equipment?

[BGJohn]

Hello again, Everyone was such a help last time I wrote Im hoping for the same again.

[BGJohn]

reply

With me working fulltime as a firefighter/paramedic and being fairly green the the lawn care business I was wondering if anyone had any advise on what type of equipment I should buy. I have some monies set aside but I dont want to go to crazy in buying the best and most expensive equipment with fear of falling on my face and becoming in debt.

Im looking to buy a mower, blower weedeater and possibly an edger. Im also wondering if it would look to trashy to load all of the equipment into the back of my truck or more perfessional to go out and bye a trailer. Does everyone get this feeling of butterflies and excitement when attempting a new business? Again any advise will help me out! Thanks John.

[mariner]

reply

Get an enclosed tariler. Thats the mistake I made. If your short on work for a day, you could park your truck anywhere and pass out flyers or something. With an open trailer there is always that worry about equipment theft. You caould not leave your equipment alone on an open trailer.

[Seascape]

reply

You will need a trailer. Unloading a walk behind off a pick up sucks and is not something youll want to do 15 xs a day. Yes it looks unprofessional also. We use 16' 7000 lbs cap. trailers but i am in the market for a 8-10 footer because 16 ' is overkill sometimes and not to mention the abuse on trucks and fuel. Try fing a dual axle 10'. This should work fine to get started. Make sure it has brakes.
mike

[CCLS]

reply

Go with Exmark mowers and Echo 2 cycles. Definately get a trailer, it looks very unprofessional to put all of your stuff in the back of the truck. Plus if you have grass that needs to be hauled away, where are you going to put it?

[landdawg]

reply

I agree with seascape but would go with a 12'. Mariner has a good point about security with an enclosed trailer but make sure you want to stick to maintenance 100%. Try hauling 10'-16' tall trees with an enclosed or getting to what you want out of the front. Open trailers are more versatile for starting out and there are many ways to secure equipment with cages and locking systems from various suppliers and trailer fabricators.

[bwillie]

reply

I agree with landdawg a enclosed trailer is not practical for someone starting out. A good tandem axle enclosed will cost you well over 3,000. To me that money would be better spent on a good wb. You can get a good open 12 to 16 foot for about 1/4 the price of a enclosed.