Today... worst day I have ever had in business.

[musician/lawnman]

Yesterday I ran solo & never pulled my 2nd machine off the trailer, at the end of the day I go to refuel & the 2nd one won't start... dead battery. I fuel up, jump start it & decide to do 1 more lawn to use it & hopefully get the battery to charge. So on my way to my 1st job today (a small commercial store front) as I pull in I hit a pot hole on the right side of the entrance with the right side trailer tire (12x6' enclosed) & hear this sound..... "what is that?" I get out & see the tire has broken a belt, expanded out & is rubbing on a small screw that holds a reflector onto the back of the diamond plate fender. So I can't change the tire there in the entry way right? I have to pull in about 10' to a parking space..... tire blows out before I get there. Ok, Change the tire...... The spare seems awefully close to the rear of the fender well too? The entire trailer axle had shifted back about 2"! Damn, now I need to loosen, & straighten out the leaf spring. Well if I gotta work under there some more, I want less weight on the trailer.... let's pull at least one of these machines off. I drop the ramp gate & go to pull one out, halfway down the ramp & boom! On an enclosed trailer there is a steel channel or square tube that runs across the bottom of the trailer from side to side. The ramps hinges are welded to that. Well, the welds that hold this channel to the sides of the trailer give out, sending me, the mower & the ramp to the ground, Fast. THE ENTIRE RAMPGATE FELL OFF! IT BROKE THE HELL OFF!!!! It's 10 minutes after 8 am, I had 25 properties & 3 estimates on the schedule for the day & my trailer has seemingly self destructed in less than 10 minutes. I haven't gotten ANYTHING done yet?! wtf? Now I have a trailer that can't roll (shifted axle) & a mower on the ground that I can't get back in the trailer .... (no gate!) I call a friend (fellow local landscaper & ask for help, he drops off his employee with a mower at some property he does & comes to help me out (Great guy, I would have been SCREEEEEEWED with out him..... THANKS DAVE!) He's gonna get my mower home for me since I can't reload it. While waiting for him, I loosen, straighten, & retighten the leaf spring, & get the ramp door hammered back into it's upright position, I used the latches to hold it in place so I can get home. I pull out of the parking lot & there's that noise again..... the spring has shifted again.... I pull over & remove the reflector & the screws so that the tire can rub a smooth tire well with no screws & just limp it home (only about 2 miles). On the way home I call my brother, (he's luckily off today) & ask him to please come over right now & bring his welder. He does (THANKS TOM!). I get home & find that the leaf spring has now SNAPPED IN HALF! I call around, find new springs ( about 45 minutes away). So I spent all day, getting & replacing 2 lousy leaf springs & refabricating the entire *** end of my trailer. 4pm done..... I'm thinking wow I have ALOT to do tommorrow. Ding, ding, ding.... still got a dead battery on 1 mower! So after running to get that done, hit the PO box, & the bank. I am 10 hours into a day that has cost me $300+ dollars (not counting new tire.... tommorrow) & earned me not a dime. Wheew..... yeah, I don't drink all the time but, After a day like that. I am a couple beers in tonight.

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[CheapNEasy]

Lawn care business tips

Wow, sounds like you have had a rough couple days, it`ll get better though! It always gets worse and hits bottom before it gets better. Keep ya head up and I agree with the few (not to be taken lightly) beer ..... Id have a case of beer after a day like that and I drink maybe 5 times a year. Hope your week gets better bud! The rainbow is coming out after the storm is over

[picframer]

Wow you did have a bad day bud but you will laugh it off in time. I had kind of one of those a week ago with one of my trucks....which is only a year old, it was they day from hell....

[Steve]

Oh wow! Sorry about that happening!

What do you think finally made the leaf spring crack after like that? Or do you think the pot hole just put too much force on it?

[Little's]

Dang! That sucks

[majoe7]

Chuck,

Here's 1 no 2 tips of the bottle for you bud. I hope that tomorrow is a better day for you.

John

[musician/lawnman]

Hey guys,

Thanks, Yeah I'm sure today will be better. Though it wont take much for it to be a better day than yesterday, so it shouldn't be hard to do.
Thanks for letting me vent! I felt like I was set up on candid camera. I just couldn't believe how much went wrong in about 10 minutes....

[CHEESE2009]

Well... I have no idea how I would of handled that situation. I think I would lose my mind & probably yell my head off for about an hour.

The worst thing that happened to me sofar was at another company.
I took the walker into a backyard (down a decent hill), once the grass was cut & I tried to drive the machine back up the hill towards the exit, the walker just slid back down and got tangled into a fence. There was no traction at all.

The solution, I used a tarp. I laid it over the hill & bingo, traction! I also had to get a running start lol...

[justin_time]

Better off to get a J.D.J trailer like mine