Today I received an email from someone with Driven By Solar Inc. about the Recharge Mower. They asked if I would like to post a press release for their product, and I agreed.

The Recharge Mower is a battery-powered lawn mower that looks a bit like a yellow Mars rover. Sexy, anyone?

Anyhow, enough of my ramblings. Let's see what Recharge Mower has to say about their product:

A greener lawn. A greener planet. That’s what the revolutionary new riding Recharge Mower™ is all about. With up to 3 hours of continuous operating power between charges, you can beautify your property while doing your part to protect the environment.

Unlike a majority of push and riding mowers, the Recharge Mower™ uses NO GAS- NO OIL – NO SPARK PLUGS – NO TUNE UPS and operates Extremely Quietly. That means you can care for your lawn without adding to Air or Noise Pollution.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a traditional gas powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles. The EPA states that 17 million gallons of fuel, mostly gasoline, are spilled each year while refueling lawn equipment. That's more than all the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez. In addition to groundwater contamination, spilled fuel that evaporates into the air and the volatile organic compounds spit out by small engines, make smog-forming ozone when cooked by heat and sunlight. Also, according to the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse (NPC), the 85 to 90 decibels of noise produced by a typical gas-powered mower can be heard a quarter mile away or more. In other words, mowing a quarter-acre lot with a gas-powered mower pollutes 100 acres of the surrounding neighborhood with noise.

Over 3 years of engineering, design, and development combine in the release of the Recharge Mower™. The unit features a proprietary electronically controlled 36v38Ah power system. This system can be fully reenergized overnight by simply plugging in the included Smart Charger into a standard wall outlet. For an average cost of only 55 cents, the Recharge Mower™ will be fully repowered and ready to provide dependable service.

The Recharge Mower™ features a 27-inch wide cutting deck and has 5 selectable cutting heights for precision lawn care. Unlike other riding mowers, the Recharge Mower™ has been specifically designed to pass through standard fence gates for convenient access to front and rear yards. Even the included rear mounted grass catcher is easily emptied and installed without tools or special skills. This ideal width combines with smooth, nimble handling to make maneuvering around trees and shrubs effortless.

The resilient moulded body is fitted over a coated and welded metal frame providing long dependable life. The three sealed batteries are positioned both low and center, improving balance and weight distribution. The Twin long life and powerful 900 watt cutting blades are housed within the metal shrouded deck. Additionally, the powerful rear wheel drive electric motor provides abundant forward and reverse momentum. The entire system is operated through uncomplicated hand controls which are easily accessible from the driver’s seat. Ultimately, this makes the Recharge Mower™ perfect for both physically fit and mobility challenged adults.

Having undergone exhaustive testing, the Recharge Mower™ meets or exceeds UL1447 and ANSI B71.1 safety standards. Safe operation of any machine is paramount and the Recharge Mower™ includes many safety features including a Operator presence switch, blade activation safety control, an audible reverse warning indicator and many more.

The Recharge Mower™ is covered by a 2 Year Limited Residential Use Warranty.

For more details, a collection of custom accessories and to watch the full length video,
to go the website:
www.RechargeMower.com
or contact Dealer/Media Relations at:
1.647.884.3300

Pretty cool stuff. Here's a 20 point list of the features of the Recharge Mower to summarize the press release:

1. Up to three hours of continuous operating power between charges

2. Uses no gas, no oil, no spark plugs, and needs no tune-ups

3. Operates extremely quietly

4. Zero air/noise pollution

5. The unit features a proprietary electronically controlled 36v38Ah power system

6. The electricity used to power the Recharge Mower costs an average of 55 cents a charge

7. Has a 27-inch wide cutting deck

8. 5 selectable cutting heights

9. Has been specifically designed to pass through standard fence gates

10. The rear mounted grass catcher is easily emptied and installed without tools or special skills

11. Easy handling

12. Resilient moulded body, fitted over a coated and welded metal frame

13. The three sealed batteries are positioned both low and center, which is good for balance and weight distribution

14. The 900 watt cutting blades are housed within the metal shrouded deck

15. Rear-wheel drive

16. Has good forward and reverse momentum

17. Operated through uncomplicated hand controls, which are easily accessible from the driver's seat.

18. Meets or exceeds UL1447 and ANSI B71.1 safety standards

19. Safety features include an Operator presence switch, a blade activation safety control, an audible reverse warning indicator, among others

20. This product is covered by a 2 Year Limited Residential Use Warranty.

I haven't ever actually used the product. I don't know a whole lot about riding lawn mowers, either. So I'm not even going to TRY recommending it to you.

However, I still think this mower could be an interesting option if you want to buy a battery-powered riding lawn mower.

If you are interested in this kind of equipment, just make sure you do your homework and check out all the options available.

Keep the Recharge Mower in mind, though.

Labels: Equipment, product reviews

Screenshots of iDigo

This is NOT a paid review. Everything I write in this post is my own opinion.

I just received an email from Larry Upton, creator of iDigo, which is an iPhone App designed to facilitate better communication between English and Spanish speakers and their staff, employees, or employers. Here's the email:

Dear Ben,

Good morning! I'm not very blog-savvy, so pardon any unintended breach of protocol. My name is Larry Upton. I founded a small technology company, edioma, here in Austin, TX a number of years ago. We develop and publish language assistance tools for mobile phone users, in particular English speakers who wish to communicate better in Spanish and vice-versa. Our first iPhone based product, iDigo, shipped last week and is designed to facilitate better communication between English-speaking homeowners and Spanish-speaking staff (e.g., housecleaners, lawn care professionals, handymen, etc.). Would this be of interest to you?

