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I mowed yards from 15-18 yrs old an made good money, my dad got a great deal on an 06 cc tank m60 $4000 with like 50hrs an we split the cost 50/50.. I was to keep our yard looking sharp 24/7. I did everything from getting the customers to sharpening the blades an buyin weedeater string to getting the cash he never even knew where I was. (just giving yal some background so were on the same page) I then stopped mowing an got a job at a powerplant but recently quit because I was tired of it lol I got a good 30hr a week job but want to start mowing on the side again...I already have about 5 good yards that iv got in the last couple weeks an been using the same m60 tank...its still a good mower but I need my own. the yards r all in a huge gated community and really nice and that's the only place I plan to mow...old ppl with money who like high quality work an don't have to worry about me stealing or anything like that, most get me set up with there bank and forget about the yard, I keep it nice. I know this is a small story but just bare with me. I grease an wash my mower every weekend and change the oil regular etc. my mower will be very well kept. I only want to do this on the side and don't want to have 6-9k invested on a mower, I already have a good weedeater an blower for my own yard...and a good 5x8 trailer for my 4wheeler, right now im using my dads 7x16. if I get 20 great yards at 1hr per yard, 10hrs a week for 25 weeks a yr, 250hrs total, will a 48" residential 4000$ mower last 2 years being babied? it will never have to cut thick grass or be strained. thanks

It may last, but how much would it be worth after those 2 years with 500 or more hours on it? A true commercial mower with 500 hours is more than likely going to still be worth something if you decide to get rid of it. A commercial mower may cost $2000+ over a residential mower but it may be worth $3000 more than the residential when you go to get rid of it.

All mowers at sometime need repair and some fairly new and sometimes long down times. If they didn't these forums probably wouldn't exist ans repair shops would be nonexistent. What's your back up plan?

Most $2,000.00 mowers will last 250 hours so I suggest you form a relationship with a dealer you can tolerate, a brand you like, trade it in about every two years or park it by the curb with a for sale sign and hope for only minor repairs.

I wish you well to a young ambitious fellow.

jack8fire said:

I mowed yards from 15-18 yrs old an made good money, my dad got a great deal on an 06 cc tank m60 $4000 with like 50hrs an we split the cost 50/50.. I was to keep our yard looking sharp 24/7. I did everything from getting the customers to sharpening the blades an buyin weedeater string to getting the cash he never even knew where I was. (just giving yal some background so were on the same page) I then stopped mowing an got a job at a powerplant but recently quit because I was tired of it lol I got a good 30hr a week job but want to start mowing on the side again...I already have about 5 good yards that iv got in the last couple weeks an been using the same m60 tank...its still a good mower but I need my own. the yards r all in a huge gated community and really nice and that's the only place I plan to mow...old ppl with money who like high quality work an don't have to worry about me stealing or anything like that, most get me set up with there bank and forget about the yard, I keep it nice. I know this is a small story but just bare with me. I grease an wash my mower every weekend and change the oil regular etc. my mower will be very well kept. I only want to do this on the side and don't want to have 6-9k invested on a mower, I already have a good weedeater an blower for my own yard...and a good 5x8 trailer for my 4wheeler, right now im using my dads 7x16. if I get 20 great yards at 1hr per yard, 10hrs a week for 25 weeks a yr, 250hrs total, will a 48" residential 4000$ mower last 2 years being babied? it will never have to cut thick grass or be strained. thanks

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I know people who have tried and there sorry they did. IMO the answer would be No. You would be trying to use a residential mower that's designed to be used once a week by a homeowner. Using it as your asking about and doing 20 yards a week you'd be using it 20 times more than it designed for. You would be putting 250 hrs a year on a mower that was designed for maybe 25 or 30 hrs a year. You would end up with more frequent breakdowns and it would end up down at the shop for repairs and repair bills and if you don't have access to a back up mower you'll end up with some unhappy clients, say nothing about using your mower warranty up quick, if they would even make repairs under warranty . Spend the $4000 on a good used Commercial like you did with the Tank, you'll be further ahead of the game and you'll get a better cut. You also may want to consider doing the same with your Trimmer and blower if it's residential.

