Laws Governing Professional Lawn Maintenance Businesses

[X-man]

As I see it if you drive your mower out on a public road as you do a car these laws would be enforcable. What you do on your own property should be up to you and not the government. Seat belt laws being worn in your car are not enforcable by the government on private lands. Now I believe that government wants you dependent on them as then they can have control over you in all aspects of your life such as health care, retirement, housing, etc.

I agree with that 100% :thumbsup:

 

[X-man]

X-man,
Thanks...I'll find that and vote right now. Hopefully between the poll and this thread we can discuss the many opinions and reasons in a civil manner as to why this is/is not a good idea. BTW, don't you think you may need a ROPS on that string trimmer just in case you lose your balance and fall in a ditch????:0)

Haha. I would be more concerned about my fingers being chopped off if I fell with a string trimmer.

But yeah, hopefully at this point on everyone will be civil adults.

 

[djdicetn]

As I see it if you drive your mower out on a public road as you do a car these laws would be enforcable. What you do on your own property should be up to you and not the government. Seat belt laws being worn in your car are not enforcable by the government on private lands. Now I believe that government wants you dependent on them as then they can have control over you in all aspects of your life such as health care, retirement, housing, etc.

midnite rider,

Man you guys are gonna hate me over this:0)
This is a post that I started so I have elected myself to respond argumentatively with those with differing opinions(and sometimes even with those with the same opinion as me) as to flesh out continued thoughts and statements that otherwise might be overlooked. And remember, I reserve the right to be wrong and have been in the past!!! And some of my replies may be "out of context" and I am open to constructive criticism(I'm a big boy and I can handle it:0)

Sooooooooo, based upon your response above, I go out in my back yard and began target practicing with my 9mm Glock in a subdivision within the city limits and I should not expect authorities, based upon the rules/regulations for discharging firearms, to approach me about my violation??? Remember now, this thread is NOT about gun control or what I just stated but my illustration, to me, is a parallel to what you said about enforcing laws on private property. The seat belt law for automobiles is drafted with the limitation your example mentions, but due to the nature of a commercial company mowing my personal property for hire they, not me, would be held accountable for a law requiring the operator of their ZTR having a ROPS and wearing a seatbelt(again to protect my liability and the lawn care maintenance company's liability).

 

[midnite rider]

midnite rider,

Man you guys are gonna hate me over this:0)
This is a post that I started so I have elected myself to respond argumentatively with those with differing opinions(and sometimes even with those with the same opinion as me) as to flesh out continued thoughts and statements that otherwise might be overlooked. And remember, I reserve the right to be wrong and have been in the past!!! And some of my replies may be "out of context" and I am open to constructive criticism(I'm a big boy and I can handle it:0)

Sooooooooo, based upon your response above, I go out in my back yard and began target practicing with my 9mm Glock in a subdivision within the city limits and I should not expect authorities, based upon the rules/regulations for discharging firearms, to approach me about my violation??? Remember now, this thread is NOT about gun control or what I just stated but my illustration, to me, is a parallel to what you said about enforcing laws on private property. The seat belt law for automobiles is drafted with the limitation your example mentions, but due to the nature of a commercial company mowing my personal property for hire they, not me, would be held accountable for a law requiring the operator of their ZTR having a ROPS and wearing a seatbelt(again to protect my liability and the lawn care maintenance company's liability).

Yes as long as you as a homeowner or self employed and are not causing harm to anyone else by not wearing your seat belt on private property. In the example of a commercial mowing company with ten or more employees they are already under the rules and laws of OSHA and can be fined for not operating under their safety rules and guidelines. As far as the gun analogy it is already unlawful here to discharge a firearm except in self defense on private property of 3 acres or less. 3 acres or more and it is legal as long as you are 500' from a residential structure but you have to practice in a safe manner so as not to cause harm to adjoining neighbors. One of the major causes of lawsuits for homeowners being sued are dog bites but you do not see muzzles on hardly anybodies dogs.

 

[jekjr]

I run a Zero turn on a daily basis. Mine has ROP installed from the factory. I run it in the folded position. I put a mower in some God awful places some times as well. I do my best to run it at slow speeds when on very steep grades. I also have my safety switches working properly on it. In the event of a slow speed roll over the mower is going to shut off instantly. Personally I would rather be free to bail than be tied to the thing. Cutting grass the thing is more dangerous up than it is down as far as I am concerned. I tried it up when I first bought my mower but figured out quick that I was going to tear the world down with it up.

