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When James Perrone started working for his father’s landscaping company nearly 20 years ago, they had 14 employees. Perrone uses the three machines simultaneously, taking advantage of their complementary features. He uses the walk-behind track loader to move boulders in small yards. At only 36-inches wide, it’s the perfect machine for such spaces. The track loader has an 8-foot-wide bucket, making it just the right size to fit inside of a fenced-in back yard. As such, it only requires Perrone to remove a single section of an 8-foot fence, if anything. The biggest benefit of using compact equipment, Perrone says, is that it saves both time and money – cost savings that he can then redirect back into his company. “On a rainy day, I don’t have to look for things for my machines to do, unlike with employees,” says Perrone. “There’s less overhead as a result.” Perrone’s compact equipment “can pretty much work through anything,” he says – including the first snowfall. “We’ll keep on working until there’s snow covering the ground, and we’re back out on the job in early spring. We’d never be able to do that without these machines.” His fleet of compact machines has rubber tracks, rather than metal ones, and that means less damage and clean-up for Perrone. Finally, Perrone’s compact equipment also allows him the ability to take on different kinds of projects when business is slow. “If I have some down time and a buddy calls me, I can do another project, such as digging an addition, with this equipment,” he says. One thing that’s surprised Perrone is how much he’s been able to maximize the use of his smallest piece of equipment – the walk-behind. “I bought it for small backyards, but now I’m finding that I use it more than my other machines,” he says. Compact machines have helped Perrone to tap into a niche market for pond and waterfall projects – a market that, he says, is expanding. Owners are investing more in their homes because they can’t afford to spend money on vacations, he says. “Having a water feature in your backyard,” Perrone says “is like a staycation.” The author is a freelance writer based in Cleveland. |
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