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J.J.’s Picks 2015

A collection of the finest products featured this year for Landscape Professionals

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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2) Greatest mower in the store

3) Greatest blower

3) Greatest trimmer

3) Echo Bed redefiner

4) Greatest hedge trimmer

4) Greatest chainsaw

5,6) Fall ideas

6-9) Winter ideas

10) Expanded services = expanded bank account; a look at core aerations as a profit enhancer

11) Cool product award 2015

12) J.J.’s Tips and Tricks

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J.J.’s pick: 60” Exmark Lazer Z X-Series with RED Technology and E.F.I.

By far, the best lawn mower in the store is the 60” Lazer Z X-Series with RED Technology and Electronic

Fuel Injection. A masterpiece from Exmark, this mower pays for itself in a short period of time by saving labor

costs and reducing the need to double cut while allowing you to take on more clientele without sacrificing

reliability. This mower uses up to 25% less gas than carbureted 60” Lazers. If you save $650 per year in gas,

that can translate into a savings of $9750 over the life of the mower. A penny saved is a penny earned,

right? Lazers come in 3 different series; E, S, and X. The X series is the Rolls Royce of Mowers.

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By far the greatest back-pack blower in the store is the Redmax EBZ-8500. Coming in at a whopping 908

cubic feet a minute, this blower allows the operator to come in like a tornado and get the job done. Some

operators are known to use this back pack blower while simultaneously using a hand held blower in their left

hand. Talk about getting things done!

My own personal favorite trimmer is the Redmax BCZ3060TS. It is rated at commercial maximum torque.

Compare to others at 29.5 cc, 1.4 hp, and only weighs 12.2 lbs. One of the advantages of having a powerful

trimmer on the job is it can be used to maintain pristine vertical edges on curbs and sidewalks which equates to

getting the stick edger out far less often. Not to mention, during the heavy growing season, it’s nice to have

some power and the ability to trim at a walking pace rather than being hampered and slowed down.

What a great labor and time saving product. The Echo Bed Redefiner is so much easier to use than a bed edger

or shovels. You know that all of your customers need their beds redefined once a year. What a great way to go

above and beyond just a mulch installation, or add this to your menu of services as well as your profitability…

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Greatly reduce bending over, walking, and climbing up and down and moving the step ladder with the Stihl HL

100 K (135 degree) Hedge Trimmer with articulating head

Every hedge is unique – which is quite a challenge when you’re trying to trim them. Whether

tall or short, skinny or wide, hedges everywhere can’t escape the STIHL HL 100 K (135º) extended reach

hedge trimmer. With its 42” long shaft and adjustable cutting blade angles, this professional hedge trimmer

helps turn those unruly hedges into uniform walls of green. For power and versatility, this hedge trimmer has it

all. If you could cut back on going up and down and moving a ladder by 80%, you would wouldn’t you?

J.J.’s pick for best chainsaw is the Stihl MS-362. A few of my colleagues and I got the privilege of touring

the Warehouse of one of Stihl’s largest suppliers in February of 2014 down in Ohio. We were given the

opportunity to test drive every chainsaw that Stihl makes. Hands down, the winner for power to weight ratio

was the MS-362. It is a mean saw and nothing even came close.

DISPLACEMENT 59.0 cc

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We could all use more help in the fall… Once you get the beds cleaned out, consolidate your leaf piles quicker

with a JRCO leaf blade that fits on the front of your Exmark… or blast your leaf piles into the woods by

using the JRCO Blower Buggy that allows you to attach your walk behind blower to the front of your Exmark.

Who really wants to push that thing up and down hills anyways?

Make your trips to the dump in the fall easier with this set up. With the Truck Craft Dump Insert, you can

turn your truck into a dump truck and used in conjunction with the Billy Goat Debris Loader (which chops your

leaves into a fine medium) your cubic yardage will be greatly reduced, thus lowering your long term expenditures

to the composting dump. You can also take the debris back to your shop, compost it down, and resell it as

very valuable and nutritious compost or use in your landscaping projects. Not only will you save the money for

the topsoil, but you will also save valuable labor dollars and vehicle expenses traveling to and from the nursery

and the dump!

