can i get by with a residential mower?

[SeniorCitizen]

Craigslist ad from today:


48 inch gravley full commercial mower only 470 hours kawi engine 23 hp runs perfect no leaks hydros are tight deck has no holes( pictured) upgraded gravely seat. $2900 obo

What in the world happened to resale value mentioned in post #2 ?

 

[Ric]

What in the world happened to resale value mentioned in post #2 ?

If your looking for resale value you by new. You buy that mower or Gravely in the ad and the original owner takes the hit not you. You use the Gravely for a couple hundred hours a year for a couple of years and it pays for itself. You can still sell the mower with less than a thousand hours and still get some of your money back on top. Speaking in general his problem like many others is start up funding and buying a used commercial will save him money in the long run.
You have to consider a lot of these new guys that want a lawncare business never last more than a season anyway. If at that point he decides it's something he really wants to do and continue, hopefully in the first season he will be able too save enough to buy new equipment. We all started some where.

 

[jack8fire]

thanks ric u seem to know ur stuff that gravely looks good its just a lil far since im in Tx but I get what ur saying. I went and talked to the cub dealer about 20min from my house about a z-force lz 48 commercial(one grade down from the tank) and its 5300$ out the door im thinking they will take 5k all cash. my concern is how well will the warranty be stood behind? 4yr 500hr residential...they said I can do it residential since im not an llc. im going back in Monday to talk with them on a more serious note. if I buy this and put 250hrs a yr on it and sell it in two yrs whats yal guesstamate on its value? being in good shape...like 7/10 overall with 500hrs? what r yals thoughts on this route/mower?

 

[jack8fire]

I tried uploading a pic of my figures on hrs an $, if its here take a look an see if I'm at least in the right ballpark

 

[Ric]

thanks ric u seem to know ur stuff that gravely looks good its just a lil far since im in Tx but I get what ur saying. I went and talked to the cub dealer about 20min from my house about a z-force lz 48 commercial(one grade down from the tank) and its 5300$ out the door im thinking they will take 5k all cash. my concern is how well will the warranty be stood behind? 4yr 500hr residential...they said I can do it residential since im not an llc. im going back in Monday to talk with them on a more serious note. if I buy this and put 250hrs a yr on it and sell it in two yrs whats yal guesstamate on its value? being in good shape...like 7/10 overall with 500hrs? what r yals thoughts on this route/mower?

I've had 2 older model Cub Cadet Z Force mowers a 44" and 48" and both ran the Professional grade Kohler Courage 20 and 22hp engines with the 2800 drives and they were considered there High end Residential mower at the time. I put better than 700 hrs on each and never had any issues with the drives or engines so there a real good mower. I'm assuming your getting the KH with the Kohler 23.

As far as value in two years, that would be hard to say because you'll be dealing with an MTD product and people who are looking for a commercial mower very seldom look to any MTD product. Generally speaking the Company's that deal in mass production like MTD don't do real well when it come to holding there value and resale. My 48" Z Force I purchased for 4200 OTD in 2010, I sold it at the end of 2012 and was able to get $1500 and it had 756 hrs if you want to use that as a gauge. Yours being a commercial you should be able to do a lot better.

I am kinda of confused though, if your planning on selling the mower in two years why mess with the Residential warranty why not just do the 2-year limited commercial warranty with the(no hour limitations)?

 

[Ric]

I tried uploading a pic of my figures on hrs an $, if its here take a look an see if I'm at least in the right ballpark

I don't think the picture made it.

 

[jack8fire]

No the pic wouldn't I tried on phone an desktop, idk what the deal was. I found a m48 tank 2013 with 11hrs for 5500$ cash. I think I'm going to get that and take my chances on no warranty seeing how well our tank m60 did an how yours have done. I have my cost figured to the penny on everything from truck an mower fuel to blades an trimmer string. I think I can do pretty good if I always set aside 10% for breakdowns/repairs an can use my dads m60 for backup. Thanks for the help Ric...I'm sure I'll have more questions soon lol

 

[bertsmobile1]

Very, very important.
Do not forget about accident & sickness insurance and workers compensation ( or whatever you call empliyees insurance )
In your first year is exactly the time whn you will try a squeeze in that extra hour and fall asleep at the wheel, or work a little after sunset and step on the spike or hurriedly put the mower back in the trailer & badly burn your hand, run the push mower backwards over your toes, etc etc etc

Medicals are dear enough down here up there I hear they are astronomical.

 

[Ric]

No the pic wouldn't I tried on phone an desktop, idk what the deal was. I found a m48 tank 2013 with 11hrs for 5500$ cash. I think I'm going to get that and take my chances on no warranty seeing how well our tank m60 did an how yours have done. I have my cost figured to the penny on everything from truck an mower fuel to blades an trimmer string. I think I can do pretty good if I always set aside 10% for breakdowns/repairs an can use my dads m60 for backup. Thanks for the help Ric...I'm sure I'll have more questions soon lol

Ok, Now your talking about a different ball game. Your talking about a I believe the Kawasaki engine and separate pump and wheel motors.That's CC top Mower. A whole lot more mower for the money and resale would a whole lot better also. That would get my attention at resale. That mower will do everything you'll ever want out of a mower and more. They have a New Tank setting on the floor at the dealership and I think it's going for like 9K. It's running the Kawasaki FX 850