I’ve been a landscaper for 35 years.
For most of my adult life, my mower was simply a commercial mower that I moved from my commercial mowing business into my own “personal” usage when they got too old to be used on a crew. Above you can see some of my mowers that I have “put out to pasture” over the years.
I have been cutting grass both personally and professionally since I was 8 years old. I’m 58 years old now. I’ve been cutting grass for 50 years. I cut grass professionally for 20 of those 50 years, but got out of that business in 1999. As a result, in 2019, I was faced with the reality of no more “old mowers” to use for my own lawn, and what I had was in reliable for personal usage. I was in uncharted waters.
So, for the first time in decades I was faced with a unfamiliar questions:
1987 - My first mowing business with my brother Dan. 48” walk-behind mowers and 14 horse gas motors ruled the day!
What mower would I buy…if I could buy anything?
My thought immediately went to zero turns. it’s what I knew. They are the best, right?
They are the “hot set up” and I’d used them for years. Fast and efficient machines for mowing grass. There is no doubt that they are the king of the mowing world…right?
Well, as luck would have it, my old walk behind mower was broken again, and I needed a part. I figured I’d kick the tires of some zero-turns during my trip to the mower dealer down the road. But what happened as the result of that trip, changed everything for me, and I went from the past into the future.
I began thinking differently. Better. More consistently with what I had learned in my career. I took a “white paper” look at what mowing was. I cooled my jets, and allowed myself to contemplate and consider that maybe there is a way to cut grass that didn’t feel like “creating my own problems”. To explain what I mean by “creating my own problems”, I need to back up a little bit. Please permit me a little more history…
What always bothered me about commercial grass cutting
Most of my time in the landscape industry was spent designing beautiful landscapes, or implementing custom Integrate Pest Management (IPM) programs to clients properties. IPM is the combination of cultural and chemical methods for creating and maintaining healthy, attractive turf. Mowing was just one service of many we supplied…and it never did really feel like a good fit.
Here I was, meeting with clients and using my education and experience to design and install beautiful landscapes for them; only to also contract with them for noisy, gas-guzzling, soil-compacting, rowdy commercial mowing services.
It just didnt’ fit.
I felt like my own worst enemy, as everything I was accomplishing with good landscape practices was being undone by the mowing services. For example:
Build an oasis…then ruin it with noisy mowing.
the heavy mowers needed big trucks and trailers to pull them from place to place. Both the mowers and all the associated equipment guzzled gas each and every day.
The equipment was noisy. Here I design a landscape with peaceful bird and water sounds, only to drown it all out with the many decibel, high-horsepower mechanical monsters that are commercial mowers.
The equipment was heavy. The soil compaction was unavoidable. The weight of the mowers compared soils more with each mowing. And as many guys would go on the previous weeks tracks to “stripe” the lawn, those areas became especially compressed. Compressed soil is the enemy of good turf.
The newer guys would “turf” the grass using their zero turn mowers. This happens when the operator doesn’t quite understand that spinning a turn, on one tire, rips out all the grass below. Over time, most Operators can be trained against this practice, but on a busy or wet week, it happens regardless of training.
Speaking of “wet weather”… a commercial mowing crew can only be at one property at a time. That means that a few days of wet weather can cramp the style of homeowners, but what it does to commercial operators is exponentially worse. It results in tons of clippings, “turfing” and bad cuts until the weather allows the crew to get it right. This can take the full spring season some years.
Speaking of crews… Most of my “workers” were not “career” oriented. Most of my Foreman were, but they only account for about 25% of the mowing. The other 75% was frankly being done by folks I hardly knew. Folks who were looking for “jobs”. Most that didn’t stay more than a season or two. Part of me never felt right about sending those folks out to clients properties. I really didn’t know them well, and couldn’t vouch for their character. But we were so busy, some years, you just had to take who walked in the door…and hope for the best. That’s no way to provide security for your clients, but that was the reality of the situation.
So that ends the “history”. Let’s go back to me standing at the dealer, kicking the tires of my potential new zero-turn, and ordering parts for my broken mower, and pondering the future.
The “lightbulb” moment 💡
My shop down the road happened to also be a Husqvarna dealer. In their shop, I saw what I thought was a funny little contraption that looked a little like a toy (compared to the big, masculine mowers I was used to and considering buying another). I was waiting, so I took a few moments and watched the video about it. It might have been this video:
I started thinking…
Here was the solution I had been dreaming of!
It was quiet
It didn’t guzzle gas.
It doesn’t compact the soils.
It doesn’t scalp the lawns.
It doesn’t turf the lawns.
It cuts rain or shine.
It cuts day or night.
It doesn’t rely on people who are unreliable, unseemly or only interested in “summer jobs”.
This solution was all the things I had been preaching about, and wanting for my clients for years. All I had to do was allow myself to think differently and embrace the future.
I bought an Automower!
Here it is cutting my yard just after installation.
I couldn’t be more happy with my decision! After a little bit of a struggle with the learning curve and initial installation: it’s been smooth sailing ever since! My lawn has never looked better, and I feel good about the environmental aspects and my time savings. I made a post about my initial impressions of the mower, and the set up HERE if you are interested.
I will be making more videos about the Robotic Mowers and my impressions as I go forward into this world.
I have liked it so much, that I have decided to get back into mowing!
(something I said I would never do)
I want to bring this wonderful technology to as many clients as I can for all it’s advantages. Finally, I have a way to repent for all those sins of the past. A way to address all those things about mowing that used to bother me at work. A way to make the world better through my passion for landscape, lawns and outdoor spaces.
Much to be done. An industry to revolutionize! But it’s happening. Here is my new business name and logo: Introducing Mr. Mowbot!
Learn about our services offered HERE