Question for Picframer (Andy)

[swstout]

Andy, I have some questions about product handling. You buy Nature’s Lawn products by the barrel don’t you? Are the barrels steel or plastic? If I order barrels, do I have to have a loading dock? Will I have to return the empty barrels? What material handling equipment would I need? I think this year I will have a need for the larger quantities but I am going on 62 and am not as physical as I once was! Products like Gluten8 just aren’t cost effective unless I get them by the barrel. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Steve

__________________

[picframer]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by swstout Andy, I have some questions about product handling. You buy Nature’s Lawn products by the barrel don’t you? Are the barrels steel or plastic? If I order barrels, do I have to have a loading dock? Will I have to return the empty barrels? What material handling equipment would I need? I think this year I will have a need for the larger quantities but I am going on 62 and am not as physical as I once was! Products like Gluten8 just aren’t cost effective unless I get them by the barrel. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Steve Hey buddy, They call them totes, I think they are 50 gallons and come on a pallet, I take one of the bigger trailers to the freight company and they load with a fork lift, when I get it home two of the tractors have fork attachments to unload or I use one of the excavators, whatever is home that will do the job. They are plastic. Now what I did was go one of these farm outlet places and bought an electric pump, I fill 5 gallon cans for the vehicles to take, they generally mix some here at the house or quite often a client, 90% of our clients are on wells so I don't have to worry about Chlorine. In your case Steve, buy a engine block and tackle, make some type of tepee using 6 X 6's and hang the block and tackle from the centre, lift the tote enough to clear the trailer then pull the trailer ahead or if you have enough 5 gallon cans just fill them from the trailer, it's quite a load, I can only pull 4 of these with an F250 and she is max'd out. They do offer home delivery but it was simply too expensive. Last year on a Craig's List type site there was a fellow that had 50 of these 5 gallon plastic containers, I forget where he got them, they are blue in color, I bought them all for $150.00 which I thought was an excellent deal. Good luck this season my friend, I just picked up a 45 gallon sprayer for the X749, OMG it is great, 10 foot boom but you can collapse it and only run two nozzles if you wish, there are images on here somewhere, it's made by John Deere. Speaking of which, did you order a 749 or are you waiting until things settles as you have been through a lot in the past few weeks, we have something like 78 places to till already, mostly repeats from last year, we will start advertising this service in three weeks, profit wise it's better than spraying or excavation as we till 4 to 5 feet per pass.

__________________
Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[swstout]

I havn't ordered the X749 as of yet. The dealer here says he has one that he wil probably be repossing in April. I did order the tiller and box blade though. He told me about a 300 gallon sprayer while I was there.

Oh, my oldest son gets out of the Navy in August and has great educational bennefits. He has been accepted to Syracuse University and the Navy is paying for it with a monthly allotment for living expenses. He already has a BS in Nuclear Engineering and will be going for his Master's. Just got off the phone with him.

Steve

[lawncrafter56]

Where in the USA can I order the Gluten8?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by swstout

I havn't ordered the X749 as of yet. The dealer here says he has one that he wil probably be repossing in April. I did order the tiller and box blade though. He told me about a 300 gallon sprayer while I was there.

Oh, my oldest son gets out of the Navy in August and has great educational bennefits. He has been accepted to Syracuse University and the Navy is paying for it with a monthly allotment for living expenses. He already has a BS in Nuclear Engineering and will be going for his Master's. Just got off the phone with him.

Steve

Look it over, make sure you get the warranty but most important ask the dealer who services it, any idea how many hours are on the unit? Most take good care of their tractors but if they are about to loose it due to repo, I have seen some pretty interesting gear returned to my dealer.

[lawncrafter56]

How easy is it to over apply this stuff and do serious damage to the turf andy? Steve i am very intersted in organic but must admit a little inexperienced and cautious to jump in though i would like to offer it to my clients this year... thanks, bobby

[Fresh Cut]

Steve

I bought a gallon of Gluten-8 and applied it to my front lawn which is about 30 x 40 ft. not big at all. Its been about 3 weeks and we've had plenty of rain.

I got a front yard full of clovers and weeds right now!

I mixed it and applied it in a 2 gallon RoundUp sprayer that I have. It didn't do well, took me too long. So I have to find another method of applying it before I do a customer's yard.

But back to the issue at hand, no results. This stuff ain't cheap man.

Like you said, it's not cost effective for small quantities. And you never did respond to me PM that I sent you, Steve!

What gives?!

[picframer]

Originally Posted by lawncrafter56

How easy is it to over apply this stuff and do serious damage to the turf andy? Steve i am very intersted in organic but must admit a little inexperienced and cautious to jump in though i would like to offer it to my clients this year... thanks, bobby

It's not possible, tried it, applied five times the suggested amount to a patch of my lawn and repeated in two weeks, only issue was grass growing at an insane rate

[swstout]

Originally Posted by Fresh Cut

Steve

I bought a gallon of Gluten-8 and applied it to my front lawn which is about 30 x 40 ft. not big at all. Its been about 3 weeks and we've had plenty of rain.

I got a front yard full of clovers and weeds right now!

I mixed it and applied it in a 2 gallon RoundUp sprayer that I have. It didn't do well, took me too long. So I have to find another method of applying it before I do a customer's yard.

But back to the issue at hand, no results. This stuff ain't cheap man.

Like you said, it's not cost effective for small quantities. And you never did respond to me PM that I sent you, Steve!

What gives?!

Most weeds germinate in the fall and develop during the winter. Your grass may be dormant during the winter, but the weeds are not. The Gluten8 you applied this spring will stop new weeds from germinating. I apply the Gluten8 in early fall and again in the spring. It is a pre-emergent weed controller. It has to be applied before germination.

As far as your PM, I just checked and I have no PM’s. I try to respond to all I get. I have been away for a few weeks and missed all forum posts. While I was gone both my computers were stolen (along with my refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and heat pump. I just got another computer yesterday and haven’t got it all up yet. All my email data is missing and I won’t get it back until next week. (I am ashamed to say that I don’t know who my web mail carrier is. I have just clicked on the screen Icon for so long that the specifics are a mystery to me. My son uses my email and will send me the data when he gets back in port. He’s on a submarine).

My email is steve@swstout.com which I will have back up hopefully Wednesday. Maybe my blog will help. http://organiclawncarestore.spaces.live.com/?lc=1033 It might help generate some questions you havn’t thought of yet.

Steve

[mharbert]

Originally Posted by lawncrafter56

How easy is it to over apply this stuff and do serious damage to the turf andy? Steve i am very intersted in organic but must admit a little inexperienced and cautious to jump in though i would like to offer it to my clients this year... thanks, bobby

http://www.techtransfer.iastate.edu/..._licensees.cfm