Tools of the Trade: A Perfect 10

Most LCOs can’t remember each piece of equipment in their lawn care inventory. Even fewer can reveal the exact names or specifications of that equipment on-the-spot.

But Lawn Barber CEO Brian Ulsh isn’t the typical lawn professional.

In fact, he could be considered the Wright Manufacturing enthusiast. 

“Since I started using Wright stand-ons, we have phased out every other brand in our fleet,” Ulsh says. “We now have a total of three 36-inch Standers, four 36-inch Rapid Height Standers, three 52-inch Sentars, one 52-inch Sentar Sport and two Stander ZKs.”

Ulsh, who owns and operates a full-service maintenance company in Hampton, Va., is committed to Wright stand-ons for a number of reasons. He has ambitious plans to double Lawn Barber’s 2007 revenue ($300,000) by 2010, and found Wright to be a manufacturer that can help him reach that goal.

But of course, simple economics doesn’t make a contractor fall head-over-heels for a brand of mowers. While Ulsh was searching for stand-ons, he discovered Wright’s offerings were quick, economical, easy to maneuver and durable.

And most important – they fit in his trucks.

“One of the biggest assets of Wright mowers is that they are so compact,” explains Ulsh, a 15-year maintenance veteran. “We can fit a 36-inch and 52-inch stand-on side-by-side in our regular pickup trucks with modified beds. If we need to, we can even get a 36-inch and two 52-inch mowers on the back of a truck. That’s a big deal.”

Ulsh says he tried hauling similar stand-ons from six other companies. However, they were all too big.

“Size was a huge selling point for us in the beginning, but that isn’t necessarily the most important thing,” Ulsh adds. “If the mower doesn’t have a quality cut, then it really doesn’t do you any good. Wright stand-ons leave a nice stripe, and even though most mowers can turn on a dime, I really like these because you’re essentially standing on the center of gravity. When you turn, you aren’t thrown off balance.”

Particularly impressed with Wright’s Sentar model, Ulsh noticed balance isn’t even a problem when cutting on hills.
“You don’t have to slow down much. You displace your weight by leaning into the hill and then you gain more traction on the side.”

Engineering also played a role in Ulsh’s decision to use Wright stand-ons. He says that because the company’s lineup is built with few moving parts, he experiences little down time. Yet when a mower component does break, Wright immediately helps address the problem via phone.

“There was a specific instance where one of the mowers was down and I couldn’t get the part, so I called Wright at 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” Ulsh explains. “They shipped the part to me by Fed Ex and by 10 o’clock the next morning they were walking me through how to put it on.”

Overall, Ulsh says most troubles with  Wright’s products are related to operator error, such as broken blades or spindles.

“Outside of that, I’d say there haven’t been very many issues with them. One of our mowers had a few things wrong with the engine, but that’s the engine – not the mower itself. We still use a stander that I’ve had for six years because it runs strong. Typically, we’d phase out our mowers in four or five years. These are holding on.”

But with a wealth of new mower technology on the market, would even a Wright enthusiast be comfortable operating one of the company’s vintage stand-ons? 

“The original Stander is pretty good,” Ulsh admits. “If I had to rate it on a scale from one to 10, I’d give it a seven. But they’ve made huge improvements from the original Stander to the (Stander) ZK. Now, with the way they have the suspension set on a spring-loaded system, I’d give it a 10.”