MOWERS/POWER EQUIPMENT: A Stand-Up Favorite

Landscape contractor Daryl Zeka has three 48-inch walk-behind mowers in pristine condition, each with less than 10 hours of use and flawless paint jobs.
What’s the problem? They’re 2 years old and his workers won’t touch them  since the stand-ons arrived. “We can’t get our employees to use the walk-behind mowers now that we have stand-on units,” says Zeka, a partner with Boynton Beach, Fla.-based Palm Beach-Broward Landscaping. “The only time they’ll use them is when something is absolutely broken.”

Since Zeka’s firm bought the stand-on mowers eight years ago, they’ve become indispensable tools. Today, stand-on mowers comprise about 20 percent of Palm Beach-Broward Landscaping’s fleet. “I just know the guys are happier using them,” he says. “We went to the field managers and asked them what equipment they needed – all the crews wanted at least one stand-on machine.” 

Most landscape contractors using stand-on mowers will readily testify to the reliability and functionality of this particular piece of lawn care equipment. From the bigger outfits to the small-sized firms, contractors like the all-in-one machines because they are fast enough to mow big areas quickly and maneuverable enough to get in and cut tight areas.
 
“The stand-on mower is a very versatile machine, even though your employees may think they’re strange if they’ve never used them before,” says Steve Pearce, maintenance operations manager for Sebert Landscaping in Bartlett, Ill., which has 90 stand-ons in its  fleet. “If you think they would fit in your operation, your employees will get used to using them. After a couple of days, those same guys will never want to cut with anything else.”

LOWER COSTS, INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY. Contractors utilize stand-ons for a variety of reasons.
 
Maneuverability is a major factor, Zeka says. His South Florida firm, on average, mows 20-by-20-feet properties. “You go in there and you cut 1,000 homes and all the front yards are little bitty things,” Zeka says. “We don’t need the speed, we need maneuverability. That’s the reason we picked the stand-ons. We keep the larger mowers for the backyards, but for the fronts and sides, the stand-on is the way to do it.
 
“The stand-on mower is great for the tight areas and in between the homes that are only 10 feet apart,” Zeka adds. “It definitely cuts hills much better because you can move your weight from side to side. On an incline, you can stand on one side to keep the machine stable.”
 
The mower’s low center of gravity gives the user the ability to lean, says Hal White, vice president of sales and marketing for Wright Manufacturing, Frederick, Md. Because the user of a stand-on is essentially positioned on the zero-turn point, the mower can change directions rapidly, he says.
 
Besides maneuverability, stand-on mowers reduce user fatigue, says Gilbert Pena, segment strategy manager for commercial at John Deere, Moline, Ill. “One of the first questions people have is why would they want to stand when they can sit all day?” he asks. “The answer seems totally contradictory to what you would think. People who use these will tell you they are less fatigued at the end of the day than they were with sit-downs, believe it or not.”
 
On seated riding mowers, Pena says the backbone takes a beating every time the machine moves over uneven terrain. However, when standing, the operator’s legs act as shock absorbers. “When you watch someone using these, you’ll notice the legs are flexing continuously and the body is shifting in accordance with the terrain,” he explains. “People who use them will tell you that not only did they become more productive, they are less fatigued as a result.”
 
In addition to their speed, maneuverability and fatigue-reducing aspects, Pearce says price is another attractive benefit to stand-on mowers. Pearce estimates a contractor can pick up a quality stand-on mower for between $5,700 and $6,000, which is a savings when compared to the average zero-turn mower, which can start at $10,000 and go up from there.
 
However, Pearce sees stand-ons’ one drawback: they perform very similar to zero-turn mowers and may make the user overconfident.
 
“Some guys, because of all the time they spend using the stand-on, begin to master its operation and they feel they can take them into smaller and more challenging areas when they shouldn’t,” he says. “That takes a toll on the client’s turf, often gauging the ground. Those instances are when they should really be using walk-behinds.”
 
Dale Denison, owner of a U.S. Lawns franchise in Overland Park, Kan., started including stand-on mowers in his fleet in March after a crew leader who had used them before suggested it.
 
“Quite frankly, those two stand-on mowers replaced three walk-behind mowers,” he says. “I just think stand-on mowers are quicker and more nimble. Compared to a riding mower, they are easier to work with – it’s night and day, and they weigh half as much.”
 
Denison’s employees took to them quickly. He scheduled a training session before taking delivery of the machines. He then structured the mowing schedule to allow for on-the-job training. The firm handles about 40 commercial properties a week in an area saturated with retail, light industry, banks and restaurants.
 
“They were comfortable using them very quickly,” he says. “We took our normal one week’s mowing schedule and we let them complete it in whatever time it took. We told them to take it slow.”
 
At the time, the grass was growing slowly so it allowed time for training. “They were slower for the first few days,” he says, “but within a few days they were right on schedule.”
 
Stand-ons can increase productivity by as much as 20 percent, Denison says. For example, getting off and on the mower to remove debris has become less time-consuming, he says, as well as loading and unloading the machines on the trailer.
 
“We can turn them around easily inside the trailer,” he shares, adding that walk-behinds take longer to maneuver because the bars make them more unwieldy.
 
And with riding mowers, the controls users have to retract before getting off are the same that have to be moved before loading onto a trailer, Pena says.
 
“Over a days’ time, you’ve gained 20, 30 or 40 minutes doing several activities and one of those is loading and unloading,” he says.
 
A crew mowing mostly residential accounts typically tends a number of smaller properties, Pena says.
 
“In one day’s time, they will be loading and unloading that trailer easily a dozens times,” he says. “Every time you must get off a sit-down unit, it takes multiple steps that aren’t there in a stand-on unit.”
    
Stand-ons also can save money in maintenance and fuel costs, Denison says. For example, their greater visibility helps workers avoid hitting objects and damaging the mower. 
    
In addition, by nearly halving the weight of the mowers Denison carries on his trailer, he has saved on gas in his truck.
    
“I wondered why we were hauling around twice as much weight at $3 a gallon for gas,” Denison says.