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Out of our full line of Boss plows, two plows deserve very special mention. They are the stainless steel plow

and the poly plow. One of the worst enemies of snow and ice management professionals is time and rust. One

common misconception is that poly blades are for amateurs, very small trucks, and they are light. Actually, you

may be surprised to find that poly blades are actually slightly heavier than their steel cousin. They never wear

or need to be painted. They are red in color all the way through. They also have a more slippery surface which

allows snow to slide and fall off the face of the plow easier. Regarding the stainless steel plow, enjoy the same

protection against corrosion as your silverware in your kitchen.

With so many plows on the market, what makes Boss special and why should I switch? – There are 4 main

reasons Boss is the way to go. The first is they are known as the brightest plow on the market. There is a

total of 4 light bulbs (2 in each headlight) giving you excellent visibility during the most trying of conditions.

Second, no Boss plows are suspended by a chain; they are direct driven. This means there is no plow hop when

going down bumpy roads or over rail road tracks. Also, you eliminate that 1.5 second lag time when lifting the

plow up. There is no slack in a chain. It is estimated that during a storm a plow will be lifted 800 times.

That’s $25 of wasted time every time it snows. Thirdly, Boss Hydraulic systems are fully enclosed and out of

the elements. Doesn’t that make sense considering the salt, grime, and brown slush you are working in?

Fourthly, the frame and backbone of the plow has one extra diagonal rib on both sides of the plow. Through

extensive research by the Boss engineers, they determined that the extra rib in the frame would allow a lot

more durability to the plow in the long term.

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J.J., do I get a regular trip blade or a dual trip blade? I get asked that often. First let’s discuss what those

terms mean. When you hit an object, your plow folds forward and kicks back with the springs; that is a “trip”.

Dual trip is a great feature in which not only the plow trips forward like normal, but if the impact warrants

it, the cutting edge at the bottom will trip back as well. What does this mean to you? This means less busting

hydraulic hoses because you hit something. The best way to determine if regular trip or dual trip is best for

you is two things; who will be driving the plow truck and how often have you had to replace broken hydraulic

hoses in the past? If employees of yours are going to be driving the truck then definitely go with the dual

trip. If you, the owner operator, is going to be the sole driver of this plow truck, then reflect on your own

personal history of how often you have been replacing hoses. If it’s a few times per winter then go with the

dual trip. If you baby your truck and plow as most owners do and you only break a hose say every few years

then a regular trip blade is probably the choice for you.

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How does the Boss V Box Spreader stack up against the competition? Besides the Boss coming standard with

two vibrator kits and 2 dimmable rear work lights, I personally like the fact that you can pull a pin in the

back, swing open the spinner shaft box, put your push spreader underneath, push a button at the back of the

truck, and load it up with salt for your sidewalks. This saves you the hassle of putting bags of ice melt

somewhere in the back of your truck, breaking open, etc.

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Start using a STAINLESS STEEL push spreader for salting your sidewalks from now on. Earthway’s Stainless

Steel high output spreaders will serve you well for many winters to come. As a general rule of thumb when

getting a spreader for salting sidewalks, go with the ones with the blue hopper, not the red hopper. The blue

hopper ones have a much larger opening for material so that even rock salt will feed through. These are

available in regular powder coated steel or now stainless steel. Since these units are used to spread a very

corrosive material like salt and ice melt, it only makes sense to get one that is stainless steel. Otherwise,

regular steel is usually only good for one winter as the nuts and bolts holding the frame together will rust

right out.

You’re not still shoveling sidewalks are you? Toro has a new single stage snow blower out. It has you, the

commercial customer, in mind. It is the Toro 721 R-C. Still light enough to lift in and out of your truck, this

work horse comes with a 7 horsepower 4-cycle engine, heavier duty paddles, a heavier duty drive belt, a more

heavy duty scraper bar, and reinforced comfort grip handles that are reflective for safety at night.

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EXPANDED SERVICES = EXPANDED BANK ACCOUNT Aerating turf is one of the most beneficial activities that you can do for your lawn. The best time to aerate is

in the spring and/or fall. Besides allowing extra water and nutrients down to the root systems, the number one

long term benefit of aerating is creating a high density turf (a thick lawn). When turf is thick, there is not

any room for weeds to grow. Weeds thrive in sparse, stressed lawns. I have personally aerated my own lawn

every spring and fall for the past 13 years. I fertilize, but have never applied weed control. I have never had

weeds growing in my lawn. Aerating also makes the lawn more tolerant to handle stresses that Mother Nature

can throw at it such as drought and harsh winters. The Exmark stand-on aerator may be a big investment, but

since labor is your biggest expense, this machine will pay for itself in savings in a month. With an old fashioned

walk behind aerator, it takes about 4 hours to properly aerate an acre of grass. With the Exmark stand-on

shown below an acre is aerated in 30 minutes. Your customer’s lawn will receive a quality aeration at 7 m.p.h.

