Tools of the trade

Hi all

As some of you may have already seen in my previous posts, I am looking to start up my own gardening business (very basic for the timebeing).

First of all, I will need all the equipment and tools to help me do this.
To give you an idea of the things I will need to begin, the list I have so far is:

Petrol mower, rotovator, lawn rakes, strimmer, hedge-cutter, secateurs, pruning saws, gloves, footwear and general safety equipment.

Could any of you guys please tell me are there any recommended places I should go to, to get these type of things?
Any good discount stores, online sites, etc?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

If you are really hard up, try Freecycle! I don't know where you are in England- the Bath and Frome groups are very active and it really is amazing what people throw out. I've even seen a rotavator recently.
For the smaller things like secateurs and pruning saws, try supermarkets and places like Focus. Their tools are very cheap and good for a start. There's also places like InExcess, don't know if they are countrywide, they stock all sorts of ends of lines etc. at very good prices.

 

The most important thing is quality and reliability. This goes for both the gardener and the equipment.

Dont buy cheap or from supermarkets - its a waste of money. You need to think about equipment that is supported by services.

Find a good couple in your area and look round and ask questions. Tell them whay you want if for. They can give amazing discounts. I can get the equvalent of VAT or more off most bits of equipment. These people make their money from repairs and servicing. You will need this back-up.

Best makes are Stihl for brushcutters, Stihl/husqvarna for chainsaws, stihl for hedgetrimmers. Hayter and honda for lawnmowers.

My shopping list would be:
2 lawnmowers - one with a rear-roller and one without. Roller for quality, other for rougher finish. Both self-propelled.

Hedgetrimmer

Brushcutter that can be useas a strimmer and long handled hedgetrimmer.

edging shears - favourite of mine is wolf.

you will of course need hand tools, hoe, garden rake, long handled loppers, prunners/ secateurs, broom, fork and spade. But you should have t
add to this lawn dressing/fertilising etc machine. push should do.

All the above you will probably have already or at least know how to use them. If you dont practice

What I dont think you will need is aa rotovator or scarifier - you can hire these if necessary.

Add to the above - lots of bags and somewhere to get get rid of the waste.

a Trailer or a van

plus of course registering with the taxman and getting some insurance

 

richtich,I take it that you would want to work on your own, if you are thinking of a very basic business...?
I don't know about the tools, but I can tell you what I think about a gardener...should be reliable in terms of keeping time and days and totally self sufficient in terms of how to solve the problems related to the garden (disposition of the plants based on when they flower in the year, diseases, etc...).
The garden need to be started and then maintained, so it is important that whoever does that, keeps on doing it for quite a while, or find a substitute good enough.
Nobody expects you to know everything, but if you don't you should find out.
No no to those "cowboys" that do gardening just to occupy some free hours of the day.
In my view, your employer would only have to dish out the money , answer yes and no to some simple questions , without necessarily having any idea of how you amazingly transform his garden.
Perhaps you will not do so many gardens at the start, but "clearing" jobs, which are easier I suppose.
As for me, I would like to take care of my garden myself, given the oppotunity...

 

Hi Richtich.

There are many more people on here which can probably give you better gardening advice than myself. As Miraflores advises, being knowledgable about your business is imperative. I've been gardening for about 2 years, I've learnt what I know from the internet, books and green fingered relatives. Soak up all the info you can like a sponge!

But, importantly as Jurassic points out re: tax & insurance, it's not just gardening equipment you'll need to run a business. Can I suggest investing in some accountants software.

Starting a new business can be very difficult, but also very rewarding if you are willing to put in the time and effort required (and you're family are to be supportive)

I wish you the very best of luck x

 

Thanks for the advice to everybody who has replied, I really appreciate it.

A couple of things from the comments so far:

I'm new to gardening myself - all I have done previously is mow lawns, dig borders, garden clearance. I am self-teaching myself other things though through library books, family with experience and of course Gardeners Corner.co.uk!
I am very confident that I will be able to offer and carry out a basic garden maintenance service to begin with which will hopefully advance to something more advanced (plant control, hedging, etc.) but for the timebeing it certainly would be basic.

As for the tax and insurance, that has been on my mind, it would be a part-time venture along with my main job - does that mean I have to register it with the tax man?
As for accounts, I presumed I would be keeping a book/register of all accounts and with the small amount of work I'd be doing, it would be pretty easy to control.

Thanks all.

 

As regardas the Tax Man. It might be a good idea to @phone them and ask. I was doing something like that a couple of years ago and they were suprisingly helpful in a practical manner. Oh. Add to the basic equipment a Fellig Axe, for cutting through the roots of small shrubs (Buddleia etc.) I've found that is the easiest way of getting them out in one piece. Good Luck

 

As a full time self employed gardener/ contractor carrying out all aspects of gardening, I use the following equipment:

Mower:
Etesia pro 51K.

