best lawn mower under �100 image
Kewl
What about sources for straight forward solar powered products? Excluding toys, garden frogs and outdoorpath lights I have found few useful items for the home. What I have found are solar panels for under $100 each, inverters, rechargeable indoor lights and a few camping/RV products that are interesting. It seems to me that these could help me start to wean the family off the power company. I can't afford to go cold turkey and cover my roof with solar panels and I don't think the HOA would allow me to even if I could. Is anyone using solar on a small scale?
Answer
Solar panel technologys are advancing all the time. I could be wrong about this as it has been at least 6 months since I checked, but last time I checked, solar panels as we know them, the kind you put on your roof cant generate enough power to run a full household especially if you have kids, with various game consoles, TV's, lighting, cooking, fridges and so on, not to mention power tools like the electric lawn mower or sander! That is to say, they cant generate enough power unless you are willing to spend considerable monies on the bestest most up to date ones and you have plenty of roof and garden space to mount them on. Actually, it would be cheaper just to pay the bills over the next 30 or 40 years at present prices than to do something like that.
However, other ideas are more reasonable, I have seen people mount rectulanguler plastic tanks on their roof, paint the outside of them a matt black, and put a transparent layer over them. This heats the water inside, saving them on heating costs for bathing and for heating the home in the evening. the most expensive part of this is getting it mounted and the pump to pump the water around the house.
Another alternative, is the geo thermal approach. That is the idea where you replace your radiators and heating system all together with a set of coiled pipes going through out your house. These pipes then lead out to the back garden under the ground about 3 or 4 feet. The idea being that the ground at that dept is always of a constant temperture no matter the weather, so if the house gets too hot the pipes (which are filled with a water/antifreese solution and are not connected to the water system) transfer heat out of the house and under the ground outside, but if the house gets too cold, the pipes take the heat from under the ground outside, and bring it into the house. This however will make any heating or air conditioning system almost useless as your house will always stay at the same temperature. Again you need a pump to pump the solution in the pipes it round the house.
Solar panel technologys are advancing all the time. I could be wrong about this as it has been at least 6 months since I checked, but last time I checked, solar panels as we know them, the kind you put on your roof cant generate enough power to run a full household especially if you have kids, with various game consoles, TV's, lighting, cooking, fridges and so on, not to mention power tools like the electric lawn mower or sander! That is to say, they cant generate enough power unless you are willing to spend considerable monies on the bestest most up to date ones and you have plenty of roof and garden space to mount them on. Actually, it would be cheaper just to pay the bills over the next 30 or 40 years at present prices than to do something like that.
However, other ideas are more reasonable, I have seen people mount rectulanguler plastic tanks on their roof, paint the outside of them a matt black, and put a transparent layer over them. This heats the water inside, saving them on heating costs for bathing and for heating the home in the evening. the most expensive part of this is getting it mounted and the pump to pump the water around the house.
Another alternative, is the geo thermal approach. That is the idea where you replace your radiators and heating system all together with a set of coiled pipes going through out your house. These pipes then lead out to the back garden under the ground about 3 or 4 feet. The idea being that the ground at that dept is always of a constant temperture no matter the weather, so if the house gets too hot the pipes (which are filled with a water/antifreese solution and are not connected to the water system) transfer heat out of the house and under the ground outside, but if the house gets too cold, the pipes take the heat from under the ground outside, and bring it into the house. This however will make any heating or air conditioning system almost useless as your house will always stay at the same temperature. Again you need a pump to pump the solution in the pipes it round the house.
What is a good starter mower for a small lawn buisness?
TheDeco
I am starting a local lawn mowing business 20-30 yards and am wondering what kind/type of mower will i need to get.
I am starting a local lawn mowing business 20-30 yards and am wondering what kind/type of mower will i need to get. I am 16 and am looking to by a truck too. For the lawn mower price range up to $1200. For the truck up to $8000. Also if i were to charge per sq. ft. what is a good unit price?
