I'm Bill Elzey, with Showplace Lawns. How to choose a lawn mower. Well, several factors
will go into that. Price obviously is one. How you're going to use it is the second one,
and what is the outlay, or how can you get in and out and do your mowing is another one.
Mowers come in lots of different widths. The standard lawn mower like this one is twenty
one inches in width. That's the blade size and that's how much that cuts at one time
is twenty one inches. They go up from there. Some mowers now are cutting twenty five, twenty
six inches. Others are cutting thirty, thirty two, thirty four, thirty six, forty two, forty
eight, fifty two; as far up as seventy two inches. Seventy two inches of course is a
six foot width in cut. Now granted, some of those are on commercial mowers and they're
on riders. In addition to what I call the old-fashioned lawn mower, the homeowner, the
whatever, there are the walk behinds with the bigger decks, and different types of transmissions
to run them with. Then, there are your riders. In my opinion, and from a commercial standpoint
this works obviously the best for us; the zero turn with the sticks. Once you get used
to it you'll never want to go back to a steering wheel or handlebars again; I promise you.
Ease, operation, tighter turning radius, cut better as far as what you can cut. Another
factor to consider; in today’s market, and these again, are commercial mowers, there
is what they call the stand ons. They're a machine, and you stand on it and you ride
standin' on the machine. I mentioned commercial mowers to you because the commercial mowers
are definitely built better. Yes, you pay a little bit more for them, but if you buy
a really good machine it's going to last. You're not going to have the problems, and
the heartache, and the things with em' like you will with the cheaper models you can pick
up. They will last, some of em' I think can last twenty years, and when you divide that
initial cost out over that length of time with you, and you keep your maintenance up
on your machine; change your oil, change your plug, change your air filter that mower will
come down greatly in price. So, when considering that think of that return on that investment.
Go to a commercial equipment dealer. See what he's got in his lineup. Talk to him just like
you would if you were buyin' a car, cause' you're going to get the better machine there,
and in time, that price is nothin' compared to what you will pay if you get a cheaper
machine now, and have to take it to the shop once or twice a year for the next two or three
years, and then, have to replace it. So, I would start with a commercial machine. Then
look; these twenty one inches are commercial models as well. And then see; a big lawn,
obviously you would want a rider. A small lawn; this twenty one inch will work. So,
check the commercial line up, realize that the initial expense is an investment for the
next fifteen years or so, and that price comes down.