Anyone go with a used U-Haul instead of Isuzu? Also, where to get strong dovetail or ramp? I’m thinking of switching as well but I’m having trouble finding ramp options to add to a box truck.
The uhaul doesn’t carry more than a driver and a helper
So if it’s a two man crew it’s fine
the cab over is better visibility maneuverability and cab space and you can find them in four door models
With 16 feet you can carry two ZTRs and a walk behind on the dovetail
BUT you can carry 5 standers
when the dovetails got popular so did the standers
I was doing this (on a four door super duty) with scag swz and velkes before it was popular
I had routes I called mini 30s
The lawns were all a minimum of 30 bucks
tight routes
One driver
Dropped off a mower with velke, weed whacker in a trimmer trap and a backpack blower with a 2 gallon mix can
They traveled by mower from lawn to lawn
Driver dropped off a mower here
Another a few blocks over
Another over there
Another Down yonder
they met in the middle at noon and transported to another neighborhood for the second half of the day, rinse and repeat
trailer carried one spare of everything
If the guys were quick enough, driver was constantly moving to next set of lawns
If they were slow cuz of rain or high growth driver could help with spare equipment.
we got an insane amount of lawns done that way and I only needed one employee with a clean dl
Plus mostly solved the “where do I park” problem
Most of the time the truck didn’t park
crew would average $80 per man hour
This was in 2002-2005
these days , with modern standers and their speed
If you could sell that kind of a route?
You could easily make something like that work even better
Especially now with things like smart phones and a good routing program like they have now?
it would be even easier
The hardest part is the sales
IMO with what you’re doing
The more machines the better
I’d look into standers for your crew size
