The lawn care industry for homeowners is a slippery slope.
On one hand – you have your needs or requirements for your property. And that includes whatever tools and equipment you have or own. And with that comes maintenance and repairs. You have to take care of your things if you want to use them for a while.
Then, of course, comes the need desire to “upgrade” your tools. Naturally, people want better stuff. Fancier tools. Improvements.
If you had limitless money – you can always discard the inferior and attain the superior. But that is not the case for most people. Even though they’d like to believe otherwise. Sometimes you have to patch up the old to achieve your goals.
Thus, the conundrum of what you should do. Preserve what you have? Or replace it with something better?
Even 10 year old used stuff might be better that what you have
The value of lawn equipment. Cost, time, benefits.
Lawn equipment such as tractors, mowers, and other items cost money. Larger equipment can cost many thousands. Sometimes tens of thousands of dollars in total!
Compact push mowers go from $150 all the way up to over $1000.
Lawn tractors start at $1500 and easily exceed $10,000.
Other items like “zero turns” are around $2000, all the way up to over $20,000!
Most equipment like that retains value. At least to the property-owner. Why? Because the cost of repairs are FAR lower than replacing the item in most cases.
Additionally – most of the time, all it takes is a little know-how, time, and effort to keep the equipment going for a long time. But that is not always easy for your average person. And you forget the allure of “new, better, faster, awesome!” as well!
Fixing saves a lot of money!
When to fix – when to sell – when to buy new
Do you bother disassembling the motor of your tractor, trimmer, or mower?
Or is it beyond you?
Do you take it to a small engine repair shop? Or try it yourself?
Is it upsetting to pay for repairs on an OLD piece of equipment? Do you want the better features?
Those are all questions we’re going to answer in an upcoming video we’re doing about this subject. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll talk about our own conundrum. And how we chose to solve the matter at hand.
It varies by circumstance, but let’s just say that it always pays to at least “go through the motions” to get what you have working before wasting money on something new. Because they’res always something better around the bend.
See you soon with some updates!
