6 Must-Have Tools and Equipment to Start a Landscaping Business
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Updated: July 28, 2022
Not sure which landscape equipment to choose when starting a lawn care business? Review our recommendations and know before you grow.
Starting a landscaping business can be a daunting task, and it’s easy to get lost in the different tools and brands that landscapers need to hit the ground running. As a company that understands how landscaping tools, like business management software, can keep work streamlined and free flowing; landscapers need a core foundational list of best equipment and tools to get started.
Through our years of experience working with landscape business owners and operators, the LMN Team has developed a thorough list of the best equipment and tools to start a landscaping business.
Vehicle
You won’t see a landscaper roll into a site hitching a trailer off of a small hatchback. Every landscaper needs a reliable and sturdy vehicle, ideally a ¾ or ½ ton truck, that can transport essential tools from site to site.
Trailers are an honorable mention as a best piece of equipment, but not essential if the capital is not there to support the purchase. An enclosed or utility trailer would do the job, but an enclosed trailer would provide an extra level of security for your business.
Gas and/or Electric Handheld Equipment
It’s imperative that landscapers know which tools are the right tools for the job, and how to use them to produce efficient work. Gas and/or electric handheld equipment give landscapers extended reach, power, and precision they otherwise wouldn’t have.
Look to these sorts of equipment to outfit your business:
- Blower
- Line Trimmer
- Edger
- Shrub Shears
Combo kits are a great place as an entry point for early landscaping businesses. Also look at purchasing a Stihl KombiSystem, which aggregates some of the above mentioned tools as different attachments on one tool.
Mower
Mowers are typically one of the first tools a young landscaper will build the foundation of their business on. Many stories start with a landscape owner regaling over their youth being spent mowing lawns over the summer.
Zero-turn mowers are a hoot to drive, but can be pricey and difficult to transport without a trailer. If you’re starting up a new landscaping business, start off with a gas, electric, or reel push mower. Only electric, of the three, can provide issues if there isn’t a nearby power source or a backup battery.
Landscaping Tools
Make sure to develop an inventory of standard landscaping tools as you grow your business. While they may not come in handy today, they may come in handy tomorrow.
Landscapers should look to acquire:
- Shovels
- Rakes (Steel and Leaf)
- Push brooms
- Pruners/hedge shears
- Forks
Don’t be afraid to test the weight and feel of these tools when shopping around. If you’re investing into it, make sure it’s a tool you’re comfortable using down the line.
Standard Toolkit
Owning a standard combo tool kit is a thing everyone should own regardless of their profession. While borrowing a kit from home acts as a great placeholder, every landscaper should have a kit in case of last minute repairs.
- Hammer
- Screwdriver
- Bit set
- Adjustable wrench
- Utility knife
- PPE (Work gloves, ear protection, steel toe boots, mask, safety glasses, first aid kit)
While it seems silly to consider a working laptop and mobile phone as a part of any landscaper’s equipment and tools list; working tech is the backbone for any growing landscape business. These are your lifelines to managing communications with your customers, filling out estimates, delivering invoices, scheduling your crews, and so much more. Technology has taken large administrative teams and streamlined those operations to be powered through software cutting overhead costs. Beefing up these processes can save thousands of dollars a month for any landscape business and open up hours of administrative functions to work on other pressing needs.
LMN can take your laptop or mobile phone and turn them into a powerhouse of a tool for your landscaping or lawn care business. You’re here because your business needs landscaping tools to boost efficiency, but that extends past to traditional tools to help you move some dirt or place plants and stones. Learn more about how LMN Pro software can be one of the most powerful tools your lawn care or landscaping business can get to help with all the office work you don’t have time for.
Keep Building Inventory
Although this isn’t all the tools you would need to start a landscaping business, the goal is always to have as many, but more importantly, the right tools at your disposal to make the job as efficient and productive as possible.
LMM provides valuable resources such as equipment checklists and other standard operating procedures to help streamline business operations.
To learn more visit golmn.com/free/