J.J.’s Picks 2014

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 and trimmer

4) Echo Bed Redefiner

5) Hedge trimmer

6-7) Fall products

8) Boss Plows

9) Best commercial snow blower for sidewalks

10) Expanded services = expanded bank account

11) Cool product award 2014

12) Tips and tricks

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

By far the greatest 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…

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?

HL 100 K (135º) Specifications - Professional Use

DISPLACEMENT 31.4 cc

ENGINE POWER 1.4 hp

WEIGHT 14.8 lbs.

BLADE LENGTH

20 in.

SHAFT LENGTH 42 in.

FUEL CAPACITY 18.0 oz.

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

the Warehouse of one of Stihl’s largest suppliers in February 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

ENGINE POWER 4.6 hp

POWERHEAD WEIGHT 13.2 lbs.

GUIDE BAR LENGTHS* (Recommended ranges) 16" to 25"

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

down your leaves into a fine medium) your cubic yardage will be reduced greatly, 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!

Out of our full line of Boss plows and salters, 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.

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 bigger engine, heavier duty paddles, a heavier duty drive belt, and a more heavy duty

scraper bar. Demand was so high for the 721 R-C this past winter that they were hard to come by and much

sought after. I assume that Toro will be stepping up their production levels of this model.

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. There are two things to check

with customers on; sprinkler heads marked with flags and do they have an invisible fence for dogs? Other than

that do your back and your wallet a favor and go with the Exmark Stand-On.

COOL PRODUCT AWARD OF 2014

This coveted title goes to the Brown Stand on blower. Moving as much air as 5 or 6 expensive employees

pushing leaves with $3000 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

cleanups 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?)

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

Lawn maintenance is a well choreographed dance routine. By July, when your crew stops to do 10 houses in a

row in a neighborhood, you can almost time your watch by when everyone hits certain points in the job. When

you throw one wrench into the machine, such as just one person having down time, it snowballs into a lot of

wasted time. When armies are at war with each other they prefer to injure the enemy soldiers rather than kill

them because they know it takes two good soldiers to carry an injured soldier off to the medic.

Are you still using button feed trimmer heads with spools? Great. If you are, buy about 5 extra spools that go

in the head. Load them all up with trimmer line and put them on the dashboard. When a trimmer runs out of

line, a new already filled spool can be inserted in the trimmer. Preloaded spools can also be put in one’s pocket.

What does this eliminate? It eliminates A) looking for the trimmer line, B) looking for the snips or a knife,

C) winding and/or training people how to properly wind the line, D) Dilly-dallying while doing points A, B, & C.

When you are an eighth of a mile from an employee and you see that they are doing something incorrect.

Maybe it is they started on the wrong lawn, maybe they are cutting a lawn too short, maybe it’s not their

fault and you just forgot to give them special instructions. Unfortunately, you have to shut your mower off,

drive all the way over to them, they shut their PTO off, you communicate, then you drive all the way back to

what you were doing. Frustrating isn’t it? How many times a day does that happen? Your well planned

choreography and dance number is thrown out the window at that point. There must be a better way. If 30

minutes a day are wasted (times two people) 150 cutting days per year, that amounts to $3000 per year in

wasted time. If your operation is bigger, now you are getting into the tens of thousands of dollars. Peltor

makes headphones with noise cancellation technology and a boom mike that operates on 2-way radio frequencies.

They operate up to 2 miles away. If you are in that big neighborhood that you cut multiple lawns in, you

eliminate guesswork of where your choreography stands. Also, when your employees have contact with your

customers you can find out what their conversation entailed on the spot. Since they run on 2 way technology,

a crew leader can talk to everyone on a walkie-talkie from the air conditioned truck.

Going on a long distance trim? Fill up an empty glass flat pint bottle with mix (hopefully top-shelf because of

all the money you saved with the other tips and tricks). Do a mid-air refueling and take a 5 minute break.

Put a spool in your other pocket too. Thank you for checking out my annual newsletter. If you have any tricks

or tips that you would like to submit for the 2015 edition, come in and see me at the store any time or send

me an email at jterrell@weingartz.com.

HAVE A SAFE AND PROSPEROUS 2014!!!