Gees I am agreeing with Ric,
You are on a hiding to nothing trying to do it with only 1 machine & a residential to boot. People who like nice lawns and are willing to pay for some one else to look after them, expect you to do exactly that rain ,hail & shine.
If you come every Wed at 11:42 they will expect you do exacly that.
"can't come this weel because the mower is in the shop" just won't cut the mustard. You will quickly get a reputation of being unreliable then every one will be keeping an eagle eye on you and it will become a mess in no time flat.
It is all the stuff you don't think about that kills you lke broken spindles and holes flogging oval so you are forever adjusting the deck and then there are domestic blades, you will be buying a new set almost every week.
At the end of the season you will have no money, a poor reputation and totaly worn out gear worth only scrap .
You can not afford the time to "baby" domestic if you are mowing 25 hrs a week obviously trying to fit it in around other activities.

Eg :- got a customer with a JD 225 ZTR being doing commercial residential mowing with it for 2 years.
The deck is cactus & had to be replaced $ 1000 and a week blown out of the window, then the deck lift arm broke, another 3 days for me to fix it in the middle of the season when I was running at 3 weeks turn around.
He used a set of blades nearly each month @ $ 50 a pop, !00 hr oil changes come around even fortnight, a filer every month.
He is currently using one of my Cox loan tractors which he is about to buy as a back up as this has a bagger and is negotiating on a Torro because he finally worked out it does not work.

ok thanks for the input guys ima scan craigslist every day an see if I can find a good deal on a commercial!

You could always take advantage of the 48 months 0% financing they offer on new mowers. Your looking at $21 per thousand financed. It's nice having the warranty on a new unit. Also if your a younger guy, taking a small loan will help your credit.

jack8fire said:

ok thanks for the input guys ima scan craigslist every day an see if I can find a good deal on a commercial!

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As was said you can take advantage of the Financing they are offering, that's how I purchased my Z Master. I think your payments will be based on the cost of the mower not what is financed. It's a good deal if you don't want to put a whole lot of money out at one time. It's basically the same as paying cash you just pay it over a period of time at there expense. The only thing the finance company really makes is they charge you a one time fee of like $99 for doing the loan.

This is gonna be interesting.

A new two thousand dollar lawn tractor VS a five thousand dollar well used mower classed as commercial. Please keep us informed of repairs made, cost and down time via a log book.

Craigslist ad from today:


48 inch gravley full commercial mower only 470 hours kawi engine 23 hp runs perfect no leaks hydros are tight deck has no holes( pictured) upgraded gravely seat. $2900 obo

Ric said:

Craigslist ad from today:


48 inch gravley full commercial mower only 470 hours kawi engine 23 hp runs perfect no leaks hydros are tight deck has no holes( pictured) upgraded gravely seat. $2900 obo

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What in the world happened to resale value mentioned in post #2 ?

SeniorCitizen said:

What in the world happened to resale value mentioned in post #2 ?

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If your looking for resale value you by new. You buy that mower or Gravely in the ad and the original owner takes the hit not you. You use the Gravely for a couple hundred hours a year for a couple of years and it pays for itself. You can still sell the mower with less than a thousand hours and still get some of your money back on top. Speaking in general his problem like many others is start up funding and buying a used commercial will save him money in the long run.
You have to consider a lot of these new guys that want a lawncare business never last more than a season anyway. If at that point he decides it's something he really wants to do and continue, hopefully in the first season he will be able too save enough to buy new equipment. We all started some where.

thanks ric u seem to know ur stuff that gravely looks good its just a lil far since im in Tx but I get what ur saying. I went and talked to the cub dealer about 20min from my house about a z-force lz 48 commercial(one grade down from the tank) and its 5300$ out the door im thinking they will take 5k all cash. my concern is how well will the warranty be stood behind? 4yr 500hr residential...they said I can do it residential since im not an llc. im going back in Monday to talk with them on a more serious note. if I buy this and put 250hrs a yr on it and sell it in two yrs whats yal guesstamate on its value? being in good shape...like 7/10 overall with 500hrs? what r yals thoughts on this route/mower?

