Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Archive for April, 2009

Propane powered lawn equipment: grass trimmer (weed eater).

Apr 6

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, lawn business strategies, lawn care videos, lawn equipment, propane, weedeaters | 7 Comments

by:
Start A Lawn Care Business

Propane Powered String Trimmer (weedeater) Review

Purchase the new Lehr Propane Powered Line Trimmer here:

Hi Everyone. This is Keith with StartALawnCareBusiness.com. We are in the beautiful Tennessee Valley at Falling Water Falls. We are surrounded by nature and today we are reviewing an eco-friendly product. It’s the Lehr 4 cycle, propane powered, string trimmer. 
Read more below the video window.


Environmentally Friendly

Propane power offers lawn care companies greater flexibility. During code red air pollution days in some areas lawn care companies are(voluntarily in some areas) disallowed from using 2 cycle gasoline powered string trimmers. However, they are allowed to use propane power since the pollutants released from the trimmers are less than using 2 cycle gas-oil mixtures.

Propane Canisters

The Lehr model uses 16.4 oz. propane canisters. You can purchase these at most any department store or retail store. They are most commonly found in the camping section. They cost about $3.00 per bottle and Lehr says you can operate the string trimmer for about 2 hours from a full bottle of propane.

No choke. No primer bulb. No mixing of gas and oil.

Refilling the unit is simple. Take a new bottle of propane. Slip it into the housing twist on the coupling. Slide the bottle so the end is flush with the housing then secure the latch.  That’s all there is to it. There is no mixture of oil and gasoline. You do not have to worry about a choke and you do not have to worry with a primer bulb to prime the fuel system.

Once the system is charged with propane one or two pulls of the starter rope starts it right up. The Lehr propane string trimmer starts very quickly and easily. The string trimmer seems to idle quieter than other trimmers. Don’t let the low decibels fool you. The trimmer torques very quickly when you press the throttle.

Lawn Care Safety Equipment

Before using any lawn equipment take proper safety precautions. Ear and eye protection are necessary.

If you need to make an environmental statement with your lawn care company, I highly recommend the Lehr propane powered string trimmer. It is high quality. It is responsive. Your customers will love you for it.

Weedeater is a brand name of the Poulan Company but lawn care enthusiasts often refer to string trimmers as weedeaters.

For more information and proper assembly instructions, visit the manufacturer’s website at: www.GoLehr.com
Purchase it from Amazon.com by using this link:

For more information on operating a professional lawn care company, visit us at:
www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Pruning for your Landscape Business

Apr 4

Posted by Lawn Care Business in landscaping, lawn business strategies, lawn care videos, lawn equipment, pruning | 1 Comment

by:
Lawn Care Business

How to properly
prune a limb off a tree.

Small pruning jobs can bring extra money into your lawn care / landscaping business. In today’s example, we have a branch that
has been damaged. The bark is peeling away from the subwood. The entire limb is
dead and needs to be pruned off to maintain the health of the tree.  Read
the directions below the video window.

 

 


This tree limb is joined at a collared union

This limb is joined at a collared union. 
The bark of the tree poofs out as the limb come out of the tree. The poofed out
part is the collar. All cuts at a collared union should be on the branch side of
the collar. You should never cut into the collar of a tree. Cutting into a
collar can do severe damage to the tree.

If this branch were smaller, we could use a pair of anvil loppers to prune away
the branch. Since it is so large, our anvils will not produce a correct cut. For
this branch we are going to use a bow saw. A pruning saw will work too.


Proper pruning: Three Cut Method

The proper method of cutting a branch with
a saw is to use the three-cut method of pruning. If you just use the saw and cut
it at the collar, the weight of the branch will pull down and you risk tearing
the collar damaging the tree. We are going to use the three-cut method.

The first cut is made on the underside of the branch about 5 inches away from
the collar. Cut the branch about 1/4 way through.


Underside Pruning Cut

The second cut is made about 2 inches
further away from the collar than the underside cut. As you can see in the
video, while making the top cut the branch fell downward before the cut was
complete. This action tore the underside of the branch to the underside cut. If
we had not made the underside cut, the tear may have proceeded to the collar and
damaged the health wood inside. The underside cut protected the collar.

After the main branch is cut away, you can make a third cut just outside of the
collar to cut away the remaining stub to finish your pruning job.

Pruning Sealant

On some pruning cuts, you may need to use
an arborists’ sealer to protect against insects and disease. However, since we
made this pruning cut during the cold season, we are not going to seal the cut.

Lawn Care / Landscaping Pricing Guidance

For more information on how to start a lawn
care and landscaping business, check out our lawn care business program found
at:
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com 

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