Thanks in advance and kind regards,
Larry Upton Founder & CEO edioma, Inc.

I asked Larry for an overview of his product, and he shot me a great summary:

edioma™, a provider of mobile device learning products, today announced that it began shipping iDigo Home, an iPhone-based language assistance application designed to help English-speaking homeowners communicate with Spanish-speaking staff (e.g., housekeepers, lawncare workers, handymen). iDigo is now available for download from the iTunes App Store for $1.99, with free upgrades posted on a monthly basis.

iDigo Home is the first in a line of iPhone applications that edioma plans to introduce in Q3 and Q4 of 2009. Future versions of iDigo will focus on facilitating communication between management and staff in specific industry verticals, such as Hospitality (restaurant/hotel), Jobsite (construction), and Travel (business travelers).

This application looks helpful and easy to use. However, one thing made me uneasy: How would a person who doesn't speak Spanish or English know the pronunciation of the words they were reading? So, of course, I sent Larry yet another email, and came back with this:

Morning!

Yes, iDigo provides an audible pronunciation for the English phrase into Spanish, so that not only can one learn to speak the phrase, but in a tight spot, could simply hold the phone up for the other party to hear.

Best,

LU

Larry has been very patient with all my questions about his product, but I wanted to know if this application is something that would be useful to lawn business owners.

My Verdict

I would recommend this product if you use an iPhone or iPod Touch and own a lawn business in which you have to interact with employees who speak little or no English. The cost is only $1.99, so why not? It could help you do a better job on lawn care tasks. Also, this product could benefit communication between you and your employees. iDigo has the potential to definitely help your lawn business.

Labels: product reviews

I really enjoyed reading Nick Tart and Emil Motycka's 80 page "Official JuniorBiz Lawn Mowing Guide". It was, as promised, extremely thorough and I must say was chock-full of fabulous and necessary information for you teen lawn business. I definitely recommend buying it for $11.95 here (affiliate link).

The Review

The eBook is divided into two parts: a "How-to" section and a "Tips" section. On Nick's selling page, he very accurately describes each section.

The 'HOW-TO' section takes a simple stage-by-stage, step-by-step, easy to follow approach to inform you how to start, run and manage your very own lawn service. The 'TIPS' section is chock-full of pointers and tidbits of information to improve your lawn mowing service once it is up and running.

Exactly. Now I will move into telling you what kind of information you will be finding in this eBook.

The "How-to" Section

At the very beginning of this section, some good, tough questions are asked about whether or not you are prepared to take on a lawn mowing business. Just after this, there are some good tips for setting goals for your teen lawn service.

Next, the eBook talks about equipment. It explains thoroughly how to perform and everything needed for its stated essential services: lawn mowing, trimming, edging, lawn aeration, leaf removal, and re-mulching. It also tells how to use and maintain all the equipment needed for these tasks.

I loved all the helpful little hints and information. One example has to do with mulching.

For your information, the industry average for installing mulch is 1.2 hours per cubic yard. Feel free to charge up to $40 per cubic yard (about $33 per hour) for this service.

I will be making sure to keep this in mind next time I do a mulching job.

Later on, the book gets into marketing. It has lots of very interesting advertising methods that I hadn't thought of before. There are also some great ideas for what to put on your flyers/other advertising.

In its next stage, the eBook outlines how you should price your services. The ideas presented in the book have a bit more on analyzing the competition than mine and less on pricing based on the work you do, but I think you can link the two ideas and come up with a really good idea on how to charge customers. There are also some great tips and ideas on collecting payments from customers.

One very important part of your lawn service is communicating well with customers. This eBook has some very straightforward but important ideas on how to talk to and make good impressions on customers.

Next, there is an essential section on how to mow and weed eat professionally. I certainly learned a good bit from this part, and I think you can, too.

Later, there are good tips on retaining customers every year as well as how to extend your business through to the rest of the year. Not only can you grow your business by lengthening its time of operation, but also by hiring friends, purchasing new, better equipment, and pursuing commercial jobs, all of which are covered in this eBook.

The "Tips" Section

The beginning of this section consists of all different kinds of safety tips. These range from mowing safety to gasoline safety to the kind of clothes you should wear while on the job.

Next, there are some great tips that can help you become more efficient at mowing and weed eating. Also, some advice is given on how not to kill the lawn. Very useful stuff.

Nearing to the end of the book, you can learn how to keep your customers happy and just general business to help you make your teen lawn mowing business the best it can be.

The second to last item was a list of some "outstanding" internet sources. (Teen Lawn Care was among them, of course. :p) One of the sources, www.themowboy.com, was a dead link, however. I have visited most of these websites in my time on the internet, and can attest to their helpfulness.

To wrap up the eBook, there is a great glossary of business terms, which I found very useful. They seemed relevant and all-around good-to-know.

Conclusion

The Official JuniorBiz Lawn Mowing Guide could definitely help you bring your business to the next level. The tips, advice, and ideas imparted in this book are extremely useful, and I have certainly changed parts of my lawn mowing business philosophy because of reading this book. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in starting a teen lawn business or someone who wants to bring their business to the next level. I enjoyed it, I know you will, too.

Buy the Official JuniorBiz Lawn Mowing Guide (affiliate link)

Labels: product reviews