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Solo Operator

36" Bradley
48" Bradley with Encore Seat Sulky
52" Scag Super Z
61" Ferris Pro Cut Z (newest addition)

I think I need a helper......
 
I am solo. Have way too many mowers for the lawns I got, but oh well...
50 inch Dixon
42 inch Walker
21" Deere JX75
5 wb 32" - 48" 3 are like new others beat up
3 honda 21"
1 scag turf tiger 61"

SOLO OPERATOR!!!! 25 accounts I had almost 40 at one time. I am currently seeking a twelve step program to stop this madness.
 
Interesting thread. You can truly see the difference in peoples costs and why some need to charge more than others to make a profit, mainly talking about Solo's.

I am part time solo with 13 accounts.

2 21" Toro Prolines

However if I was full time like I used to be with 50 accounts my mower list would still read 2 21" Toro Prolines
 
It look like some people here have a lot of stuff that don't do more than 150 hours per year... For me, but it's just my feeling I think it's better to use them 400-500 hours per years and even if they are not perfectly appropriate for the account I mow on the overall it's ok what do you think about that?
 
I'm sure everyone has reasons for the equipment list they have. With us I work a full time job and my wife does the cutting so we need reliable equipment and backups for everything. She has to be able to keep cutting for several days even if something breaks down. Blade changes on the Walker are easy and she can do them but the Bobcats have to be lifted to change blades so we have two mowers the same so they only have to be changed once per week. The Steiners are used for lawn spraying and fertilizing. I have to do the spraying but she can do the fert so again we have two machines the same, one with fert setup and one with spray setup. The Steiners are also used for overgrown lots. The JD is just a backup machine and is usually at my father in laws house for him to use. In the spring it has a 5' broom on it to sweep lawns. It's only used for three weeks.
We could do with less mowers but we never miss a cut either.
 
I'm sure everyone has reasons for the equipment list they have.
I had a perfectly good setup when I started out with a NEW 44" Dixon and my JX75. Honestly, I coulda got by with just the JX75... But then this spring, I decided I would rather have a 50 inch Dixon because thats what everyone else has here. So the 44 got traded on a used 50 inch. So then I had plenty of stuff to do LOTS of lawns. Around about the second day I mowed with the 50 inch Dixon I realized how much I hated push mowing yards with 4' gates. And I started realizing how nice Walker stripes are. So I got a 42" Walker. That is my reason for having enough mowers to do 100 yards a week for my 15 lawns.
 
Solo - Two Exmark Turf Tracers, one 48/19 and a 36/15. One OLD Scag 3-wheel frontmount, gear drive, 48/18HP Briggs.
 
Awrite, the logic is I can either pay dealer cost at all times, take a chance on how long it will take on getting fixed, and deal with downtime, not to mention driving to-from the dealer's and then having to call them 2-3 times / day to keep bugging them so it actually gets looked at before year's end... Things aren't quite that bad, but it does get better. Once I got into acquiring my own parts below dealer cost, and I got into tuning my machines and doing my own repairs, nowadays I even think of bringing my machine to the dealer and I am dreaming because they will not touch it... The dealers won't even touch warranty stuff of mine, even if I buy it from them, because IF I have to bring a machine to them they know I've already tried to fix it (translation: some major pita thing is always wrong with the stuff I bring in, this much I see from their side of the fence).

If a machine breaks today, I need another machine no later than tomorrow, 2-3 days at the absolute worst but really I would like a working mower right now, asap, this very hour and thank you. So, either I got 3,000 dollars sitting around so I can just buy another, but wait no, that doesn't work because with Toro there's a 1-2 month waiting period, see even that solution doesn't work.
Rent one? LOL! Maybe as an absolute last resort, they run me well over $100 / day just in fees.

There is one more issue: Mowers normally don't break idle, they almost always break while working, so chances are good to excellent someone's lawn is about half cut right about that time. Now how do I guarantee, when I bring in the replacement, that it will look right from the customer's end? Seriously, if two machines are not set to the exact same specs, if the cut is off by a 1/8 inch, even if the cut height is the same but one's a 48" and the other is a 21", it just don't look right.

It is for this reason I own a '98 48" proline and an '05 proline, both the exact same make and model, both set to the exact same specifications, not even a 1/16" difference... And when one breaks down, yeah I try and see if I can fix it then and there, but if I can't then I run it home and load up the other, I am usually back to cutting within 1-2 hours from the time of crap out. That right there saves me so much time, frustration and aggravation, I can deal with the broken machine when I get a chance.

When they're both in running order I use them interchangeably, one for a bit then the other, both get about 2-300 hours / year put on them, or so. Now I do have a 60" Ztr, but that's for acre+ lots and when I don't feel like working lol.

Cost-wise, it's what you make of it, I only load what I need on the trailer, you don't see me driving around with all my equipment...
For one it wouldn't fit if I tried, for another it affects my truck's fuel mileage considerably (10-20%), if I need to haul a bit of brush I have the space, and last but not least I HATE playing musical equipment with my stuff.

Don't forget the annual depreciation gets deducted from the gross for less tax liability, and if I ever sell my business then that's more value built into it, right now I'm looking at roughly 20 grand in every piece of equipment but include all the spare parts and supplies... Sure it devalues, that much I deduct as a loss every year.

Peace
 
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