Tortise & the Hare

Wish I had a video camera with me today.<br>Started doing on of my Thursday customers; a double lot, about 2/3 to 3/4 of an acre multi-level yard with lots of trimming w/ weedeater.<br>Anyways as I was cruising into the backyard with my bobcat, I spy the little old lady next door doing her backyard (a 50 x 100 area that would take me maybe 1.5 min.) with a crapsman 30&quot; rear engine rider, similar in style to the forrest gump mower I started out with years ago. She was 30-40% done with that section, mowing NASCAR style (round & round) in 2nd gear.<br>I must have startled her as I came into my section, by the look on her face; the kind a yugo owner gets when a big 4x4 is coming at them in the opposite lane.<br>Anyways, we exchanged waves & continued. I think I had 40% of the yard done by the time she finished that little circle.<br>Just amazing the difference between the 2 ends of the spectrum of homeowner vs. commercial equipment.When I get old & gray my ZTR will be an antique & seem like a dinosaur compared to what will come in the future. It's hard to believe you can mow grass any faster than todays mowers will cut, esp. Dixies.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<p><p><font size="1">Edited by: yardsmith

 

Years ago it would have been hard to believe<br>that a rotary mower could do a decent cut.<br>Now reel mowers have gone the way of the dinosaur.Whats next,laser mowers?<br>Over here they are trying to breed a new type<br>of grass that will only nees cutting 3 times<br>a year. I hope that idea craps out.<p>Karl<br>

 

Karl writes: &quot;Over here they are trying to breed a new type of grass that will only nees cutting 3 times a year. I hope that idea craps out.&quot;<p>Well, that just means we can charge 17x more per mowing, right? <p>-TGC

 

Not lasers yet, but they do have robotic (no operator needed!) mowers on the market now. Mrs. Jones next door doesn't have to drive her tractor in circles anymore, she can just program her little toy to do the work. Saw an ad for one in my local paper the other week. When they finally get the commercial ones designed we can stop complaining about the labor shortage! LOL

 

Smitty I know what you mean,I for many years thought my '87 walkbehind was the greatest thing to mow with until I got a ZRT this spring...sorry its the new Lazer HP w/23 hp.kaw....they are all great machs.can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring!!<p>----------<br>John <br>

 

I have seen people using the robotic ones already for townhouses. They advertise them around here. If you want to look at their webside it is ROBOMOW.COM. I just can't wait until the commercial ones are available. I will set them up in the morining and pick them up in the afternoon..

 

I opinion on what we will see in the future is that the speed will not get a hole lot faster but the quality of cut will improve.<p>As far as those robotic mowers go I think that will never fly in the commercial world.Think of it number how many times you hit rocks and junk in the lawn.Those things would just be more of a pain than anything else!And Mrs.Jones would not be very happy when your robomower sucked up her cat<p>----------<br>from:Adam<br>AB Lawn Care

 

Southside- Think of all the renovations you can do with the new seed. Advertizing &quot;the lawn that needs 3-5 cuts per season&quot; will get attention. Be one of the few with it and charge tons. Here in New Jersey, Rutgers is doing the same thing

 

Husqvarna has had the radio controlled mower out for a few years; saw it at EXPO last year. It's the size of a radio controlled car & kinda looks like a turtle, with a 3-blade utility exacto knife blade setup that spins around to cut the grass. Dumb thing wanders over the lawn in a random pattern for 7 hrs. & the mathematician geniuses say it'll have randomly crossed all it's paths to cut your lawn. I laughed. What about if the dog picks it up or tips it over, what if somone walks by & steals it (you're out 900 bucks), what if you have a bigger yard than 1000 sq.ft, etc. You'd have to renovate your yard to remove any ruts or bumps, holes, etc. <br>I'd rather take 15 min. with a $99 push mower than spend $900 & not be able to use my yard for the whole day, every week.<br>The things people do to avoid work.......<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<p><p><font size="1">Edited by: yardsmith