I tried uploading a pic of my figures on hrs an $, if its here take a look an see if I'm at least in the right ballpark

jack8fire said:

thanks ric u seem to know ur stuff that gravely looks good its just a lil far since im in Tx but I get what ur saying. I went and talked to the cub dealer about 20min from my house about a z-force lz 48 commercial(one grade down from the tank) and its 5300$ out the door im thinking they will take 5k all cash. my concern is how well will the warranty be stood behind? 4yr 500hr residential...they said I can do it residential since im not an llc. im going back in Monday to talk with them on a more serious note. if I buy this and put 250hrs a yr on it and sell it in two yrs whats yal guesstamate on its value? being in good shape...like 7/10 overall with 500hrs? what r yals thoughts on this route/mower?

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I've had 2 older model Cub Cadet Z Force mowers a 44" and 48" and both ran the Professional grade Kohler Courage 20 and 22hp engines with the 2800 drives and they were considered there High end Residential mower at the time. I put better than 700 hrs on each and never had any issues with the drives or engines so there a real good mower. I'm assuming your getting the KH with the Kohler 23.

As far as value in two years, that would be hard to say because you'll be dealing with an MTD product and people who are looking for a commercial mower very seldom look to any MTD product. Generally speaking the Company's that deal in mass production like MTD don't do real well when it come to holding there value and resale. My 48" Z Force I purchased for 4200 OTD in 2010, I sold it at the end of 2012 and was able to get $1500 and it had 756 hrs if you want to use that as a gauge. Yours being a commercial you should be able to do a lot better.

I am kinda of confused though, if your planning on selling the mower in two years why mess with the Residential warranty why not just do the 2-year limited commercial warranty with the(no hour limitations)?

jack8fire said:

I tried uploading a pic of my figures on hrs an $, if its here take a look an see if I'm at least in the right ballpark

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I don't think the picture made it.

No the pic wouldn't I tried on phone an desktop, idk what the deal was. I found a m48 tank 2013 with 11hrs for 5500$ cash. I think I'm going to get that and take my chances on no warranty seeing how well our tank m60 did an how yours have done. I have my cost figured to the penny on everything from truck an mower fuel to blades an trimmer string. I think I can do pretty good if I always set aside 10% for breakdowns/repairs an can use my dads m60 for backup. Thanks for the help Ric...I'm sure I'll have more questions soon lol

Very, very important.
Do not forget about accident & sickness insurance and workers compensation ( or whatever you call empliyees insurance )
In your first year is exactly the time whn you will try a squeeze in that extra hour and fall asleep at the wheel, or work a little after sunset and step on the spike or hurriedly put the mower back in the trailer & badly burn your hand, run the push mower backwards over your toes, etc etc etc

Medicals are dear enough down here up there I hear they are astronomical.

jack8fire said:

No the pic wouldn't I tried on phone an desktop, idk what the deal was. I found a m48 tank 2013 with 11hrs for 5500$ cash. I think I'm going to get that and take my chances on no warranty seeing how well our tank m60 did an how yours have done. I have my cost figured to the penny on everything from truck an mower fuel to blades an trimmer string. I think I can do pretty good if I always set aside 10% for breakdowns/repairs an can use my dads m60 for backup. Thanks for the help Ric...I'm sure I'll have more questions soon lol

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Ok, Now your talking about a different ball game. Your talking about a I believe the Kawasaki engine and separate pump and wheel motors.That's CC top Mower. A whole lot more mower for the money and resale would a whole lot better also. That would get my attention at resale. That mower will do everything you'll ever want out of a mower and more. They have a New Tank setting on the floor at the dealership and I think it's going for like 9K. It's running the Kawasaki FX 850