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Loftness Adds Lightweight Mulching Head For Compact Excavators
Jessica Schwartz
SiteOne Landscape Supply Aids Veterans With Non-Profit Donation
SiteOne® Landscape Supply donated $10,000 worth of battery-powered equipment to I Want To Mow Your Lawn™, a non-profit organization that provides free lawn service to veterans, elderly, and others in need. The donation—a combined effort from several SiteOne branches in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania—provided the non-profit with brand-new, environmentally friendly equipment. “We’re seeing new laws banning gas-powered equipment, so we wanted to help the non-profit get ahead of those regulations while supporting its efforts in assisting veterans and elderly in need,” said Doug Shinnick, SiteOne sales support representative. “One of our pillars at SiteOne is to be a good neighbor. We strive to be impactful by implementing our large but local mindset and giving back to our communities.” I Want To Mow Your Lawn is composed of 200 volunteers in 40 states. Those in need can search for landscape help on IWantToMowYourLawn.com or submit a lawn service request. Local volunteers, many of whom are landscape contractors, then help complete the requests. The non-profit encourages the use of battery-powered equipment to contribute to a cleaner environment. “The generous donation from SiteOne made a big impact on our mission to preserve dignity, enable independence, and build community by providing eco-friendly, essential lawn service for those in need,” said Brian Schwartz, founder of I Want To Mow Your Lawn. “We are looking forward to a long-term partnership with SiteOne.” “We are honored to work with Brian, who started I Want To Mow Your Lawn at the height of COVID-19 when the ...
Get Equipped: Battery Power
Take a look at this assortment of battery powered tools and equipment that can add value to your professional lawn care and landscaping services. MICHELIN® X® TWEEL® TURF For Mean Green EVO ZTR-74 The all-electric Mean Green EVO ZTR-74 mower now has the option of being fitted with MICHELIN X TWEEL TURF 26″ tires (26x12N12 XL 10×8.5 +1.7 ” off set) as an Original Equipment (OE) rear-wheel option, or as a replacement fitment on an existing EVO ZTR-74 mower. The 26x12N12 XL size has a 1030-pound load capacity and can be used with or without a bagger system. The new design incorporates a hubless design and utilizes either a five-bolt configuration to attach the unit as a retrofit replacement for existing mowers, or a 10-bolt standard OE configuration for new production mowers. Once bolted on, the MICHELIN X TWEEL has no air pressure to maintain. The unique energy transfer within the poly-resin spokes helps reduce the “bounce” associated with pneumatic tires. STIHL MSA 300 C-O With the new AP 500 S battery, the MSA 300 C-O offers: impressive power; high ergo-nomics; an anti-vibration system; balance; durability; a weather-resistant design; and three operating modes. It features a large LED display screen that provides status updates, such as on/off, operating mode, and chain brake position. It will even alert if the machine becomes low on bar and chain oil. The MSA 300 C-O offers a host of other features, including a brushless motor, advanced electronics, an integrated air filter, an adjustable oil ...
Journey To Sustainability
Recently, I had a chance to reflect on my 30 years in the Green Industry. I was preparing a presentation and intended to speak on the recent passing of two environmental icons (one who coined the term “biodiversity”) and their influence on McCoy Horticultural, and other companies like ours, that hold ecology as a high priority in their design and land care protocols. The crucial component of this talk was to shed light on how far our industry has moved away from nature over the past 50+ years and how critical it is that we find our way back. Essentially, we, the Green Industry can have a significant impact on maintaining or restoring healthy ecosystems within the framework of landscape design. Work History I spent the first half of my landscape career like most. In the early 1990s, we did our work within the ingrained historical framework of traditional practices for no other reason than we were not aware of alternatives and the reasoning: “Well, we’ve always done it this way. Why change?” I began as an arborist, spraying trees indiscriminately. The work was carried out as per a job card that read, “Spray the tree canopy for leaf chewing and sucking insects.” At the time, I didn’t know the potential damage it could impose on beneficial insects, the local food webs, and ecology. After a few years as an arborist and applicator, I moved to a landscape company. At this time, I was still spraying synthetics as before. We ...
Bans, Laws, & Legislation
Various state and local legislation coming down the pipeline stand to have large impacts on the Green Industry and the day-to-day operations of lawn and landscape businesses. Certain pesticides and gas-powered equipment are being targeted and debated in meeting halls, government offices, and courtrooms across the nation. Highly controversial, the bills are viewed as overdue eco-saving necessities by some and as non-science based, financially cumbersome, public health-risking, over-regulation by others. Unfortunately, many in the Green Industry find themselves in the unenviable position of appearing “anti-green” if they oppose such regulatory measures—measures that can greatly impact every aspect of their business, even its basic viability, overnight. Many lawn and landscape professionals, particularly when it comes to adopting battery-power, find themselves not opposed to the transition per se, but find the devil is in the timing, enactment, and details of regulation. “There are a lot of people trying to tell our story, but nobody tells it better than us,” says Brandon Sheppard, Weed Man Sub-Franchisor team member and operator of Weed Man franchises in Virginia, Maryland, and Alabama. “We want sustainability, too. But we must continue to focus on the science, not the emotions. We are not the bad guys as we are sometimes made out to be. We want cleaner air and safe green spaces for our kids—and for many of us, that’s what this industry is all about.” No matter where you fall in opinions or location, it’s beneficial to stay ahead of what’s happening and how it may ...
Turf April 2022 Issue
Editor’s Letter: April 2022 Issue “It’s not that easy being green.” – Kermit The Frog Perhaps no one empathizes with Kermit right now better than lawn and landscape professionals. Everywhere one turns today there is new green legislation targeting the Green Industry—an irony lost on no one. Gas-powered equipment, neonicotinoids, and even amounts of turfgrass are increasingly being scrutinized for their effects on the environment. It’s a tough position to be in—especially for a group of professionals who love the outdoors so much, they chose it as their workplace. Yet even as work methods and profit sheets hang in the balance, most seem to agree we can do better. And there are those blazing a path for the rest to follow: such as McCoy Horticultural’s commitment to sustainable practices; the use of robotic mowers by Langton Group and others; Southern Landscape Pro’s recycling of yard waste into organic soil; and J.M. Baker Company’s use of a solar charging station co-developed by former University of Tennessee Turf Manager Matthew Layne to support robotic mowers. Then there are the equipment manufacturers, too, who are pushing out bigger and better battery-powered options in an effort to meet the more rigorous demands of commercial users. It’s a lot to take in and we currently stand in the crossroads. Turf’s first issue on Sustainability was an examination of best practices. Just one year later, this issue’s coverage feels more urgent. There’s likely a curve ahead and you can choose to be ahead of it, or behind ...