There are three things to check with customers on; sprinkler heads marked with flags, do they have an invisible

fence for dogs, and lastly do they have shallow cables in their yard? Other than that do your back and your

wallet a favor and go with the Exmark Stand-On Aerator.

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COOL PRODUCT AWARD OF 2015

This coveted title goes to the Billy Goat F1802SPV Force Wheel Self Propelled Blower. Wow! 18 horsepower.

That’s huge. Good thing this behemoth is self propelled! This large powerful unit makes your spring and fall

clean-ups a lot easier. Moving as much air as 4 or 5 expensive employees pushing leaves with $2500 worth of

back pack blowers, you will save time, money, and labor dollars. Let’s face it; time in the fall is worth its

weight in gold. The weather is inclement more often, and to top it all off, you never know when snow will be

here to stay. I think we can all agree that the quicker you get your clean-ups done, the less stress you are

under about the weather, and let’s face it; going through all winter knowing there were 20 jobs that you

weren’t able to get to in the fall is like a dark cloud hanging over your head all winter long and it can get you

down. We all care about our customers, and it hurts when customers leave you because they just don’t realize

there are some weather issues that are just out of your control. Fall is a tricky season. Get in and get out as

fast as you can – then go hunting (how many years has it been since you’ve got to do that?)

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J.J.’s tips and tricks and some other final notes…

There are three times of the season that just really stinks. They are the gnat season, the deer fly season, and

the couple weeks in the summer when temperatures are over 100 degrees. In the early spring when you are

just getting going there are clouds of gnats floating around your head. You can’t even open your mouth and

you have to squint your eyes. Then there is the deer fly season, usually in the middle of the hot summer.

They mysteriously seem to only bite you on your scalp or the top of your hand. We all have that one

customer that when you go around back to cut their back wooded lawn you are attacked by an unbearable

amount of deer flies. There are some pretty easy cures for these times when the bugs are unbearable. You can

keep this item wrapped up behind the seat or in your glove box and only pull it out when you need it. It’s

called a gnat net. It is a mesh enclosure that goes around your head and is usually sealed off at the bottom by

an elastic band of some kind or in the case of the picture below armpit straps. One benefit of a gnat net is on

those real windy days if you are constantly getting blasted in the face with grass discharge it can be useful on

those days too.

One of the big conflicts between lawn care company managers and their employees every year is the “to air

condition? Or not to air condition?” paradox. Every year mangers and employees fight over whether the truck

a/c should be turned on in between jobs during sweltering heat. The employee is thinking to himself “Wow,

what a tyrant I work for. He won’t allow me to have the air conditioning on and its 98 degrees outside!”. The

employer is thinking to himself; “this air conditioner is making my truck get 6 miles to the gallon instead of 12

miles to the gallon”. I remember someone telling me that “running the a/c and pulling a trailer is too much

work for the engine and will pre-maturely wear out my $40,000 truck”. You will get much greater response if

you explain to your employees how not having the a/c on WILL BENEFIT THEM, not how it will benefit you.

Explain to them the facts. The facts are it is bad for your body to get repeatedly hot, cool, hot, cool, over

and over. As a matter of fact people have higher life expectancies in climates where the temperatures don’t

fluctuate as much. Getting into the A/C repeatedly throughout the day will make getting out of the truck

into the heat that much more difficult throughout the day. It is more torture than it is worth. One thing

that is important is drinking more fluids than you think is necessary. Make sure your employees are trained to

recognize the signs of heat stroke and they have an ample supply of water. Wrapping a DRY bandana around

your forehead is one of the greatest ways of keeping annoying sweat beads out of your eyes and from running

down and tickling your face. A dry bandana is best put on dry so that it has the ability to absorb new

perspiration as it leaves your forehead. If you try this trick you will be amazed at how it makes a 98 degree

day feel like 82 degrees.

Thank you for checking out my annual newsletter. If you have any tricks or tips that you would like to submit

for the 2016 edition, come in and see me at the store any time or send me an email at

jterrell@weingartz.com. Or call me whenever you need anything at my direct # 248-893-5875 (J.J. Terrell)

HAVE A SAFE AND PROSPEROUS 2015!!!