We need no more laws. We do not need anybody riding around on any government payroll harassing a working man trying to catch him infringing on some rule to bleed more money out of him.

 

[djdicetn]

I run a Zero turn on a daily basis. Mine has ROP installed from the factory. I run it in the folded position. I put a mower in some God awful places some times as well. I do my best to run it at slow speeds when on very steep grades. I also have my safety switches working properly on it. In the event of a slow speed roll over the mower is going to shut off instantly. Personally I would rather be free to bail than be tied to the thing. Cutting grass the thing is more dangerous up than it is down as far as I am concerned. I tried it up when I first bought my mower but figured out quick that I was going to tear the world down with it up.

We need no more laws. We do not need anybody riding around on any government payroll harassing a working man trying to catch him infringing on some rule to bleed more money out of him.

jekjr,
I hear ya and respect your opinion!!! My question is do you have liability insurance and/or life insurance that protects your spouse(assuming you're hitched) should, God forbid, the worst case scenario happen to you? And have you instructed her to not sue the homeowner or any other entity should that happen? You well know that nowadays "many" laws and regulations are "all about liability"....right???

 

[Old Goat]

midnite rider,

Man you guys are gonna hate me over this:0)
This is a post that I started so I have elected myself to respond argumentatively with those with differing opinions(and sometimes even with those with the same opinion as me) as to flesh out continued thoughts and statements that otherwise might be overlooked. And remember, I reserve the right to be wrong and have been in the past!!! And some of my replies may be "out of context" and I am open to constructive criticism(I'm a big boy and I can handle it:0)

Sooooooooo, based upon your response above, I go out in my back yard and began target practicing with my 9mm Glock in a subdivision within the city limits and I should not expect authorities, based upon the rules/regulations for discharging firearms, to approach me about my violation??? Remember now, this thread is NOT about gun control or what I just stated but my illustration, to me, is a parallel to what you said about enforcing laws on private property. The seat belt law for automobiles is drafted with the limitation your example mentions, but due to the nature of a commercial company mowing my personal property for hire they, not me, would be held accountable for a law requiring the operator of their ZTR having a ROPS and wearing a seatbelt(again to protect my liability and the lawn care maintenance company's liability).

Hold on DJ,

That one is out of context!

Doing something that might kill others, is NOT the same thing as doing things that may kill you.

Charles

 

[djdicetn]

Hold on DJ,

That one is out of context!

Doing something that might kill others, is NOT the same thing as doing things that may kill you.

Charles

Old Goat,
Sorry, I forgot suicide was not against the law:0(
Maybe I should have just asked user midnite rider to specifically quote details about "the rules and laws of OSHA and can be fined for not operating under their safety rules and guidelines" for a "commercial mowing company with ten or more employees". That would have been more in context and I am assuming(not knowing the "business") that ROPS/seat belts are not covered/required by OSHA. If so, the regulatory point is moot and I need to switch gears to OSHA enforcement....right???

 

[GT182]

I'm not a professional lawncare provider and don't own a ZTR mower with ROPS. But... I do mow for people referred to me and charge based on lawn size. Seeing that my Kubota G2000 RC60 is not ROPS equipped, should that exclude me from mowing for hire? I'd like to think not. Seeing there's no ROPS on my machine, I will not mow where I think the home owner's property is unsafe.

And I'd also like to think I've taken away some of the business from a few illegal mowers from south-of-the-border. :biggrin:

 

[djdicetn]

I'm not a professional lawncare provider and don't own a ZTR mower with ROPS. But... I do mow for people referred to me and charge based on lawn size. Seeing that my Kubota G2000 RC60 is not ROPS equipped, should that exclude me from mowing for hire? I'd like to think not. Seeing there's no ROPS on my machine, I will not mow where I think the home owner's property is unsafe.

And I'd also like to think I've taken away some of the business from a few illegal mowers from south-of-the-border. :biggrin:

GT182,
That Kubota is a lawn tractor and even though some upper-line Kubota, John Deere, etc. "tractors" do come with ROPS, this discussion is centered on the known disposition of a Zero Turn Mower to more easily flip over on a grade based upon it's design compared to a lawn tractor. That's not to say you "cannot" turn over a lawn tractor which further intensifies this discussion for commercial mowers like yourself. Sooooooooo......if your Kubota did turn over what/who do you see liability resting on, should.....God forbid, your family want to sue someone over it? I know that most likely an "official investigation" would rule it as an "accident" where the land owner, etc. would not be "charged" etc. for negligence so maybe this whole topic is "much ado over nothing". I just had to ask users for opinions:0)