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.

During my journey, I took opportunity to learn more about the culture of the Lawn Care industry in California. Turbulent weather in Los Angeles treated me to an area of lawn care maintenance we don’t experience much in Tennessee.

The storms were unprecedented and unanticipated as I arrived at LAX in Los Angeles. Torrential downpours did not affect the arrival of my flight other than to make it more bumpy than a traditional west coast landing. The bus ride into Santa Monica, on the other hand, was detoured countless times as the driver navigated around flooded streets and skirted intersections where traffic lights malfunctioned due to heavy winds and falling palm fronds. During the storm, I was able to observe flooded irrigation canals channeling water into the pacific ocean.

When we have a storm back east, leaves blow and branches tumble. Our storms create great opportunity for lawn care companies. After-storm cleanup is a great service to offer your customers for additional money.

In California, these palm fronds were everywhere. As I watched cleanup crews pick each 8′ to 10′ section of palm frond by hand, I could only think about the amounts of money a dedicated lawn care company could make with on-the-spot after-storm clean up contracts.

It doesn’t matter if you are in California, Tennessee, or any of the other 50 states. There is a ton of money to be made in the lawn care industry this year. It’s been a tough winter but spring is on its way. The high winds that spring often induces will, sure enough, bring lots of opportunity for after-storm cleanup jobs.

If you want to learn how to get customers and correctly price your after-storm cleanup contracts, take a look at our main website. You will learn how to acquire great customers and price your services effectively so you can make the best money possible in 2010.

We have a sale price on our lawn care business package right now. Order soon because this price won’t last long.

Our website address is: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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.

As autumn draws to a close and colder days of winter arrive, we begin our winter maintenance proceedure.  Winter maintenance will leave our equipment in perfect condition and ready for springtime one February and March roll around.

When doing maintenance on your lawn care equipment (commercial lawn mowers, weedeaters, edgers, and leaf blowers), you should not forget vehicle winter maintenance.  Keeping your vehicle in top running condition is important to your business but is sometimes overlooked as you spend so much time maintaning your lawn equipment.

Though I will still drive my truck almost everyday, I have performed my pre-winter checklist and maintenance schedule which will allow for confident driving during the snowy months ahead.

My maintenance routine includes:

Change Oil and Oil Filter
Check Fuel Filter
Check Air Filter
Flush and Change Antifreeze
Check Brake and Power Steering Fluid
Fill Windshield Washer Fluid
Rotate Tires and Check Air Pressure and Check For Wear
Check Brakes While Wheels Are Off
Check hoses and Belts
Check All Lights and Blinkers
Equip My Winter Survival Kit

We are amateurs at vehicle maintenance so if you want to learn from the best check out the car maintenance pros at Motortrend.

However, if you want to learn more about running your own lawn care business, check us out at:  Start A Lawn Care Business dot Com

As lawn care business owners, we strive to provide proper maintenance for our lawn equipment. Equipment engine oil is changed regularly. Air filters are cleaned and/or replaced when they become dirty. Lubrication is performed on schedule as outlined in owners’ manuals.

In addition to routine maintenance, there are many other tips we can follow to help extend lawn equipment life. We cover many tips within the pages of our Lawn Care Business Guidebooks.

One of the simpler actions we can take, on a daily basis, is use of high quality gasoline. High quality does not necessarily mean high octane. High quality, in many people’s opinion, means a lack of impurities.

There is a gas station not far from our business location that charges a few cents per gallon less than competing station. However, the gas station is more than 40 years old and it looks dilapidated. A gas station in such poor condition makes us wonder about the condition of their fuel tanks. If their tanks are corroded and contain residue from years of being underground, could those impurities find their way into our gas tanks?

Though ethanol is not considered an impurity to industry insiders, many small engine mechanics speak up about damage caused by ethanol. According to an MSNBC article on damage to small lawn mower engines caused by ethanol in gasoline ethanol attracts moisture which prevents oil within lawn care equipment from doing its proper job. This moisture reacts with rubber and plastic fittings and hoses. As these parts deteriorate, they may clog openings within the engine and can cause a shellacking on pistons resulting in reduced lubrication. All this is according to small engine experts.

Don’t rely strictly on experts though, read the many comments in this blog from www.TheTruthAboutCars.com dealing with the hazards of using ethanol blended gasoline in many different types of engines.

In the southern states where we live, 10% ethanol has been a fact of life since early 2008. Though we have heard horror stories of damage done by ethanol, we rarely have a choice other than to use an ethanol gasoline blend.

Times are beginning to change, though, and we see signs that gas stations are offering 100% gasoline again. In fact, a brand new gas station with brand new tanks, less than half a mile from the old dilapidated gas station offering 10% ethanol, has just opened. This new gas station does not add ethanol and offers pure gasoline.

Ahh…no contamination and no ethanol. Our lawn mowers and two-cycle leaf blowers, weedeaters, and other lawn care equipment will run “clean” once more.

For more information on dealing with commercial lawn mower questions as well as running your own lawn care business, visit our website: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

1)  Maintain a Professional Appearance for your Lawn Care Company

Customers notice when your equipment is clean and well maintained.  They want to be proud of their lawn not only when you are finished working but also while you are working.

New customers or prospective customers you are estimating want to know your company will be reliable and not make them wait for service should you have equipment trouble or breakdowns.  Clean equipment says “professional” to your new clients.

2)  Oil and Grease Drips

After lubricating your lawn mower you will often find drips of oil or blobs of grease hanging from your oil fill tube, oil drain, or the numberous grease nibs on the mower.  These drips can make your maintenance area or trailer slippery which can lead to an accident.  Worse yet, a blob of grease might cling to the underside of your cutting deck just long enough to be deposited on your next customer’s lawn.

Thoroughly washing your lawn mower reduces the chance that oil or grease drips will cause problems.

3)  Remove Grime from Moving Parts

By their very nature, lawn mowers become very dirty during the course of their work.  Washing removes grime and build up of dirt, grass, and leaves from lawn mower’s moving parts.

Springs react better, pullies grip better, and blades spin faster when they are allowed to work unencumbered.

4) Familiarize Yourself with your Lawn Equipment (The Zen of Lawn Mower Repair)

If you are like most professional Lawn Care Business owners you like working with your equipment and you want to know every detail about the machine with which you make your living.  Washing your lawn mower lets you focus on each part of your lawn mower in a relaxed setting.  As you run water over a dirty spring or wipe off a grass-caked bushing you gain an innate understanding how the machine works and how you can work better with the machine.

5)  Check for Defects or Worn Parts

Lawn mower take lots of abuse.  Bolts shear, springs deform, and plastic & rubber parts decay.  Washing your lawn mower allows you to do a visual and hands-on maintenance check of each part of your lawn mower and other equipment.

Replacing a broken part in your shop at your leisure is much less inconvenient than having to perform hurry-up maintenance in the field.

Turn your lawn care business into a PROFESSIONAL LAWN CARE BUSINESS!

If you are struggling with your lawn care business or you just not making the money you know you should be making, WE CAN HELP!

Visit hour home page:   StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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StartALawnCareBusiness.com