Extra or Back Up Trimmers and Edgers

[Ric]

I believe I am with ric I am only 3 or weeks away from buy my new 14-16 foot trailer that is 6,4 wide :thumbsup:
Gonna have my dad fiancé me a walk behind or zero turn if I can talk him in to it :biggrin::thumbsup::smile:

well I just believe that if you are going to be in the Lawn Maintenance business you need to be ready to do any job that the client may ask you to do. Personally if I'm someone looking for a business to do my lawn and someone shows up unprepared to do the job I'm looking else where.

 

[jekjr]

Seems like a waste of gas. And a possible theft situation would be doubly sucky

We cut grass 25 miles or so in three directions. A month or so ago we blew a seal out of a gearbox on one of our zer turns. That was before we bought the second one. It was on a Thursday. We had to drive back onto town and since the mower was in warranty we had to let the dealer fix it. It was Monday before we got it back. The first thing we had to do Monday was go back to where we left off and start over. Twenty five miles in 25 miles back is 50 miles and down the rest of that day and then the whole day the next. That is why we haul two mowers. Plus on larger yards we do run both. We have one yard we run both mowers 2 1/2 hours before we trim anything.

We have two sets of hedge trimmers and at times we run them both as well.

 

[Parkmower]

I carry two Zero turns and a 21 and 30 inch self propelled mowers all the time along with two trimmers two edgers two chain saws three blowers and a bed definer on the trailer all the time, all filled with gas the night before so I'm ready to go the next day.

Good plan. You never know when you'll snap a recoil on a trimmer. Or an old gas line crack.
I had that happen to me at home few weeks ago. Went to the shed and grabbed a back up and finished up. I was glad I had a back up cause at that moment I didn't have the time to put the new gas lines on. Even around the house it's nice to have a plan B. nothing sucks worse than having a half mowed lawn. I sure wouldn't want that to happen at a customers house.

 

[exotion]

Good plan. You never know when you'll snap a recoil on a trimmer. Or an old gas line crack.
I had that happen to me at home few weeks ago. Went to the shed and grabbed a back up and finished up. I was glad I had a back up cause at that moment I didn't have the time to put the new gas lines on. Even around the house it's nice to have a plan B. nothing sucks worse than having a half mowed lawn. I sure wouldn't want that to happen at a customers house.

I have some basic stuff in case of this stuff I have a spare starter and couple feet of fuel line and a spare plug for the 225 as both my trimmer and edger use the same parts. I carry some basic tools for fixing problems. I can't justify carrying extra equipment in case some jackhole walks away with it when my back is turned...

 

[Ric]

I have some basic stuff in case of this stuff I have a spare starter and couple feet of fuel line and a spare plug for the 225 as both my trimmer and edger use the same parts. I carry some basic tools for fixing problems. I can't justify carrying extra equipment in case some jackhole walks away with it when my back is turned...

The problem with your theory or what your doing is what happens when your trimmer, edger or mower goes down and it's something you don't have the parts for to fix or even if you have the parts you still can't get the thing running again and believe me it happens. There are some things that just need to go to the shop for repairs. As Parkmower said nothing sucks worse than having a half mowed lawn. I sure wouldn't want that to happen at a customers house.
You say can't justify carrying extra equipment in case some jackhole walks away with it when your back is turned, just what do you carry with you on your trailer??

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

Since I don't really feel like spending the money on a backup for every piece of equipment right now, I thought I should get a backup for the most important pieces of equipment first, that being my mower and trimmer. That's why I have 2 of each of those. Since I only have one blower and one edger, my viewpoint is if my blower breaks down, I could use my mower to get the grass off the driveway if I needed to. And if my edger breaks down I could use my trimmer to edge if I really needed to.

 

[Ric]

Since I don't really feel like spending the money on a backup for every piece of equipment right now, I thought I should get a backup for the most important pieces of equipment first, that being my mower and trimmer. That's why I have 2 of each of those. Since I only have one blower and one edger, my viewpoint is if my blower breaks down, I could use my mower to get the grass off the driveway if I needed to. And if my edger breaks down I could use my trimmer to edge if I really needed to.

Well I understand that you guys just starting out don't have a lot of money to spend on equipment and that's cool, backing up equipment two and three fold takes time. The thing I look at is the guy down the street that has the equipment that is doing the lawn a couple of houses down and is watching you and waiting for you to make one mistake and not be able to complete the job or finish the job to the clients satisfaction and guess what either your clients going to be talking to him when you leave or he is going to be talking to your client about replacing you. All becuse you don't have back up

 

[exotion]

The problem with your theory or what your doing is what happens when your trimmer, edger or mower goes down and it's something you don't have the parts for to fix or even if you have the parts you still can't get the thing running again and believe me it happens. There are some things that just need to go to the shop for repairs. As Parkmower said nothing sucks worse than having a half mowed lawn. I sure wouldn't want that to happen at a customers house.
You say can't justify carrying extra equipment in case some jackhole walks away with it when your back is turned, just what do you carry with you on your trailer??

Well my blower weedeater and edger are in a lockbox my rider key is in my pocket(I do realize a small flat head works the same) and my mower is always in sight. And if I go to a store I have a really thick chain that is bolted to the frame of my trailer and thick padlock to the truck hitch. Trailer is locked to hitch hitch is locked to truck and truck is very alarmed sensitivity is turned all the way up. I am a bit paranoid when it comes to security when my entire livelyhood is being brought with me every day.

If I do have something break I have some pretty inexpensive equipment and can easily go to a home depot and buy a new one which would make my old one a back up and or parts machine. I do have 2 21" mowers but don't always carry them both and one kinda sucks to use.

But really echo weed eater 200dollars
Echo edger 210
Echo blower 200
Honda mower 400
Toro sr4 400
Murray rider I don't even know what its worth and don't really care if it gets stolen I get more for insurance than its probably worth.

 

[Ric]

Well my blower weedeater and edger are in a lockbox my rider key is in my pocket(I do realize a small flat head works the same) and my mower is always in sight. And if I go to a store I have a really thick chain that is bolted to the frame of my trailer and thick padlock to the truck hitch. Trailer is locked to hitch hitch is locked to truck and truck is very alarmed sensitivity is turned all the way up. I am a bit paranoid when it comes to security when my entire livelyhood is being brought with me every day.

If I do have something break I have some pretty inexpensive equipment and can easily go to a home depot and buy a new one which would make my old one a back up and or parts machine. I do have 2 21" mowers but don't always carry them both and one kinda sucks to use.

But really echo weed eater 200dollars
Echo edger 210
Echo blower 200
Honda mower 400
Toro sr4 400
Murray rider I don't even know what its worth and don't really care if it gets stolen I get more for insurance than its probably worth.

I think your paranoia to security and your livelihood are getting in the way of your job. My trailer is locked to the truck but other than that I never lock trimmer racks or blower racks, I don't have the time to mess around with that and get something accomplished. ( Not that I don't have the means or locks because I do) The thing is you really are worrying about something that most likely wont happen, if someone is going to steal equipment there not going to do it a piece at a time that would be stupid and risky and it wont be in the middle of the day they will take it all at once at night as what happened to CZ Lawn and my son-in law. they back up and hook to the trailer or hot wire your truck and take everything. You need to relax or worry about the job your doing and if your worried about your security and your livelihood worry about locking things down or securing things at night.

 

[fatboy]

Backup equipment is always good usually my older items hang around when they get replaced just in case. Plus having an extra trimmer helps alot when you mow with a partner you can get done faster.