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Ethanol in your Lawn Mower Engine?

Feb 27

Posted by Lawn Care Business in commercial lawn mowers, lawn care business, lawn care equipment, maintenance | No Comments

As an increasingly larger number of lawn care business owners are growing weary of the rumored effects of 10% Ethanol, gasoline stations are continuing to offer 100% gasoline. We have previously mentioned in this blog post our concern with possible effects of ethanol so much so that we are willing to visit gas stations that sell 100% gasoline.

Just this morning, I visited a new gas station in our area that offers 100% gasoline.  Instead of selling “No-Ethanol Gasoline” station wide, it offers one nozzle at each pump that dispenses 100% gasoline at an additional charge of 10 cents per gallon.

100% No Ethanol Gasoline for Lawn Mower Engines

100% No Ethanol Gasoline For Lawn Mower Engines

Have you experienced troubles with 10% ethanol gasoline in your lawn mower, leaf blower, and weed eater engines?

The recommendations of lawn mower repair experts to use 100% gasoline is enough for us to spend an extra 10 cents per gallon to offset possible increased rates of engine damage.   Even if ethanol does not contribute to lawn mower engine damage, the increased resale value of our equipment when we are able to tell purchasers that we used only 100% gasoline during the life of the equipment will be enough to repay us for the additional cost of 100% No-Ethanol Gasoline.

Please tell us your thoughts with a comment below.

AND….if you are thinking about starting your own lawn care company, please read over our website to learn about our Lawn Care Business training course.  Included in the course is a “Lawn Care Equipment Buyer’s Guide” which will help you determine the correct equipment to purchase for your lawn care company.

Buying Commercial Lawn Mowers
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Lawn Mower Maintenance – Grease is the Word

Sep 27

Posted by Lawn Care Business in commercial lawn mowers, lawn equipment, lawn mowers, maintenance | No Comments

Changes of seasons are great times to pay extra attention to your lawn mower maintenance schedule.

After a long, dry, dusty summer the first few weekends of autumn are great times to check all your grease fittings.  Proper bearing lubrication is very important to the longevity of your lawn mower.  I try to keep a weekly check on grease nibs but I have to admit that I often let them go neglected longer than I should.  So, if you are like me and have forgotten to check your grease fittings in a few weeks, take some extra time this weekend to make proper refills where necessary.

In addition to making rudimentary checks, if you are truly inspired (and have a few extra hours) to do proper maintenance on your lawn care equipment, consider pulling your bearings and  repacking or replacing them.  You will greatly increase the life of your lawn mower and you will have confidence in your bearings once spring rolls around again.

For more tips on how to keep your lawn mower running longer as well as a lawn care equipment buyer’s guidebook (new and used) check our main lawn care website for our lawn care business program:





http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

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E15 Ethanol Gasoline in your Lawn Mower and Weedeater Engine

Jun 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in commercial lawn mowers, John Deere, lawn care pollution, lawn equipment, lawn mowers, maintenance | No Comments

E15 Ethanol Gasoline is likely to be in many markets by late summer.
Do you feel that your lawn mowers are ready for E15 Gasoline?

I have heard a number of complaints from lawn care business owners all around the country that tell me E10 is damaging to their lawn mower engines. The implied complaint is that E10 draws moisture to the engine parts displacing gasoline and thereby clogging engine components.

I do not consider myself to be a small engine expert but I do know how to keep my equipment running with proper maintenance. As often as it is available, I buy 100% gasoline. However very few gasoline stations in my area carry 100% gasoline.

Are you worried about the new gasoline blend that might be hitting the market place later this year?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Commercial Lawn Mowing Equipment – Spring Tuneup.

Feb 17

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn equipment, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, maintenance, start a lawn care business | No Comments

Spring is here and it is time to pull the tarps off the lawn mowers and prepare them for the busy mowing season ahead.

As much as I have always liked to maintain my own equipment, I believe it pays to have lawn mowers, blowers, and weed trimmers professionally serviced at a favorite commercial lawn mower repair shop at least once per year.  Changing oil, oil filters, air filters, and gas filters as well as lubrication service is well within the reach of most all lawn care business owners.  However, perfectly dialing-in a lawn mower is a skill reserved for the repair professionals.  Perfect tracking, carb adjustment, and preventative maintenance inspections will help keep your equipment running smoothly.

Commercial Lawn Mower RepairIf you are like many lawn care business owners, you are well capable of routine maintenance  on your lawn care equipment.  But paying a professional lawn care repair center will help ensure perfectly operating equipment and less downtime in the months ahead.

If you are starting your lawn care company this year and want to know more about proper landscaping equipment selection for your business, we include an equipment selection manual in our lawn care business guidebook.

Learn more on our homepage:

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Starting A Lawn Care Business

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Spring Time Lawn Care Equipment Maintenance

Jan 22

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn equipment, maintenance | No Comments

Sunny skies and 50 degree temperatures.