Answer
If you are planning on starting a lawn business, I assume you plan on making this a long term venture? If this is so, purchasing "cheap" equipment is a No No! If your gonna commit time and effort into doing a good job for your clients, you need to have at least a mid-priced, commercial grade mower, one that will last more than the 2 months you will get by purchasing a cheaper one. 20 - 30 yards a week is alot of wear and tear on the engine, power drive, cables, and pull string as well as the blade shaft. One week of this wear and tear mowing is as much as the normal homeowner would put on a mower in a "years" time. To keep from having to fix this cheaper mower when it breaks down you need a good one. If the mower isn't cutting, you aren't making any money, and not to mention having to deal with a few irate clients complaining that their lawns are looking scraggly and unmowed because you couldn't mow it that week. You need to at least spend $375.00 - $500.00 smackers on a semi-commercial mower. There are many brands that carry heavier built mowers and these include, Honda, Toro, and Snapper. These 3 are my only choices. Check out each brand and make sure you get one with at least 3.5 horsepower with 4.0 - 5.0 being even better yet. Make sure that you get one with a "rear" wheel power drive. The front wheel drives really suck and are hard to keep straight when putting "stripes" and "designs" on the turf. Mowing the tree wells (circle around base of trees) is more difficult as well. Always bag the clippings when mowing. The customer is paying for a clean, manicured yard and that is just what you should provide. Get a quality lawn edger as well. A sharp edge on the walkways and driveway gives that added clean cut appearance after you have left the property. And make sure to blow or sweep off the concrete walks, driveway, and patios of the spent clippings that have been thrown out from under the deck before leaving (this needs to be done lastly). And when you get the mower be sure that it is a 4 cycle engine (straight gas, no mix) it makes for faster and easier work not having to mix oil and gas all the time. Hope this has been helpful and good luck on your new venture. You will get a great sense of accomplishment from this type of work, not to mention a whole bunch of knowledge about turf, trees & shrubs, diseases, and insects. The best part is the $money$ that can be made if you get good at it...
...Added Info: You don't want to charge by the sq.ft. for your services. It's better to charge by each individual property. Naturally, the bigger the square footage of turf, the more you will charge (time is money). The local economy and the type of neighborhoods you will be working in will have alot to do with your price range. Naturally, higher class homes will bring in more cashflow. A standard price would be $100.00 a month for edging, mowing, and blowing off of the property. Tell the customer that you will spend 1 hr a week doing the work, 4 times a month, which comes out to to 4 hrs total work time. Which means that you are working at a $25.00 an hour rate, which is pretty good money for a 16 yr old. This of course, is for an average size yard with around 2,000 sq. ft. of turf. If its less or more you can adjust the price accordingly (up or down).
...$Billy Ray$
If you are planning on starting a lawn business, I assume you plan on making this a long term venture? If this is so, purchasing "cheap" equipment is a No No! If your gonna commit time and effort into doing a good job for your clients, you need to have at least a mid-priced, commercial grade mower, one that will last more than the 2 months you will get by purchasing a cheaper one. 20 - 30 yards a week is alot of wear and tear on the engine, power drive, cables, and pull string as well as the blade shaft. One week of this wear and tear mowing is as much as the normal homeowner would put on a mower in a "years" time. To keep from having to fix this cheaper mower when it breaks down you need a good one. If the mower isn't cutting, you aren't making any money, and not to mention having to deal with a few irate clients complaining that their lawns are looking scraggly and unmowed because you couldn't mow it that week. You need to at least spend $375.00 - $500.00 smackers on a semi-commercial mower. There are many brands that carry heavier built mowers and these include, Honda, Toro, and Snapper. These 3 are my only choices. Check out each brand and make sure you get one with at least 3.5 horsepower with 4.0 - 5.0 being even better yet. Make sure that you get one with a "rear" wheel power drive. The front wheel drives really suck and are hard to keep straight when putting "stripes" and "designs" on the turf. Mowing the tree wells (circle around base of trees) is more difficult as well. Always bag the clippings when mowing. The customer is paying for a clean, manicured yard and that is just what you should provide. Get a quality lawn edger as well. A sharp edge on the walkways and driveway gives that added clean cut appearance after you have left the property. And make sure to blow or sweep off the concrete walks, driveway, and patios of the spent clippings that have been thrown out from under the deck before leaving (this needs to be done lastly). And when you get the mower be sure that it is a 4 cycle engine (straight gas, no mix) it makes for faster and easier work not having to mix oil and gas all the time. Hope this has been helpful and good luck on your new venture. You will get a great sense of accomplishment from this type of work, not to mention a whole bunch of knowledge about turf, trees & shrubs, diseases, and insects. The best part is the $money$ that can be made if you get good at it...
...Added Info: You don't want to charge by the sq.ft. for your services. It's better to charge by each individual property. Naturally, the bigger the square footage of turf, the more you will charge (time is money). The local economy and the type of neighborhoods you will be working in will have alot to do with your price range. Naturally, higher class homes will bring in more cashflow. A standard price would be $100.00 a month for edging, mowing, and blowing off of the property. Tell the customer that you will spend 1 hr a week doing the work, 4 times a month, which comes out to to 4 hrs total work time. Which means that you are working at a $25.00 an hour rate, which is pretty good money for a 16 yr old. This of course, is for an average size yard with around 2,000 sq. ft. of turf. If its less or more you can adjust the price accordingly (up or down).
...$Billy Ray$
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