Smashed against a tree.

Knocked off when backing into the equipment shed.

Destroyed by an errant runaway lawn mower.

I cannot count the number of times I have had to repair or replace lawn mower trailer taillights. I remember fitting a new set of taillights on a trailer and the very next day a dropped weedeater caused a wire to come loose and I had to repair the connection before driving back to the shop that evening.

As frustrating as they are, tail lights are a necessary component of lawn mower trailers for your lawn care business.

As it was getting dark one night last week, I snapped a photograph of this lawn care business owner’s lawn mower trailer.

Hauling a lawn mower trailer with nonworking lights causes three potential scenarios:

1) You send an unprofessional business image to your potential clients. If a potential client sees that you are willing to operate your equipment in a nonprofessional manner, they may very well skip your company and choose a company that takes better care of its lawn care equipment.

2) Police can ticket the driver for nonworking trailer lights. This is especially true if the police catch you driving like this after dark.

3) You might cause a road accident. Other drivers that don’t see your trailer might cut behind you too close and clip your trailer. Also, if your vehicle’s taillights are obstructed by your lawn mower trailer or landscaping equipment on the trailer, other drivers might not see your brake lights and crash into you when you are stopping.

In your lawn mowing business, always make maintenance and safety a high priority. Lawn mower trailer lights should be functional at all times. As for me, I will attempt to not drop any more weedeaters on wiring harnesses or smash into trees when backing up.

If you are looking to operate a professional lawn care / landscaping business, take a look at our “Start A Lawn Care Business” business course. It is FILLED with information and business tools to help you be a success with your business.

You can find it on our main website:
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

As you begin to acquire new lawn care business equipment, take into consideration that your equipment needs to be protected not only from the weather but it also needs to be protected from thieves.

One of our readers sent us an article on a lawn care equipment company that was targeted by thieves earlier this month. This article makes me want to remind you to keep and eye on your equipment while you are servicing your lawn care customers. I have heard many stories of string trimmers mysteriously vanishing while the lawn care business owners are in the back yard cutting grass or blowing off the back deck.

If you can’t keep your equipment within eyesight, consider buying locks for the equipment, keeping it in a locked van, or use and enclosed trailer to keep your equipment safe.

It is very disappointing to work hard making money, pouring that money back into your business by buying expensive and reliable equipment, and having that equipment stolen. Not only is the equipment expensive but it takes time and effort to buy the correct equipment. Being without your lawn mower, trimmer, or blower can cost you a lot of money in down time and you might even lose customers as a result of not being able to service them properly and in a timely manner.

So, do yourself a favor and lock your equipment when it is not in use at your job site. Also, lock it at night when it is stored at your home or place of business.

Be safe out there.

Be a Professional. Our “Start A Lawn Care Business” training manuals and business software will help you develop a professional lawn care business strategy for your business. Want to make more money this year with your lawn care business…check our our course: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Judging by the quantity of email we received last week on our recent post about the viability of propane powered weed trimmers and their taking over the lawn care 2-cycle engine market, we feel we are correct in thinking that propane is making a strong toe-hold into the lawn care market.

There is one question we are continuously asked; “Is it legal to refill and transport 1 lb. propane canisters in the use of my Lawn Care Business.”

To be quite up front and honest, we are not 100% sure of the answer to this question. There is lots of debate to this question and without a clear understanding to the answer, our stance is that you should research the correct answer yourself. If you find a complete and easily understood answer, please let us know.

We have heard differing theories on this law. A commenter on www.Instructables.com posted this information:

There is no federal (U.S.) contraint whatsoever on refilling a tank, nor for that matter on transporting such a tank whereever you want (provided it is not a federally-controlled road with restrictions on hazardous materials, which is a section of the CFR that nobody here has bothered to point out). There could not possibly ever be any such global constraint on your right to do so under the 10th Amendment. The cited regulations and laws deal specifically with transport in commerce, that is, transport across state lines for the purpose of selling the tank or using them in support of a commercial enterprise (and, under several federal court cases dating back to the 1930s, commercial transport on federally controlled roads – the so-called “implied commerce” argument that gave us the FDA and EPA). The second item is this talk about it being illegal to transport, even in commerce, REFILLED tanks. That is nonsense. It is not illegal to transport a refilled tank, it is illegal to commercially transport improperly LABELED tanks – if you read the citation for 49 U.S.C. 5124 (that’s the one with the prison sentences and all) you’ll see that it establishes penalties for violation of 21 U.S.C. 5104. Section 5104, in turn, is not a REFILLING statue, it is a LABELING statue. The moment you refill a tank you may or may not have created a fire hazard, but you a very definitely created a mislabeled product – and that’s what is illegal.

