![]() ![]() T rimmer, edger, blower and hedge trimmer. If you're working on properties larger than half an acre, the four-gallon backpack sprayer is your best bet to ease the weight. To attack weeds growing in cracks in the sidewalk or driveway, invest in a small, three-gallon pressurized herbicide sprayer. For that, you'll need a broadcast granular spreader, which, as the name implies, disperses the fertilizer in a wide arc. Even if your intent is to stick to mowing, it's a good idea to offer fertilizing as one of your basic services. You'll spend anywhere from $1,200 to $5,200 on this. If you're planning to offer snow removal services in the winter, you'll need a snow plow for your truck or a snow blade for your lawn mower. You can get a reliable mower for $1,000 to $2,600. The decks float to hug turf contours and provide a beautiful, finished cut. Make sure you get a mower with a floating deck, if you plan on mowing hills. You will also definitely want a standard walk-behind model in your arsenal for hills and smaller jobs. And for bigger jobs, a riding mower is a necessity. Mowers often come with very useful attachments and features like mulchers and side catchers that can make your job easier. These days, most are self-propelled, a feature you'll greatly appreciate after you've spent hours crisscrossing acres of green grass under the blazing sun. There's a dizzying array of commercial lawn mowers on the market. To get started in the lawn care business, you'll need many pieces of equipment. Steel-toed work boots are also essential. You should also wear work gloves while on the job - they give you a firmer grip on the handles of your equipment, which is especially important when your hands are sweating in hot weather. While you're at it, invest in a sturdy pair of safety glasses. Earmuff-style hearing protectors that look like stereo headphones are affordably priced at around $25 a pair. Lawn equipment operates at up to 95 decibels, and according to OSHA, hearing damage can occur with even limited exposure to sound levels in the 85-to-90-dB range. Embroidered polo shirts cost around $15 to $30 each, T-shirts cost around $13 each and hats run about $12 to $17 each. Personalized T-shirts and hats not only give you and your team a neat, professional appearance, but they also function as low-cost advertising tools. Here are a few more things to consider purchasing: The rent varies widely according to which part of the country you live in, but you can expect to pay $50 to $200 a month. If you want to park your truck inside, you'll need about 10 by 20 feet (a small one-car garage size), or 10 by 30 feet if you want to pull your trailer in, too. A space as small as 10 by 15 feet, which is about the size of a large bedroom, is sufficient for lawn equipment and miscellaneous supplies. An alternative to using your own garage would be to rent a bay in a self-storage facility. If you don't have enough room in your garage or carport, you'll have to find another facility because many cities have ordinances that prohibit parking commercial vehicles on residential streets overnight. In addition to sheltering your vehicle, you'll want to use the space to do repairs and store equipment and extra supplies like trash bags and fertilizer. Check on what local building permits your town requires before purchasing. A shed kit with pre- cut, easy-to-assemble pieces can be delivered right to your door or you can save money by purchasing plans for around $50 and building it yourself. Just as you can work out of a home office, you can start your business without the overhead cost of a storage facility by using your own garage or shed. ![]() Locking 8-foot tie-downs will run about $18 each. Invest in locking tie-downs to keep your equipment safe when you're on the road. A plain-Jane 5-by-10-foot single-axle light-duty trailer with 12-foot side rails and a ramp gate (also a must so you can wheel mowers aboard) starts at about $800 new. A new, steel mesh landscape trailer can cost $1,500 and up. This is a must if you have a lot of equipment and don't want to be hoisting it up repeatedly into your van or truck bed. This will run approximately anywhere from $27,000 to $36,500. Landscaping experts recommend choosing a heavy-duty flatbed truck (one-ton rated) with at least one locking toolbox ($200 and up) mounted on the flatbed and a dumping mechanism for unloading topsoil and other landscaping materials quickly and without shoveling (starting at $900). Your biggest expenditure by far will be for a sturdy, reliable vehicle for hauling your equipment (if you don't already own a truck that can serve this purpose). ![]()
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