Landscape Management, December 2014
Drawbacks As popular as standons are becoming theyre not a remedy for everyone At Paradise Lawns Landscaping three fourths of the mower fleet are stand ons and the clientele is 90 percent commercial including many large properties But that combination is unusual Landscape contractors maintaining larger properties tend to still prefer a sit down ZTR Agee says The ZTR still provides a productive solution where space is not a constraint The stand on mower also has a size limited capability to collect grass Agee says Fine warns that inexperienced workers should be careful not to turn too quickly so as not to rip up the grass And Olseen says stand ons arent so stellar on wet hills and inclines If the area is too steep the mower seems to struggle he says Therefore the strengths for this mower would be more level terrain or minute inclines For inexperienced operators the learning curve for stand ons is a bit steeper too says Bill Wright CEO of Wright Manufacturing Curb hopping takes practice I think the biggest drawback has been that to become profcient new operators need an extra week or so of experience than they do to learn to operate mid mount zero turns and walkbehinds Wright says But once they do learn it their productivity goes up between 20 and 35 percent compared to other styles of mowers what the future holDs Manufacturers expect stand ons to become more popular in coming years Customer feedback will drive other features and benefts as the product matures Agee says Wright expects stand ons to become more popular in areas where the concept hasnt yet taken hold That will require educating and demonstrating for nonusers who assume its harder to stand up than sit down Wright says In the meantime Fine and Olseen will continue to enjoy the mowers benefts Time is money in this business and every other business for that matter Olseen says To take a product and increase productivity is everyones No 1 goal Geraci is a freelance writer based in Cleveland DOUBLE YOUR MONEY LIMITED TIME OFFER 2000 PER MOWER AND 1000 PER CONVERSION The rewards of switching to a propane powered mower have never been better Now through December 2014 were doubling the amounts in the Propane Mower Incentive Program In return you report your performance data for one mowing season Hurry a limited number of incentives are available Learn more at propane com commercial landscape December 2014 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET 25 Bill Wright
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
