I;ve been wrestling witih this issue for a couple years. On avg, a decent machine is around 2k. As we know, these things are extremely profitable but frankly since they pay for the day rental in like the first half hour of use, I;m having a hard time cost-justifying buying one. Plus its one more machine I have to store, maintain, insure, and trip over in storage. On the other hand, my main reason for considering buying one is convenience,,,its always there when I need it. But, these things get used allot in spring and then collect dust for most of the rest of the year except for new installs here and there Would appreciate opinions from those who: - bought one and are glad they did, or - bought one and wish they would have stayed with renting them thanks
I bought a Brown last summer. It is great, and I am glad I did. Makes new installs a breeze, and redefinition of existing beds even easier. I have had longtime customers comment on the new edges. Also, during down time, you could do things like make tree rings, etc. You know, the trees you hate mowing around, but never wanted to shovel cut through the roots. If the machine is in your garage, you will think of ways to use it. The machine hs several diferent rotors, for trenching, etc. You can even easily replace broken bed edgings. The downside I found was hiting shallow, improperly installed sprinkler lines and those darn electric dog fences. HTH
Anything I remotely think will be a good tool and get a fair amount of use from, I buy. Even though it may take a couple years to actually recoup the money, I buy. No matter how you slice it, the rental store smokes an hour of your time to go pick up and drop off. I think it does more mental damage to me than actual time damage. I just HATE taking that time to go and pick up equipment. The flow of work is so much nicer to have it in the shop and roll it onto the trailer. These machines, with the Honda motor, are virtually maintenance free. Ours is three years old and looks like new because of being well taken care of. Had to replace the edger blade at the end of this season. Some of our soils are pretty rocky and the clay is hard as rock come mid-season. My advice, just buy it. Then it's yours and you will most likely try to sell more of the service when you see fit. May pay it off sooner than you think.
I bought a used TrenchMaster Bedgedger last season. Although I could make lots of money renting the machine when I was redining beds -- I was losing money when I was doing new installs. I like to cut the edge right after removing the sod and tiolling the soil. But -- I never wanted to stop and go get the machine -- so I would wait until the end of the project. Never looked as good and always took too much time. I bought mine from the rental comapny that I had been renting from. When i bought it -- I was the last person who had rented it the last four times. I bought it for around $900 along with several blades. Great purchase! Added benefit. Can use it to put down plastic or steel edging in a much quicker time -- even though it would not be worth a rental.
I always rented one also. Then my wife saw one in action at her office. She ask me if I had one , and I told her that I rented one every time that I need it. She told me to go buy one. The next day I had a Brown edger. I also cut edges for other landscaper friends for a reasonable fee. You can get several attachments for the Brown, including a stump grinder head and a blade for under ground wiring. The way I look at it, I don't have to track one down at the rental shop, and it's always there when I need it. post # 3475
Instead of using a shovel to cut bed edges , we use this machine. The Brown you pull backwards and the wheels steer to make turns. In a bed with out rocks or large roots, you can cut as fast as you can pull. Once I cut 100 tree rings @ $5 a piece. It took me 2 hours. Could you imagine cutting 100 rings with a flat spade shovel?