If you are considering refilling 1 lb. propane bottles, using them in weedeaters or other lawn care equipment, and/or transporting them as a due course of your business, our main fallback answer is to tell you to read the label of your 1 lb. propane bottle. It clearly states:

Never Refill This Cylinder. Refilling may cause explosion. Federal law forbids transportation if refilled – penalty up to $500,000 and 5 years imprisonment (49 U.S.C. 5124)

Look at #5 in this picture:

If you are running propane powered lawn care equipment, we would love to hear from you.  Leave a comment.  Also, if you are operating a lawn care business and want to learn about the latest lawn care equipment, check out our lawn care business guidebooks and estimating software located at our main website:

Start A Lawn Care Business

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

If you keep up with our lawn care business blog, you know we believe that propane-powered equipment will gradually overtake the use of gasoline powered equipment in the industry. This won’t happen overnight but during the next 5 to 10 years this trend will continue to strengthen.

You’ve probably seen our video review on the Lehr propane powered string trimmer. Though Lehr is a major player in the residential propane trimmer industry, there’s a bigger point here on which we want to focus. Lehr is a specific instance in an industry wide trend of a move toward propane powered equipment. With each new trade show we attend, we see progressively more companies introducing propane powered equipment. Ferris Industries, Dixie Chopper, eXmark, and others are testing propane on their commercial mowers.

2-cycle engines are notoriously dirty. Yes, propane string trimmers use oil. But, unlike traditional 2-cycle motors, propane engines use that oil for internal lubrication only. Oil is not burned with the fuel source in a propane engine. The statistics I’ve seen state that propane emits 98% less evaporative emissions and ozone depleting hydrocarbons than an oil-fuel mixed 2-cycle trimmer.

The strongest reason that propane will become a dominant force is a series of EPA pollution regulations taking effect the next two years that govern small engines such as 2-cycle engines and lawn mower engines. Manufacturers are being forced to reduce their evaporative emissions by 35%. Propane power is a very viable alternative to gasoline powered equipment and the lawn industry is embracing it.

As we’ve noted before, Lehr knows that the current state of propane powered engines is not yet completely ideal. The difficulty in using refillable 1lb. tanks in a commercial operation and the need for commercial quality units are two issues they are trying to tackle. The CEO is a very genuine guy and his company is making great headway in the industry.

The mowing season has been in full swing for a month. If you are cutting an average of 10 lawns each day, 5 days per week, you may have already cut 200 with your new lawn mower blades. Are you sharpening them as often as you should? Sharp blades produce much more professional cuts to your lawns and makes the grass look better than dull or damaged blades.

Dull blades tend to tear grass leaving a ragged edge to the top of the grass. A ragged edge means there is more surface area of the grass to turn brown. More surface area also increases the amount of water transpired to the atmoshphere from the edge of the grass. Increased water loss is hazardous to grass health especially during the hot, dry summer days.

Sharpen you lawn mower blades as part of your normal lawn mower maintenance schedule.

The Ferris Industries Evolution Commercial Lawn Mower has been on the market for several months. I dropped by a Ferris dealer last week to get some updates on the mower and hear how the commercial guys like the mower for their mowing businesses.

The seat reminds me of a crotch rocket motorcycle. Though I think the lawn mower would be fun to ride and the seat position give the operator a great over-deck view of his cutting area, I wonder about the comfort of riding such a mower for 6 hours per day. Operator fatigue is a huge issue in commercial lawn equipment selection. The Evolution’s operator compartment looks confining. Without the ability to shift body positions, is the evolution more fatiguing than other commercial mowing machines.

With the capability to mow 5.1 acres per hour, the Evolution is a formidable grass cutting machine. That mowing rate is impressive for most any landscaping company with serious grass to cut. I like the deck design and the operator’s positioning for a great view of the cutting deck and grass area.

If you have demoed this mower or if you own a Ferris Industries Evolution commercial lawn mower, I would like to hear your thought on the machine.

Sale on Landscaping Safety Equipment

We hope you will make your own safety, as well as the safety of your employees, a top priority this year. I was speaking with someone just the other day who doesn’t believe in wearing protective footware when mowing the grass. “I’ve mowed for years in nothing but shorts and sneakers and nothing’s happened to me yet.” Our thoughts on this is that millions of people mow in shorts and tennis shoes each year without incident. However, it only takes on slip-up for a lawn mower blade to sever a foot or a weedeater line to cause a nasty gash in your shin.

Since you will be mowing hundreds or thousands of lawns this year, your chance of a slip-up increases over that of a typical homeowner. Please wear proper safety equipment during your lawn care work.

If you need safety supplies this year, please use the link above.

As I watched the races, I couldn’t help think how a lawn care company could take advantage of the marketing aspects of lawn mower racing. There are a few options, I suppose. A lawn care company could sponsor a team and have their logo affixed to the lawn mower and on the sleeves of the race crew. OR (and I think this would be the most fun) a lawn care company could run their own mower in the race and give out free tee-shirts to all the spectators. I think this would be a huge marketing tool to get their name into the community.