I love days like these.  The sun is bright enough to warm your skin but the weather hasn’t turned enough to make the grass start growing.   These January days are perfect for doing pre-Spring lawn care equipment maintenance.  Let’s be honest here; at the end of last season we all had good intentions of performing proper winter maintenance on our equipment.  Sharpened blades, changed oil, fresh fuel filter, greased lubrication nibs, etc….it just didn’t happen, did it?  Instead, you threw a tarp over your lawn mower (without cleaning off the old decaying grass from under the deck lid) and forgot about it.

Now that most of last week’s snow has melted, it is a great time to pull the lawn mowers out from under the tarps and perform a few pre-spring maintenance procedures.  I read an article recently of a St. Louis lawn care company.  In the article they pointed out that quality lawn care equipment maintenance is one of the most important keys to running a successful lawn care company.  I believe that without proper equipment maintenance your company will eventually experience significant equipment downtime.  Significant equipment downtime can kill even the most successful lawn care business.

So, this winter, when you get the occasional warm sunny day, take advantage of the slow season to properly maintain your lawn care equipment.  Once spring rolls around, you won’t have the burden of getting your equipment ready while customers are lining up.

Side Note:  Are you trying to determine what equipment to buy for your lawn care business?  Our Lawn Care Business Equipment Buyers Guide that is included with our Lawn Care Business training course is a huge and beneficial resource for any lawn care business owner.  Guide teaches you how-to buy equipment based on your company’s needs.

This guide helps you purchase the right equipment and avoid buying mistakes that many lawn care business owners make.

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Lawn Mower Problems? Change your air filter.

Sep 28

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, lawn care business, lawn care training, maintenance | No Comments

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

My shoulder hurts. My fingers are blistered. The starter rope just ripped off in my hand.

If you own a pull-start lawn mower, you might have similar complaints when you pull and pull only to have your lawn mower sputter and die after each crank. You depress the primer bulb, spray a couple squirts of starter fluid and crank again. The spark plug is new, the gasoline is fresh, and the oil has recently been changed. All the controls are set correctly yet, still, your lawn mower won’t start.

Well, if you are like lots of lawn care business owners, you have probably been running your lawn mower hard all summer. We all neglect maintenance occasionally and you are paying the price for not taking proper care of your lawn mower. Proper lawn mower air filtermaintenance should be a daily chore to every lawn care business owner.  However, if your last two months have been anything like mine, you have been mowing as much dirt and dust as you have been mowing grass since the weather has been so dry.  Air filters have been the last things on your mind. Now that we are into September and early October, leaves are falling and you are trying to mulch the leaves with your lawn mower blades to avoid having to work the rake on all your customers’ lawns.

Dried out grass, dirt, and leaf dust all put tremendous particulate matter into the air. As your lawn mower operates, it sucks that same dust laden air through the airfilter and into the carburetor. After weeks of mowing in dusty conditions, your air filter is probably clogged with the dust and dirt of a thousand lawns.

Whether or not you believe a clogged air filter is your lawn mower’s problem, take a few minutes to check and perform proper maintenance on your air filter.  If your lawn mower has a multi-stage air filter, be sure to clean or replace both stages.  The benefits of fuel economy and better performance can be amazing.

For many other lawn care equipment tips that will help you have a smoother running lawn care operation, check out our lawn care business training course.  You can read the full description on our main website.  The business package is on sale right now.

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

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Keep Your Commercial Lawn Mower Blades Sharp

Apr 26

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn care business, lawn equipment, lawn mowers, maintenance | 1 Comment

Sharpen your commercial lawn mower blades to reduce browning of the lawn and water loss.

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.

sharpen lawn mower blades on schedule

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.

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Lawn Care In California

Feb 17

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn business strategies, lawn care business, maintenance, start a lawn care business | 1 Comment

I was very blessed in January to escape the deep freeze that gripped the American Southeast by traveling to Los Angeles, California to meet with a manufacturer of Propane Powered lawn care equipment.

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.

Lawn Care Maintenance Workers Gather Palm Fronds after a California Storm

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

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That’s Hot!

Jan 10

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, lawn care business, lawn equipment, maintenance, toys | No Comments

Like me, one of the things you probably love about operating a lawn care business is your ability to buy new toys and gadgets.

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.

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Lawn Care Equipment – Winter Maintenance

Nov 19

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, maintenance, winter | 1 Comment

As lawn care business owners we should all be super picky about continued maintenance of our lawn care equipment.  Engine oil and oil filter changes, multi-stage air filter maintenance, fuel filter maintenance, lubrication, and hydrolic fluid maintenance should constantly be on your mind to keep your equipment running in peak condition.  Though your equipment might stand stagnant during the winter months, you should not neglect a pre-winter maintenance schedule.  We cover both summer and off-season lawn equipment maintenance in our lawn care business guidebook.

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

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