Brush cutter/clearing saw:
Stihl FS85
Husquvarna345RX

Hedge trimmers:

Husquvarna 325 Hs99x (single sided 40" blade

Stihl HL75 pole hedge trimmer

Chainsaws:

Stihl 026
Stihl MS361

Pole prunner chainsaw

Stihl HT75 , I also have a hedge trimmer head that I use on this allowing me to trim very very wide or tall hedges.

Stihl BG 85 blower

Hand tools:

Bull dog YD handle treaded spade

Bull dog Fully strapped Contractors fork with a box type handle. (orderd direct from bulldog) the tines on this are nearly 14" long so allow for very easy trans planting and shrub lifting)

Felco secateurs (the model no escapes me but the ones with the revolving handles.

Reticulating hoe,Springbok leaf rake, Bulldowizzard rubber tine rak,Stainlees steel trowell,Sandvic edging shears,Sandvic loppers, Brush and Broom, tarmac rake. Shovels, Steel bar, Pick axe and Mattock.

Silky Gomatro prunning saw

Cooper pegler Knapsack sprayer also a 5 litre sparyer.

Several one ton builders type bags for rubbish transport

i also carry a lot of landscaping equipment eg cut off saw, spirit level, Sds drill, hands, saws etc

The above goes inside a MWB new shape transit.

As a minimum You need a good mower. when I started I bought two hayters, one was a ranger 53 pro the other a rear roller harrier pro 46. Both of these machines fell apart quickly.

My etesia will cut and collect in pouring rain and will cope with 12" long lush grass ( eg lawns that have been left unncut whilst house sales go through).

Many lawns are awkward shapes and not condusive to stripes therfore IMO it is not economic to have a roller mower ( mine was hardly used).

You will need a strimmer, I can recomend a stihl FS 85 this machine will take a blade so can be used to clear brambles etc as well as normal strimming. I also have a husquvarna clearing saw ( I strim some very large areas including very long grass )however for normall work this is overkill.

You will need a good quality hedge trimmer, Personally I like a single sided as they are available with a 40" blade so allow rapid cutting.
Both stihl and husquvarna are fine altough IMO the husquvarnas are better built for profeshional use.

You may want a chainsaw, If you do then I would sudgest you get some proper training first. a stihl 026 will takle most jobs nicely (unless you want to cut up or fell very large trees)

I look after quite a few woodland gardens and therfore have to chop up and fell some quite large trees (frequently 2'-3' trunks ) hence my need of a larger saw.

I strongly recomend a petrol blower. You will find one invaluble for clearing leaves and tidying up hedge trimmings on gravel drives or grass clippings after strimming path edges etc.

The basic handtools I use most are my felcos saceteurs, hand trowel, springbok rake, spade and fork, hand trowel and hoe. A pickaxe is invaluble for diging up roots etc. i also sudgest you get either a prunning saw or loppers.

Hope some of this ramble helps you.

Regards Paul

[ 28. September 2007, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: Pro Gard ]

 

That is a most comprehensive list Paul,of which I found most interesting as I am sure others will.

I must admit I have never seen Etesia mowers before but have just googled them and have noted.
I do prefer the Hayter with a roller for stripes for lawns that need a good finish.

I see you have a good selection of Stihl petrol tools,high end pricewise but most reliable.

Interesting you use a single sided hedge trimmer,but I understand your reasoning.

Once again most interesting.....

 

Hayters are nice enough machines but i found the briggs and stratton engines poor to start compared to hondas and kawasaki used on eteisia.

The other problem I had was with the height of cut mecanisms breaking also the drive cables.

When I first started I used a trailer behind a 4x4 and the vibrations from the trailer may have contributed to the hayters early downfall.

The good thing with stihl is that parts are very easily obtainable. For other makes eg Echo parts can take weeks.

 

No problem with the B&S on my Hayter. I need a rear roller for my customers . I've only used Hayters and find them superbly balanced.

Two brushcutters - both Stihl, one 10yrs old and the other 3. The older is the loop handle and I use it for strimming and hedgecutting. Just don't forget the safety equipment

Hedgetrimmer - Stihl 054

Chainsaw - Husqvana

and of course - insurance

 

I forgot a stepladder and possibly an extension ladder.

as jurassic says, ear defenders and gloves If using a chainsaw then a chainsaw helmet and perhaps kevlar chainsaw trousers.

As for insurance, NFU mutual I have found to be extremly competetive and helpfull.

 

ould try these people.

http://www.parksandgrounds.co.uk/default.asp

 

PLEASE add some goggles to the list! - I nearly had an eye out and ended up in casualty due to being poked in the eye with a stray twig whilst pruning a shrub. And Public Liability insurance is an absolute must if you are working on other peoples property - I get mine through my bank, have a word in your branch or contact the RHS and or Garden Organic for advice (not just about insurance). If you want to expand your talents to get into more varied work, a good step is to do an RHS Cert - you can do it part-time and it makes your adverts more attractive too!
I wouldn't be without my knee pads and knife either.
Good luck!

 

Oh and steel toe capped boots!