Power equipment is the backbone of a green industry business. For lawn care companies, mowers are the core of that equipment fleet. But they’re not the whole picture. To deliver the neat, manicured lawns that clients expect, you also need trimmers, edgers, and blowers.
String-line trimmers clean up spots in the lawn that mowers can’t reach. Edgers give you a neat, professional finish to the edges of driveways, sidewalks, and flower gardens. Blowers are a year-round tool for yard cleanup. Together, these tools help you up the curb appeal of customer yards and ensure client satisfaction.
As with lawn mowers, commercial-grade trimmers, blowers, and edgers are the best option for handling the workload of professional lawn care. Commercial-grade equipment is more powerful and is manufactured with higher-quality materials designed to stand up to daily use.
Gasoline or Battery Power
Both gasoline-powered and battery-powered commercial equipment can deliver the power you need to handle professional lawn work. The main difference between them that impacts performance is how you refuel or recharge the equipment.
With gasoline-powered equipment, you can simply refill the tool as needed. For 2-cycle engines, you’ll need to travel with the mix of oil and gasoline needed for the specific tools you’re using. For 4-cycle engines, you can refuel them even more easily.
Battery-powered handheld tools will require spare battery packs and a recharging system. Modern lithium-ion technology delivers reliable power for the runtime of the battery, but the batteries run out quickly when you’re using them with more powerful equipment. Transitioning to battery power is possible for commercial crews, but requires planning.
The benefits of battery power–lower costs over time, quiet operation, no emissions, and easy maintenance–can make it worthwhile to figure out the logistics of charging them. Some crews opt for large charging banks for overnight charging and carry several spare batteries. However, if your crews are working on multiple residential properties or on large commercial properties each day, it might not be practical to carry enough charged batteries to get through the whole workday. Some battery equipment manufacturers, including STIHL and EGO, offer on-the-go charging solutions for rapid charging in the field.
Power, Weight, and Other Factors To Consider
Commercial crews need power equipment that balances performance with ergonomics. The tools need to deliver power that’ll get the job done fast, but also be comfortable for operators to use all day. Top commercial brands, including STIHL, EGO, and ECHO, all pay attention to this, working to keep weight down while delivering powerful performance. Many commercial models include ergonomic features and anti-vibration systems to reduce crew fatigue.
Trimmer
Most commercial trimmers have a straight shaft. They’re good for taller users (though some feature an adjustable shaft) and can reach under obstacles like decks, shrubs, and benches. Curved-shaft trimmers might have a place in your fleet, though. They’re better for shorter users and are easier to maneuver and control, which makes them good for trimming in tight areas. You’ll also have a choice between loop handles or bike handles. Loop handles are more maneuverable, but bike handles are less tiring to use.
Read more: Choosing the Right Trimmer for Commercial Use: The Pros and Cons of Different Options
Edger
Most edgers for both residential and commercial use are hand-held, pole-style edgers with straight shafts. Those will work well for most applications. However, if your company maintains large properties like a college campus, a walk-behind edger offers more power and stability. The walk-behind design also makes working with them for a long time more comfortable than handheld edgers.
Read more: Buying Guide: Choosing the Best Edger for Your Lawn
Blower
Small handheld blowers can be useful for quick cleanup tasks, but most professionals opt for the commercial backpack blowers. Backpack blowers are more powerful than handheld models, and putting the weight on the operator’s back makes them easier to use. For a more versatile tool, consider getting a blower that can also be used as a shredder vac.
Read more: Buying Guide: Choosing the Best Blower
Dedicated Tools or Multi-tool Systems
You can get trimmers, blowers, and edgers as separate tools or invest in a multi-tool system. With a multi-tool, you only need to maintain one powerhead, and then you can swap out different attachments. A multitool can save you money over buying separate tools, especially if you’re using more than two attachments. But there are some downsides to the multi-tool for commercial crews.
The choice between dedicated tools or a multi-tool system largely depends on your crew setups. With dedicated tools, a large crew can have different people using the trimmer, edger, and blower at the same time. But if you have a smaller crew and the same person would be using all the tools one after another, opting for a multitool system can save space on the trailer. Multi-tools can also be great as backup tools to keep on equipment trailers. You’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of the different options in light of your crew setup to decide which option is right for your company.
Read more: Buying Guide: How To Choose a Multi-Tool for Residential and Commercial Lawn Care
Your Choice for Commercial Power Equipment
When you’re choosing commercial power equipment, there are several top brands to consider. Here at Richardson Saw, we carry trimmers, edgers, blowers, and multi-tools from STIHL, Echo, EGO, RedMax, and Toro. All these brands deliver reliable, commercial-grade performance.
If you’re going with dedicated gasoline power tools, there is no downside to choosing tools from different brands. If you want a multi-tool or battery-powered tools, though, then you’ll need to choose one brand to stick with. For multi-tools, not all powerheads are compatible with every attachment, so make sure you research to find the option that’s best for you. For battery-powered tools, most brands design the batteries to work in any of their tools, so choosing just one brand makes it much easier to swap batteries around.
If you’d like professional guidance on selecting the right commercial trimmer, edger, or blower for your company, give us a call, browse our website, or stop in at our location in Richardson, TX. Our equipment experts will be happy to answer your questions and show you the different options we have available.
