Service Friendly = Sales

The commercial lawn and garden equipment market exceeds $2 billion, and that doesn't include utility, light construction and landscaping equipment. When a market is that large, it pays to keep customers happy. One of the ways OEMs do this is by making the equipment easy to service.

"Machine serviceability for any commercial application is key," says Bill Harley, president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI). "Lawn, garden and landscape contractors run their equipment every day for long hours during the busy season — it's how they make their money. They put high demands on the equipment and the manufacturers, insisting upon quality, reliability and serviceability in the products they buy."

He points out that this equipment is more sophisticated than it was in the past. "Compared to 10 years ago, the machines in this market segment are 70% cleaner with complex emissions-reducing systems on them. They are also 70 to 75% quieter, especially commercial handheld blowers that have become so popular. Time is money, you know, and they're faster than rakes for cleaning up jobsites."

Maintenance matters

According to OEMs contacted for this article, commercial customers tend to do their own maintenance work. This decision seems to depend on company size.

"It depends on the organization's size, breadth and scope of business," Sean Sundberg, John Deere business-to-business planning manager (John Deere Worldwide C&CE Division) points out. "Contractors who are new to the business, along with smaller business operations, tend to use a trusted dealer to do their product maintenance. The word 'trusted' is very important, as these contractors rely on the dealer to keep them running and able to make money."

He adds, "larger companies that have multiple equipment fleets and crews tend to do their own preventive maintenance, as well as some minor repair work. That allows them to control that aspect of the business better and be more productive by reducing downtime."

Dan Dorn of Exmark Mfg. Co. agrees. "Those contractors who are just getting into the business often invest their time in recruiting new accounts. As a result, they let the dealer perform routine maintenance," he says. "But as the company grows, gains more experience with its equipment and develops an established account base, the contractor will assume this responsibility.

"Some, regardless of size or time in business, enjoy this aspect and have a great deal of pride in how their equipment is maintained. They prefer to perform these tasks themselves."

Robert Schroer, of Yanmar America Corp., a maker of engines for this category of equipment, agrees. "In our experience, most landscapers do their own maintenance, while construction contractors tend to use dealers for machine maintenance."

"Our Dingo compact utility loaders, for example, are easy to perform routine maintenance on, which is why most landscaping and commercial contractors prefer to do the majority of the work themselves," says Dan Roberts, technical service representative for the Toro Co. "Contractors may turn to their dealers to perform services beyond routine maintenance."

Brett Ohlen, New Holland marketing specialist for the residential, commercial and specialty customer segment team, agrees. "Most landscaping and commercial contractors do their own service," he says.

All our OEM spokesmen agree that following the recommended service is key to contractor productivity, though service intervals vary from daily, weekly and monthly tasks to service according to hours of use. Preventive maintenance includes checking, refilling and changing oil and hydraulic fluid; changing filters for air, oil and hydraulic fluid when necessary; checking belt wear and tension; sharpening blades; greasing wear and pivot points; cleaning radiator fins; checking engine coolant levels, assessing attachments and locking pins, if applicable, etc. — all on a regular basis.