[TreeClimber57]

Hey, the new Bad Boy is $2999 with ezts, stout little welded 42" deck, and 21hp els engine. You need to stay around 1 and a half acres with it or less to last you a long time though. Or spend 3499 and get a 48" 26hp els.

Nice looking unit. Waiting to hear more about them.

 

[dgw]

walmart will have one soon enough

i guy up the road bought a 50 inch craftsman for 4999 for commercial use

80 hours and broken forks

now hes mowin small commercials with a 21 for 3 weeks waiting for the part to come in

i tried tellin him he could get a nice used piece for 5000 gs but wouldnt listen

and do you think sears gavehim a loaner

 

[STIHL GUY]

you should look for a used commercial WB. you could get a pretty decent one for $2000

 

[JTF40]

walmart will have one soon enough

i guy up the road bought a 50 inch craftsman for 4999 for commercial use

80 hours and broken forks

now hes mowin small commercials with a 21 for 3 weeks waiting for the part to come in

i tried tellin him he could get a nice used piece for 5000 gs but wouldnt listen

and do you think sears gavehim a loaner

....a Sears' credit card and take all of his life to pay for it. :usflag:

 

[Pat'sPerfectLawnService]

Nope, Go with the walk behind....

i already have a wb. its a 36" ransome bobcat

 

[Bob_n_weave]

This is a low cost of entry business but not a "no cost of entry" business. Thank god at least a few thousand bucks is standing between us and a massive tidal wave of out of work, broke, temporary "lawn guys" who will still further degrade the industry's already shaky rep by doing lackluster work, learning on-the-job and making mistakes, and who will be gone the minute the economy picks up and their preferred field of work starts hiring again. Unfortunately, they can in the meantime further destroy the pricing structure , as anything better than $8/hour is a number they are willing to net if need be. And as you know, start-up businesses will work for peanuts to get the volume they need to insure they'll make anything at all. So those first 20 accounts or so are done cheap, because it sure beats sitting at home waiting for the calls from employers that never come.

God help you big guys if they figure out they can bid on commercial properties as well. You'd be dead meat. Any job small enough to be completed in 1-2 days will be done at 1/2 your price. The property managers, being under pressure to cut costs in a recession as well, will fire you, hire them, and sub out the speciality work like apps, flowers, and even mulch.

You might consider that before contributing further here to the "lawn man's benevolent association" charity that lawnsite has become in the last couple of years. You might be better off offering them a JOB than a way to cut your throat as your competition by handing them free info on how to get into your line of work.

I agree with everything you said.

 

[DKJLawnCare]

Old Thread, but if your still in the market I saw a Deere Z225 on CL for $2000

 

[Pat'sPerfectLawnService]

Old Thread, but if your still in the market I saw a Deere Z225 on CL for $2000

cool beans

 

[lsylvain]

definatly you can find the deals on some good used stuff out there. You just have to look for them. Usually the best machines look like hell. Hydros will last nearly forever if people have not messed with them. I got a 36" ZTR this summer for $165.00 because the guy couldn't get it started. After I pulled the rats nest out of the air cleaner it fired right up. used it for a week and sold it for $600. I also got a 60" exmark turf tracer for $600 because the guy thought one of the hydro pumps was bad. All it was was a fitting that was leaking air and it burned up a charge pump. Cost me less than $30 to fix. Just look around. If you find a machine that has a verticle shaft engine you can replace those for next to nothing. So keep your eye out for something with a blown motor as well.

 

[Kutz Lawns]

Sure, they have them all day long at Home Depot & Lowes or CL for under $2000!

Now, you didn't ask if they were commercial or residential either!

 

[jkilov]

Several manufacturers make $2500 ZTRs, say toro, dixon, simplicity, cub cadet... which aren't intended for commercial use.

Get a WB.

 

[NEWGUYRI]

I hate to say it, but like many others there is no way. You'll need to think realistically and but a used walk behind, check out ebay. You can't even buy a homedepot ZTR for that price NEW.

 

[LarryF]

$2,000 for a new one? I doubt it, but some of these Encore mowers are under $4,000, and they look pretty solid. The ads say free shipping if not having a dealer for warranty work doesn't bother you.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=encore+mower