Post your trailer setup

[Ric]

Here is mine

I can see by tour trailer set up that your definitely not loyal to any company :biggrin:

 

[Lawnboy18]

Well I love all of them tho! The Exmark I had too because of the 30" cut. They are faster, cut amazing and we are less tired at the end of the day. I would of gotten an Exmark walk behind, but for the price difference, the Ferris was a good choice. The Bravo is not used much anymore, but is a fine mower.

 

[Ric]

It all depends upn how you see your truck and we will all vary from a tool to do a job through to an expression of our masculine sexuality and everything in between.

I can never see value in new anything as it looses 1/2 to 1/3 the second it crosses the showroom floor and I am competent enough to keep any old junkpile on the road nor don't need fancy new stuff to elevate my own perception of myself.
I have a problem with shinny new stuff as some one has to keep it shinny & new looking so somewhere along the line some one is paying for it.

I walk into a service center and see big empty bays with lots of tools hanging on expensive racking or in astronomically priced tool chests, I walk out.
I walk into a crowded shop with no space to put anything down, I ask for a quote.
Massive gleaming workshops cost a lot and do not produce any better outcome than a backyard mechanic and over the yers the workst service we got by far was from "showroom " workshops.

Yeah we can vary but the impression you make on the clients says a lot about the job you will produce and or leave. I would say to never see value in anything that looses 1/2 to 1/3 the second it crosses the showroom floor is ridiculous because a car, truck, boat or anything else you buy for that matter will loose value after purchase.
You talk about service centers with empty bays, I sure would like to see that cause everything I find here is a two hour wait with expensive racking and astronomically priced tool chests. The problem with your theory is the days of the backyard mechanic are over because they can't work on the stuff that's out there today. It's called the computer generation.

 

[BlazNT]

I work on all my own equipment including my SUV with fuel injected engine. I can diagnose and fix cheaper and faster than any shop in town. As far as uppity people the need me to have a new truck so I can get a job are not my customer. I don't ever want a customer like that. I see those trucks and mowing equipment all the time and can only think how much they have to work just to make payment.

 

[Carscw]

I work on all my own equipment including my SUV with fuel injected engine. I can diagnose and fix cheaper and faster than any shop in town. As far as uppity people the need me to have a new truck so I can get a job are not my customer. I don't ever want a customer like that. I see those trucks and mowing equipment all the time and can only think how much they have to work just to make payment.

I know I have never not got a job because of my truck or equipment not being new and shiny.
Why would anyone buy a $40.000 pickup and use it for lawn care? Now they have to make $40.000 before they show a profit.
I also do all my own work on my equipment. I feel if you do lawn care then you should know how to work on things.

Was at my dealers picking up blades. There was a company there getting air filters put on their 3 mowers. 5 workers siting in the truck for 2 hours.

 

[Ric]

I work on all my own equipment including my SUV with fuel injected engine. I can diagnose and fix cheaper and faster than any shop in town. As far as uppity people the need me to have a new truck so I can get a job are not my customer. I don't ever want a customer like that. I see those trucks and mowing equipment all the time and can only think how much they have to work just to make payment.

I think it probably depends on what vehicle working on. On today's newer vehicles Ford, Chevy, Dodge or what ever and everything being computer programed you basically can't do much on a car or truck anymore unless you spend a fortune on the equipment to diagnose the problems and if you do that it will still cost an arm and leg to fix the problem on any newer vehicle. The thing about making payments on a vehicle and including it in your Lawn-care overhead is ridiculous, because regardless if I have my business or not I'm going to make payments on a truck, car and or home for the rest of my life unless I want to drive an old junk-pile as Bert said and live in a shack.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Yeah we can vary but the impression you make on the clients says a lot about the job you will produce and or leave. I would say to never see value in anything that looses 1/2 to 1/3 the second it crosses the showroom floor is ridiculous because a car, truck, boat or anything else you buy for that matter will loose value after purchase.
You talk about service centers with empty bays, I sure would like to see that cause everything I find here is a two hour wait with expensive racking and astronomically priced tool chests. The problem with your theory is the days of the backyard mechanic are over because they can't work on the stuff that's out there today. It's called the computer generation.

