Hi all...here is an interesting challenge. Basically to come up with the most efficient way of acres/hr with commercial mowing and general maintenance in mind..with 2 perhaps even 3 persons per crew. Lets set a realistic budget of £10k as a base point.. Here is my idea-comments appreciated!
1) Box van 3.5ton max with towbar. (sadly a normal van typically has wheel arches which do not allow mowers wider than 135cm typically to fit inside)
2) 60" 800kg diesel zero turn mower in the back.. as well as 2 push mowers strimmers and other basic eqpt etc etc. This should be a secure storage space as well as not put too much pressure on the rear springs as a 1400kg triple mower might do/go over the weight limit of the vehicle.
3) small trailer with 60" pedestrian mower on it (60" pedestrian mowers are approx 350kg..so combined with the trailer weight it should not exceed 750kg legal towing limit, so no trailer license will be needed.
I think with this system..it could be the most efficient way of doing things but id very much like other peoples opinions!
Thanks
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Rather than restricting your busniness by working around trailer laws you could just get a trailer licence?
True..i'm doing it more as a thought experiment since i think it would make it a whole lot easier to find staff with driving licenses than people with trailer tickets. I currently have no massive acreage but of course if i did then i'd use a triple/batwing but for a majority of grounds it seems logical perhaps?
What is your target market ?
I currently have a mixed amount of grounds m contracts..i also have a triple mower but it is kept on site so i do not need to transport it. I am basically using this as a thought experiment so that it may be easier to find and keep employees who have not got trailer licenses/want to take them..so id say target market here would be medium sized grounds to verging on large. Sports fields/superlarge areas obviously a triple mower etc would have to be used..but i thought this might be an interesting concept to think about!
Edit did not see the other comments!
Look at what continental or Glendale use for this work.
Flatbed transists or iveco dailys and trailers. If you really want to be efficient look how they do it as that's how they make money.
Come to think of it..storage could be another factor..employees not having a garage for example to store away a hefty triple mower and trailer..perhaps another option would be the large box van idea..but with 2 slightly smaller 48" zero turn rideon mowers. This way storage is not an issue/kit getting wet in rain, and also no need for trailers. Of course this is target market medium sized premises not superlarge fields..does this seem like a reasonable idea?
(both mowers being stored inside the van that is..no little trailer with pedestrian mower)
If you want to cut big fields you need to move big mowers so flatbeds vans and trailers (not sure on the box van idea for 3 reasons they are really tall and 2 mowers don't mind getting wet and 3 unless you have a lockup big enough to put the whole thing the mowers need coming out at night anyway!)
If you want smaller stuff a lwb van would do it.
I think you need a trailer license either way as it gives you options
LWB vans all seem to have wheel arches which only give about 135cm width in between them..unless you mean a pickup style van? But if a pickup stye van-I must say it would be nice to not have to go all the way to the lockup every night since i live quite far from it so would be nice to have some sort of secure van of some sort the mowers can just be left in
But if you are only doing an acre or two then 30 inch walk behinds are enough imo. To add to that I would not use 30 inch walk behind mowers on an acre or 2 but if I had no really big stuff to justify the big mowers then I would. I also have trailers and license though
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I would not leave anything in a van overnight as I would not relax at home.
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