Archive for November, 2010

Leaf removal – the sequel.

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

So we asked, and we received. In our last leaf removal post, we asked you to share some of your favorite tips and techniques with us on leaf removal. We’re glad to say we got quite a few responses – some creative, some pretty funny and others that we could see coming in quite handy. Thanks to all who shared!

And, rather than just picking one – we decided to go with a few of our favorites:

Mitch

I own an Exmark Turf Tracer HP. Usually I blow all the leaves out of the flower beds onto the lawn with my blower. Then I mow the lawn two to three times to mulch up the leaves. The mower is designed so well, it acts like a very powerful vacuum, sucking up the leaves and shredding them into tiny pieces! It doesn’t miss any leaves and I’m just using the normal Exmark blades. After I mow over the leaves two to three times, I attach my bagger and mow once, emptying my bagger every once in awhile. This works great for me.

Ryan McCallum

I own a Navigator. After blowing the leaves out of the gardens and tight areas I run over them with the machine equipped with the mulch plug to chop them up really fine. Then I take the plug out and bag as usual. Takes a bit more time but saves a lot of space on the trailer.

Rob Robinson

Blow out all the plant beds into the lawn and suck the leaves up from there. If there are a lot of them, it’s not a bad idea to grind the leaves up a bit to cut down on the amount you have to move.

Brennan Wright

Mulch kit probably the best investment I’ve ever made.

Ryan Nicola

The JRCO leaf plow works great moves lots of leaves quick leaving a thin trail behind which can easily be vaced up with a mower or blown easily with a good back pack blower.

Daniel Lane

For individual small yards, grab the biggest, thickest tarp you can, rake and blow the leaves onto it, and move by hand or tie off to your rider for the burn pile or truck.

Bonnie Lange Salonek

Ultra Vac – just got mine and I love it!

Kenny Farrell

Mulch over them with a Lazer and bag them up with a Turf Tracer.

Though we don’t encourage this behavior, the following posts made us chuckle a bit:

Joe Caron

Hire someone to do it for me!

Brian Smith

Cut down all the trees.

Justin Monnig

I’ve got all sorts of ideas, let’s see, how about use a speed blower or buffalo blower to move ‘em into your neighbor’s yard. No bagging needed. Then sit back in a lawn chair with an alcoholic beverage as your neighbor sweeps them up.

If you have more ideas you’d like to share, feel free to leave a comment below.

Helping your battery survive the winter months

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Your mowers’ batteries are no match for winter’s cruel, frigid temperament. Extreme cold can sap the life out of your battery, leaving you with nothing more than a new, heavy doorstop. Here are a few simple steps you can take to protect your battery from the bitter cold:

  • Always remove the battery from the machine and store it in a climate controlled area that stays between 50 and 70 degrees.
  • Put your battery on a trickle charger throughout winter. Or about a month before mowing season starts, put it on a trickle charger for at least a week, to recondition the battery and get it ready for mowing season. A trickle charger will give your battery a slow, deep charge that will help rejuvenate it after a period of dormancy.
  • Open up your battery’s ports and check to see if the fluids are low. If they are, fill them up with distilled water. Never use tap water to fill your battery.

This blog post is by David Martin, customer service manager at Exmark.

Another great year at GIE+Expo.

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Now that another year at GIE+EXPO has come to a close, we thought it might be time for us to do a quick recap of the products we unveiled during this year’s show.

Pioneer S-Series and E-Series

The Exmark Pioneer S-Series

The Exmark Pioneer S-Series

We’re excited to announce this latest addition to the Exmark family — the new Exmark Pioneer Series.  This mower offers the same professional performance you’d expect to see from an Exmark, but in value package that I think most landscape pros can appreciate.

The Pioneer is equipped with full-floating UltraCut deck cutting technology and Kawasaki V Twin engines. The S-Series is equipped with a 44”, 48” or 52” UltraCut Series 3 cutting deck. The E-Series is built on a full-floating 48” or 52” UltraCut Series 2 cutting deck.

More details on both of these new units can be found here and here.

Vantage

This year, we’re adding a 36” UltraCut option to the Vantage’s existing 48” and 52” decks. We’re also adding a 25 hp Kohler EFI engine to this line-up.

New EFI Units

For 2011, we’re introducing a new line of units with EFI engines. This new fleet of EFI units feature a state-of-the-art Kohler Command PRO EFI engine, which is the industry’s first closed loop fuel injection system.

New 2011 EFI Units include:

  • Turf Tracer X-Series will have a 21 hp Kohler EFI engine
  • Lazer Z S-Series will have both a 25 and 29 hp Kohler EFI engine
  • Lazer Z X-Series will continue to have a 29 hp Kohler EFI engine
  • The Navigator will have a 27 hp Kohler EFI engine

These engines allow the machines to consume up to 25 percent less fuel than a standard carburetor-powered mower for savings that really add up over time.

In case you missed the other great stuff we unveiled at GIE + EXPO 2010, you can check out our kick-off post here.

Exmarkpride.com

Monday, November 1st, 2010

As many of you know, we just wrapped up GIE + EXPO 2010. We have a lot of great things heading your way in 2011exmarkpride (for a recap, check out our GIE + EXPO kick-off post), and we’re really excited to launch our Exmark member community website, exmarkpride.com.

Here are the details:

Exmarkpride.com is the official gathering place for all Exmark fanatics. It’s designed to connect you with fellow Exmark owners, operators, landscape professionals, dealers and diehards in general.

At exmarkpride.com, you can share your favorite Exmark ‘moments,’ ideas, mowing tips and stories, interact with Exmark and industry experts, and gain special access into what is happening at Exmark.

A peek at what you'll see when you join the crew

A peek at what you'll see when you join the crew

As a member, you will also have access to business tools, receive exclusive Exmark offers on products and parts, participate in monthly contests and have the ability to win and purchase exclusive Exmark gear.

As if hanging out with Exmark crew isn’t enough to convince you to join, register by December 31 and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a Lazer Z X-Series unit. With hundreds of other Exmark fans already a part of the site, what are you waiting for?