Well so say you.
One of the reps called my shop a junk yard and he was probably right, it is a filthy mess.
However this is the off season down here right now.
I have 6 ride ons in the yard 4 chainsaws. 4 back pack blowers ( Br600 ) and 10 jobs waiting to be picked up.
The big box I have to buy my Husqvarna parts from has 4 out of 6 workshop bays empty and 2 mechanics on holidays.
They charge $ 140 / hr & I charge $ 60.
I pay myself award wages for a 40 hour week ( not at overtime rates ) and can run profit on less than 1/2 what the big box charges.
The shop up the road charges $ 90 / hr and he has 2 weeks wait.
Another big box has a service arrangement with a franchise lawncare chain , but I do all of the servicing for the 5 franchisees who live locally.
It is all about managing your overheads. I save them $ 12,000 / year and now they don't even change their oil or blades, I do the lot.
While a sparkleing gleaming well lit workshop looks good in advertisements, a $ 75 quotation fee to pay for it does not cut the mustard with the customers.
Neither does telling them when you will be open rather than being open when you are needed.
They drop a scheduled service mower off on their way home and pick it up ready to work in the morning on the way to their first job.
Service industries provide a service, not sell a product and if I have to buy new gear to service computer controlled fuel injected mowers then that is what I will have to do.
When I was delivering wine I picked up a big advantage from a small resturant that was making a massive profit and always fully booked.
They had a strange wine list and bought around 30 dozen bottles a week.
I asked the owner about one time and the reply was "I only stock the wine that my customers like to drink, so they come here to drink it "
It was very valuable advice and now I stock all the parts needed to service my customers mowers so no one waits a month while parts are on back order.

 

[Carscw]

I just don't get why people finance everything. I do not even have a credit card. I have a debit card just to order online. Everything else is cash.
Equipment cash. Trucks cash. Houses cash.
If you have been doing yard card for 5 or more years and you do not make a profit of 100 grand a year. Then find a new job.

Bad money management I see it all the time. People buy new trucks ever 2 years. For what ? Just to look good for other people. Or buying a $10.000 mower when a $3000 mower cuts just as good.
Or a $400 trimmer when a $150 one does the same job. Then on top of it still can not make a lawn look good.

I just picked up a store front. I charge $200 more per month then the company I replaced. It cost me less then half of what it was costing them to cut the grass. They have all the high Dollar mowers. But made the grass look like crap.

 

[Lawnboy18]

Don't forget Cars there are two extremes. You can finance everything or pay cash for everything. If you ask me, it is important to have a credit card. Having a credit card builds you a good credit score. I try my best to pay everything cash. But, sometimes a little financement doesn't hurt. I don't have a new truck. Mine is an 04 and if you look at my pictures it looks good. No rust and I clean it. Same with my machines. Not the newest (except Ferris), but they run and I do routine maintenance on them.

I do believe there is a difference between a 150$ trimmer and 400$ trimmer. The motor, the shaft, etc.

 

[Carscw]

Don't forget Cars there are two extremes. You can finance everything or pay cash for everything. If you ask me, it is important to have a credit card. Having a credit card builds you a good credit score. I try my best to pay everything cash. But, sometimes a little financement doesn't hurt. I don't have a new truck. Mine is an 04 and if you look at my pictures it looks good. No rust and I clean it. Same with my machines. Not the newest (except Ferris), but they run and I do routine maintenance on them. I do believe there is a difference between a 150$ trimmer and 400$ trimmer. The motor, the shaft, etc.

I don't worry about my credit score. I will never need it.
Past 6 months I have been using a 2001 ford excursion with the 5.4.
I traded a Honda shadow for it. Had $1500 in the bike. This thing runs and drives like new.

Been running toro trimmers for a year now.
They do the same job a high dollar brand does.