Photo courtesy of Toro
When he was first starting out, Chase Prewitt imagined having a fleet with all of the newest equipment on the market. With just two mowers and a walk-behind spreader, Prewitt thought that he would know he “made it” when he had all of the latest technology.
Now, after 17 years in business at Prewitt’s Lawn Care in Athens, Ohio, he says he’s knows he’s made it and doesn’t need a bunch of different vehicles to get the job done.
“At first, when I was younger, I wanted to build a big business, but we’re making a comfortable living and I can treat my guys well. And I’ve learned that less is more when it comes to equipment,” he says.
Prewitt has a couple of walk-behind mowers and the standard handheld equipment like blowers, trimmers and edgers, but he says his stand-on mowers are the real workhorses of his fleet.
“If I can reduce the amount of equipment my guys are using, going back and switching out and walking the property again, it’s really a time-saver,” he says.
The $550,000 business offers lawn maintenance, spring and fall cleanup and some basic landscape services like pruning and planting. The mostly residential company employs 10 people during the busy season.
Tom Hertz, owner of Innovative Landscaping in Artesia, New Mexico, first got interested in mower attachments when he was shopping for canopies for his ride-on mowers.
“There’s no way you can send a crew out without them in the heat,” he says. “I was looking at my options and realized there’s another whole world of stuff to play with.”