Some of my stripes!

Hey, I'm 16 years old and have been in the lawn business for 4 years. Just thought I would share some of my stripes. My stripes have been a MAJOR marketing technique in the more wealthy areas. I made my own striper for my ztr by the way. Sorry, a couple of the pics were taken in the dark. I have a few other pics as well, but for some reason they won't upload.

Attached Images

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	Photo 167.jpg (82.1 KB, 133 views)
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Last edited by racerdude711; 01-09-2010 at 09:22 PM.

[CHEESE2009]

Lawn care business tips

Those are really nice lines! What's your deck height set to usually? 3"+ ? Mulch or bag????

My deck is usually set at 3"-3.5", sometimes 4". And the grass is always side discharged. My mower deck doesn't mulch, and I would never bag.

[Steve]

I have a few other pics as well, but for some reason they won't upload.

Try making the images a little smaller, usually that is the reason why they won't upload.

[clean_cut]

Originally Posted by racerdude711

Hey, I'm 16 years old and have been in the lawn business for 4 years. Just thought I would share some of my stripes. My stripes have been a MAJOR marketing technique in the more wealthy areas. I made my own striper for my ztr by the way. Sorry, a couple of the pics were taken in the dark. I have a few other pics as well, but for some reason they won't upload.

Great Job man, that one with the tree is very unique, I like it.

What kind of stripe kit did you make and how?

I used a think piece of rubber that was about 8 inches tall and 42 inches wide. I bolted it to the backside of my deck, therefore when the deck is at a regular mow height, it will drag along the grass therefore creating the stripes. Cheap way to go, cost about $35-40.

[Steve]

They look fantastic! Did you have any more pics you wanted to show us?

My stripes have been a MAJOR marketing technique in the more wealthy areas.

Can you tell us a little about this? How have the stripes helped you with your marketing?

I will have to figure out how to transfer my other pics off my phone to the computer to upload them.

Marketing with stripes has been a very successful way to gain me business. Last summer I had one high end account in a very nice neighborhood. This person is my neighbors dad, he owns a lot of commercial real estate. Anyway, he has a pretty good sized front yard, and is actually one of my easier lawns to mow. Have any of you found that mowing high end lawns are easier then lawns that aren't kept up well by the home owner??? They always have nice edging to mow around, and open areas. Anyway, back to what I was talking about. So this guy has a big front yard, and like I do on all of my yards, I like to make it look good. One of the main reasons is because when a lot of people receive a flyer at their door for lawn mowing and you say that your 16, I think that most people think I am going to do a crappy job just because I'm 16. So, when I mow this guys property, I try my hardest to make it look better and more professional than the actual "professionals" that a lot of people in that neighborhood higher. Yes the "professionals" have stripes, but they hurry through, and there lines aren't always straight, and aren't quite as defined. Also, they always do the normal straight lines that intersect each other. When I do this guys yard, my stripes are very define, very straight, and very different. After 1 month of mowing (4 mows) I got two more people in this neighborhood. When I asked them how they found out about me, they said they saw me mowing at that guys house, and saw the number on my truck. They love the stripes, and love the fact that it's DIFFERENT. One of the houses that I got after mowing for a month has a curving driveway and again, a really big front yard. Just mowing with the curve of the driveway makes the yard really stand out. And it's extremely easy! Little things that you can do to be different really help. So as the saying goes, "Be a leader, not a follower." It works!!!

[Steve]

How do you come up with the designs? The one picture of the circles around the tree is amazing!

Where do these designs come from?

How many mows does it take for these designs to really start standing out?

I usually come up with the designs off the top of my head while at the property. I also got some ideas form a book I ordered called, "Picture Perfect", by David R. Mellor. It focuses on mowing techniques for lawns, landscapes, and sports fields.

The design will usually stand out very good right after the mow. Like I said, I made my own striper and it puts down quite a bit a pressure on the grass. I personally think the stripes look better a day or two after I mowed it. One of the big things that bug me is when the striper doesn't push hard enough, and you can see the stripes the tires leave. In my pics, you can see the tire marks, but I solved that problem. Now I have a steady stripe, instead of a stripe with two skinny darker stripes on each side.