There’s a downside to this though, I spoke with a few of the racers. They say they spend way more money on their sport than they make in sponsorships from advertisers.

Still, I think it would be great fun and an interesting way to advertise your lawn care business.

Toys and gadgets can be expensive lawn mowers and 4 wheelers to pull a spray tank. Or the toys can be less expensive tools that are fun to use while still providing a beneficial service for your company.

I received a neat device this morning that is sure to come in handy for your lawn care business. I want to quickly pass along the information in blog format. Check out our YouTube Lawn Care Business channel for an upcoming video.

Today’s neat device is the Ryobi IR001 Infra Red Thermometer.

This “non-contact thermometer” remotely measures the temperature of any object. Quite simply, you point the device at an object you want to measure, pull the tigger, and you are giving the object’s temperature to within 5 degrees.

Now, you might wonder how this non-contact thermometer can be useful to a lawn care business. I’ve already found two uses.

1) Checking the spindle temperature helps determine if lawn mower blade spindles are lubricated and functioning correctly. This will be especially handy on lawn mowers with multiple spindles. Comparing temperatures between spindles will help you determine if one spindle is functioning better than the other. If one spindle is significantly hotter than the others, the hot spindle may be misaligned or undergreased. A hotter spindle mean more friction. More frictions means harder work performed by your engine and more wear and tear on your components.

2) Engine temperature. Abnormally high operating temperatures can cause premature engine damage. The IR temperature gun can give you an indication of high engine and/or exhaust temperatures which may lead to discovery (and repair) of an existing problem.

I’ll include an Amazon.com link for you below. They are offering a decent price with FREE SHIPPING.

This is Keith from www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com. Today, I am reviewing the RedMax EBZ8001 Commercial backpack blower.

My brand new 8001 arrived well boxed in sturdy corrugated packaging. Apart from the blower tubes, the unit itself was fully assembled. A standard wrench, a hex wrench, and a sparkplug wrench were included for quick assembly of the blower tubes and standard maintenance.

With my order, the folks at RedMax were kind enough to include 6 bottles of 50:1 2 cycle oil.

The first thing I noticed about the RedMax was its considerable heavy duty construction. Its size over normal consumer model backpack blowers is impressive.

The RedMax 8001 is powered by an air cooled 2-cycle engine. The engine size is a massive 71.9cc’s capable of moving 915 cubic feet per minute at over 200 mph. It has a digital ignition for easy start and uninterrupted operation.

I was very impressed with the construction of the air filter chamber. Poor air filter design shortens the life of many consumer model blowers. The RedMax 8001 relies on a 2 stage air filter. The first stage is a foam filter. This is a dry filter and RedMax does not recommend oiling the foam stage before use. The second stage is a paper filter. This filter system is vital to long life of engines subject to dusty environments. Access to the filter chamber is made easy by two red oversized tightening knobs at the top of the unit. After mixing 1 bottle of 2 cycle oil with 1 gallon of gasoline, I was ready to fuel my blower. RedMax recommends the use of non-ethonal enhanced fuels as Gasohol can cause deterioration of rubber and/or plastic parts. This made finding gasoline difficult since all gas stations in my area sell E-10 fuel. With a fuel tank capacity of 77.7 fluid ounces and a fuel consumption rate of 64.3 fluid ounces per hour, the RedMax 8001 should be able to operate for well over one hour of continuous use between refuelings.

Engine throttle is adjusted during use by the operator via a control arm. The control arm swivels into position for easy access during use. A red stop button on the control arm allows the operator to switch the engine off when work is completed.

Airflow is directed by use of a swivel tube, a flex tube, and extended blower tubes. A grip assembly allows the operator to direct airflow to the desired area.

Starting procedure is the same as most two cycle lawn equipment engines. Throttle is set and a primer bulb is depressed approximately 6 times. The engine cranks with a pull rope. My engine normally cranks by the 1st or 2nd pull.

With a 200 mph stream of air, the Redmax makes quick work of heavy leaf cover. Moving 915 CFM of air, leaves that would otherwise be able to hide around the corners of this picnic table are quickly done away with.

When my work was complete, I decided to have some fun while learning more about the Redmax. Stepping on a scale with the throttle on low, my weight was 194 lbs. Opening the throttle all the way and pointing the blower tube straight down, the Redmax provided 7 lbs of thrust reducing my weight to 187 lbs.

Next, I did the brick test. Placing a standard brick on a concrete patio surface, the redmax was able to blow the brick over 63 inches.

Lastly, I put the Redmax’s 7 lbs of thrust to use on a blower powered lawn cart. I don’t recommend you try this as I almost fell out of the cart.

Warning: Follow all safety precautions included in your blower’s instruction manual.

I would like to thank Redmax as well as lawn and garden webvision.

Please visit our website at: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com for more product reviews and help in starting and operating your lawn care business.