first year

i just started my own lawn service this march i have worked in the tree business for years my oncle owns a tree service and i was a grounds keeper for a rv lot and did abought 30 lawns a for a year or so and worked for a lawn
service for a while so im not just jumping in without any expercince. i started
out this spring with a toro 21 sp and a trimmer rake shovel 18 inch chain saw
climbing gear and my 96 z71.by the end of the summer i had 30 accounts rangig from 20.00 to 40.00 all but ten were weeklybut i made enough to buy a metro 36 2000.00
21inch snapper commercial 800.00
bluebird 530a aerator2000.00
snapper snowblower960 model 1500.00

after the discount for buying it all at once it cost me 6052.00 i am satisfied with all the equipment and they all run great my queistion is was this a good deal and is there any one out there that can come up with a list of different
equipment for the around the same price. or did i do okay all of the equipment is brandnew 05 i have a 6x8 trailer with a little cussing it all fits
the lawn service i used to work for had junk we spent more time working on the mowers than mowing i hated that and i told myself if i ever went to work for myself id be better than that any how i do any feed back would be appreitated

 

You're well on your way, Metro! It sounds like you did pretty good, but as a 20+ year veteran in the business I have to give you a little guidance.

First, you may not have wanted to spend the money on an aerator. A small percentage of customers will want this service, and for them you can always line them all up in one day and rent the machine for $30 and do it all in one swoop. To me it doesn't make sense to spend a grand or so on an aerator when you're just starting, and the money will be needed for other things.

Everything else sounds good, except I've never bought one piece of new equipment. It looses 15-20% of its value the second you take it home! I purchase high-quality used and it's never done me wrong.

If there's any way I can be of more help, send me a private message, or just post on the board! I'm always interested in helping the new guys start up.

 

i looked for some used equipment but every i found used was abused but your right all of my tree equipment i buy used exect my climbing ropes i dont i should skimp on something i hang my life on but i was wary abought buying an aerator so i waited towards the end the season to get it i had line up abought 17 fall aeration jobs and cleared abought 1100.00 thats the only reason i bought it and i alredy have abought 16 lined up for the spring