

 

I hear ya brother! That’s why I run 21in push mowers and old s-10s life is good!

 

We have slowly been transistioning into different things the last couple years due to the cost of mowers. LV lighting, irrigation repair, landscape maint, and next year, applications.
We will always mow but there are many more services that require much less cost to provide.

 

Very interested in applications. I have my turgrass, general standards, and rights of way books from the extension office and have been studying to try my hand at that service. Also it's very interesting to me

 

Bed maintenance can be high profitability with little equipment.

 

You want to talk about equipment costs... be glad you're not a farmer!

 

Especially a farmer in Idaho. They won't even let you have water.

 

In response to the original poster, ELECTIONS MATTER! Monetary policy, EPA regulations, etc. will all combine to hurt your business.

As Sunshine said, the published rate of inflation is highly manipulated and means nothing. Look at shipping costs. More than double in the last few years to subsidize Amazon.

 

This is a perfect example. Old boss calls, has a customer with a broken sprayer. Drive over to fix it. Its a Rainbird 1800. I dont use RB so I grab a Hunter a replace it.

$75.00

The guy says, "can you do anything with this?"

I toss it in my packout box. Its just busted at the bottom where it screws in.

I head to a customer of mines to replace another head. Oh look, its a RB 1800 sprayer that is missing the filter and nozzle. I think I have recently come into possession of one. Let me check...

10 minutes later that head is fixed.

$75.00

So at a total cost of $8.00 and 20 mins (drive time not included) I put 150 bucks into my revenue stream.

 

This is a perfect example. Old boss calls, has a customer with a broken sprayer. Drive over to fix it. Its a Rainbird 1800. I dont use RB so I grab a Hunter a replace it.

$75.00

The guy says, "can you do anything with this?"

I toss it in my packout box. Its just busted at the bottom where it screws in.

I head to a customer of mines to replace another head. Oh look, its a RB 1800 sprayer that is missing the filter and nozzle. I think I have recently come into possession of one. Let me check...

10 minutes later that head is fixed.

$75.00

So at a total cost of $8.00 and 20 mins (drive time not included) I put 150 bucks into my revenue stream.

I never throw anything away until I've stripped all usable parts off of it. I cut electric cords off of appliances, etc.

 

👍

 

Funny. I was just thinking about the cost of my equipment vs the cost of my truck the other day.

I bought this 2006 Trailblazer in October 2020 for $3,800.



The 36" Ferris on the trailer cost $4,700 new (spring special) in March 2012

Between the 36, 30, and 21, it would probably run me about $9,500 if I had to replace all of them with new units today!

Buying a new vehicle is out of the question. Buying new mowers is something I would only do in dire circumstances.
Heck, I got stuck in a bind and bought a new Timemaster a few weeks ago. Nauseating what they want for them now - $1,600!!!
May 2020 I paid $1,000 for the exact same model.

 

Well, Toro is the worst in price gouging. They have shareholders to please you know. I think their market share will slip in the coming years despite their acquisitions.
Worst part is big government contracts (GSA) probably sell that mower for $900 today. The little guy has to pay the biggest price.

 

Regarding prices in the 1st post, I think Exmark/Toro is especially greedy on their pricing. Greedy might not be the best word, but they do seem disproportionately expensive compared to the competition. Lazer's are needlessly complex machines. And for no good reason that I can tell.

At least with other brands you're getting something that stands out performance wise. Either a spectacular deck (John Deere, Scag) or killer Hydros (Hustler Hyperdrive) or full suspension. (Ferris)

Exmark though? "Oh, it cuts nice in perfect conditions..."

I have an older Lazer X-series, and it's a good machine. But I wouldn't think for 1 second about paying what they want for a new one...

 

This. Hate to be the guy that ditches a brand and dealer that I have had extremely good luck with but I'm almost willing to deal with a few issues here and there if I can get in at a decent price. I've been hearing that the Bradley mowers are reasonable.

 

There it is. Only $300 on Facebook Marketplace, plus a few new wheels, belts, and tires

 

Hell of a lot worse ways to spend $300...

 

Exmark makes a great machine, no question, but they are no better than most any other brand these days, and haven't been for over a decade now (durability-wise/hour wise). There is simply no reason for them to be priced the way they are when they share many of the same components as other brands. They are pricing based on their rep from 20 years ago or more. Now that all major brands last just as well, there's no real reason for them to be so overpriced. I live in Exmark country. Until the last few years, they are all you would see on trailers or jobs. That is changing here for the last decade or so as LCO's are finding other machines last as well, cut as well and cost several grand less new.

 

I wish there were more competitive dealers that carried other brands around me so I could shop them. There’s money to be made around my area but Scag can’t get their foot in the door or keep it for some reason, either the dealerships they pick don’t want to carry their $100,000 floor plan or who knows what the deal is. I’d love to have a good Scag dealer near me instead of an hour away. Bobcat is here but they’re being sold by some small place on the side of the road that also carries Worldlawn. Yeah, no thanks. Bad Boy and Gravely are being sold by used car dealerships and an atv place. Don’t ask me why. There’s Country Clipper that’s being sold by some TYM dealer but to me country clipper is a gimmick and I’ve never given them a look and never will. Hustler has a good dealer but they also sell Exmark mostly and Walker. The owner told me he sells 4 Exmarks for every Hustler and Walkers aren’t that big of a seller. We need more dealerships in this area but seems like no one wants to be serious one besides Exmark.

 

Toro and Exmark are the only dealers around here where the mowers are more than an afterthought. We have a couple atv places, farm stores, etc that sell the other brands. But I agree with RollingsFarms and Ridin' Green, Toro/Exmark are the best cutting deck in my area and they hold up great with great dealer support, but are they worth several thousand dollars more? Idk I think most of that is them just leaning on legacy. If they were hungry and not just resting on their name I think they could almost corner the market they'd be so popular. They've pretty much got it cornered already here. Occasionally I will see a cub cadet or a bad boy but that is below 10% of lcos.

 

I'd really like to see Exmark come down in cost and add better/more engine options,the latter seems to be happening with the new standers they just released this year.

 

I'd r4eally like to see Exmark come down in cost and add better/more engine options,the latter seems to be happening with the new standers they just released this year.

Like a 3 cylinder gas and diesel options found on grasshopper!

 

I've run toro and exmark since 1998. My next mower will be a Ferris....
Exmark seriously burned me on the last one and I don't care what the purchase price that machine cost me more than it's worth in lost revenue!

We have dealers for all the brands within 30 or so miles!

 

Exmark burned you as in it was breaking down a lot? What engine?

 

One of the dealers I went to you can't talk to anyone except the service writer. They're weeks out on repairs.

 

Always hated when you can’t talk directly to the person doing the actual work.