Rider or Walk Behind?

[ffduffy24]

Hi, I'm a new solo operator. Have about 12 accounts currently in my first season. I still work full time as a firefighter. I just do lawns on my day off. I'm starting to get to the point where I'm thinking about getting something bigger than my 21" self propelled mower so that I can trim some time off of my larger lawns. I've never used a riding lawn mower or a walk behind. I was wondering which one everyone thought I should lean towards. A rider or walk behind? Have mostly residential accounts, some with fences and some without. I just thought in the long run I'll need something bigger anyway. What type of mower should I get?

[picframer]

Lawn care business tips

Based on what you wrote I would probably get a garden tractor as it allows you to pull a pile of attachments and offer other services, use it for snow removal etc. I use the X500 series from John Deere, simply amazing tractors with excellent cut quality. If you are only mowing, consider a small ZTR, perhaps something with a 48 or 54" Deck, they are in my experience 20 to 30% faster than a tractor and you can spin on the fly. As for brand, there are many, service is critical to me so I opt for John Deere, selection in my city ic Very limited also.

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[Steve]

Hi ffduffy24,

Welcome to our forum!

What kinds of things have you been doing to market your business so far? Do you promote that you are a fire fighter in your marketing?

[ffduffy24]

I've only used flyers. I do mention briefly in my flyer that I am a firefighter. Also, I put a price on their flyer. Seems to work o.k. I basically have 4 different price points on my flyers and I carry them in a seperated holder and look at the size of the lawn as I'm approaching the house and bid it right then and there. Recently I've ordered car door magnets for my truck from Vista print. So we'll see how those work.

[Steve]

That is fantastic!

Have you gotten business cards made too?

Did you think about doing any good deeds around town that could get you into the local paper?

Like maybe helping spruce up an elderly citizen's home?

I can see the newspaper article now.

Local firefighter lends a green thumb to resident.

I bet your local paper would love to do an article on such a topic.

[lawncutter1982]

if you get a rider do not get a tractor...i tried the tractor type and they suck when it comes to mowing for money...get a zero turn but you also have to think that some homes back gates are limited on size....me personal my next step upgrade would be a 36 inch walkbehind....36in mower should cut your mowing time from 40% to 60% (wider cut plus drives faster the a 21)

i started with 2 21in mowers now i have a 33in and a 48in and now i mow lawns about 70% faster

[jasonw]

I have a small walk behind for lawns behind small gates and or bushes. For larger lawns I have a 42" cut tractor. I love the tractor. It cut my time by about 2/3's The last lawn took me a little over an hour to do when with my walk behind it took 3 hours and this time I didn't even break a sweat, just per her in gear, throttled up and enjoyed the landscape.