equipment for BIG jobs!!

[crew]

Saturday I am bidding several big commercial jobs that I have been trying to get at for a while. First of all I'm freaking a little bit on the prospects of doubling my sales in one swoop, but thats another post.<br>I will need to purchase new equipment if i land these jobs and ,frankly I have no experience on turf areas in excess of 100,000 sq.'. can a 72&quot;lazer be expected to produce on multiple properties in that size range or would I be better off going with a tractor and gang mowers? What about at cleanup time? Will the limited capabilities of ztrs make me wish I had something more versatile?<br>Any advice or input from people who are working these kinds of large commercial properties would be very helpful and appreciated and remember, be careful what you ask for or.....<p>p.s. I,ll probably be up all night sweating this so feel free to post at any time!!!

 

[Doug406]

we have several larger commercial properties. We use 2 62z toros and a smaller 50&quot; and 36&quot; walkbehinds. This combo works well. For example, We cut and trim a 56 acre complex in 36 man hours. A 72 would be nice, but I like having twin size decks so that they can cut the same areas without looking different. plus a 72 will scalp more. If you have a lot of little berms consider 50&quot; decks.

 

[Hardy Enterprises]

Hey Crew<p>You didn't say how many acres you are talking about. If you talking about 3-4 acres I would use my 72&quot; Lazer Z. My largest property is a 70 acre industrial complex. I wouldn't even consider using my Lazer for anything other than trimming on that job. I cut it with a 80 hp tractor with a 15' batwing. A lot depends on the size of the job and the terrain that you will be cutting. I have found that it seems like the larger the property the rougher the land usually is. Also if it is being cut with a tractor now it will almost definitely have tractor ruts that will be rough on a mower. However tractor can add several other problems to your list. One they usually take longer to load and unload than mowers also they might require a different towing setup. I have a F350 dually with a 36' trailer that I haul my tractor/batwing and mower on and it takes about 34' of that trailer. The 36' trailer is classified by insurance as a semi and cause my auto insurance to double when I bought it. Hope this helps<p>Jay

 

[yardsmith]

We like cuting larger properties for the fact that the competition is less with bigger properties because the lowball scrubs don't have anything bigger than a 42&quot; Crapsman tractor that'd die after 2 rounds at a large place.<br>I have a 60&quot; Steiner 220 that can do 11 mph (not cutting, of course) & has dual range, hi & lo gears for hills, etc. & also has a posi-traction unit for hills too. <br>Also have a 61&quot; Bobcat ZTR w/25 hp Kohler. They can cut 3-5 acres/hr. each, & depending on size of property, we can be in & out in short order compared to some others here.<br>The interesting thing is now that I have bigger mowers, I like taking bigger prop.'s, cuz the $$ is usually better, & smaller guys can't bid low enuf cuz of all the time they'll have wrapped up in it. I like 2-5 acre prop.'s best for the equip. I have; if we took on anything alot bigger, our mowers wouldn't be the right tools for the job.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

 

[HOMER]

Might consider subbing out the large areas and not have to purchase anything, still more money in your pocket!<p>Homer

 

[grasscapeinc]

Try the 72&quot; SABRE tooth tiger Scag. <br>About $12, 000. 31hp. That thing cuts grass!!!! We use it on two schools. Mows at 12-13mph.

 

[southside]

I would agree with Hardy in that large industrial site tend to be rather rough. You<br>don't want to be pounding crap out of you<br>shiny ztr.Either buy a tractor/slasher and<br>do it yourself or sub the work out.Tractor/<br>slashers don't come cheap.Expect around the<br>$60k mark.And operating one is a whole new<br>ball game from a mower,especially on hills.<p>Karl<br>

 

[steveair]

hello,<p>Got two 72&quot; groundmasters that I would love to work a deal on with you. Can work on a good price if you are interested.<p>steveair

 

[crew]

thanks for the inputs. I have not seen all the properties yet but the ones i have seen are 180,000sq'+ and full of wide open space. I already have a lazer 60 and like the idea of having all the same equipment. Does another 12&quot; really make that much diff?<br>The 60k price tag and trailer requirements for a tractor make that proposition hard to swallow. thats alot of lazers!!!<br>Steveair-what kind of dollars are you talking for the groundsmasters? I've seen many around(the toro corporate office is just down the hiway but i dont think thier taking bids) but have never operated one. They look painfully slow. What kind of performance can one expect from them. Also are they capable of running other gear like snow blowers,aerators,sweepers,etc.?What do they have for motors? Please tell all you can think of that is pertinent.

 

[grasscapeinc]

THe important thing with 72&quot; is to have at least 28-32 hp to drive it, or you WILL be 2xcutting.