Matt Parsons, president of Parsons Landscaping in Fort Myers, Florida, first tried out electric equipment when he began mowing his own lawn during a labor crunch. Rather than using his own company to take care of his turf, he saw it as an opportunity to test out some new tools to see how they measured up.<\/p>\n
After running an electric mower and weed eater on his home lawn, he was impressed. The equipment worked better than he\u2019d imagined it would. In 2008, Parsons began a systematic process of converting his fleet to electric equipment. It\u2019s been slow and steady, and that\u2019s worked well for his company.<\/p>\n
We caught up with him to find out how it\u2019s going today.<\/p>\n
Parsons has seven Mean Green mowers in his fleet and says that he gets around six to eight hours of run time on each of them. He has invested in the solar panels on the mowers, which he says gives him about a half hour of additional run time. That\u2019s been a worthwhile return on investment for the upgraded feature for him.<\/p>\n
Parsons also purchased 15 electric blowers and 20 electric trimmers from Makita. With these investments, he is close to several of the crews being fully electric. Though he\u2019s continuing to expand the number of teams using electric equipment, he still incorporates gas power as needed.<\/p>\n
Customers definitely notice that the equipment is very quiet and that it doesn\u2019t emit the typical gas smells. Parsons says there are certain client types who appreciate these benefits more than others. Homeowners associations and resorts, in particular, are keen on electric equipment. That\u2019s where Parsons has developed his focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne interesting thing that I\u2019ve figured out is that when you sell clients on the idea of electric equipment being quiet, it\u2019s not the client who necessarily cares, it\u2019s their own customers,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cFor instance, a resort really just cares that their turf is getting mowed well. They probably don\u2019t care about the noise. In fact, they might even equate the noise with the fact that the work is getting done. But their guests care about that noise. This is true at HOAs, as well. The HOA board president is concerned about keeping all of the residents happy, and the residents don\u2019t like the noise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parsons shares a story about an HOA he worked with at which a woman who worked night shifts as a nurse and slept during the day told him she\u2019d always been woken up by the mowers. Then, one day, she wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt dawned on her that she didn\u2019t have to call and complain because she\u2019d slept the whole time,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cIt\u2019s funny because it\u2019s the lack of noise that people are noticing. But they do notice, and they appreciate it. Sometimes they might not have realized how loud it was until it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although most companies look to really differentiate their electric lawn care services as a separate service, Parsons says he has approached this transition completely differently. He hasn\u2019t used it as marketing tool to upcharge customers. Instead, he\u2019s incorporating it within his existing service plans where it makes sense for clients and his crew, such as HOAs and resorts.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think it makes us more attractive to those clients and that\u2019s my main focus right now,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cIn the future, I\u2019d hope to get into a situation where customers demand all-electric and will pay a little more of a premium for that service. But right now, my hybrid model of using gas sometimes and electric other times has worked economically and functionally for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parsons says he would urge other lawn and landscape businesses to consider a hybrid model such as his, rather than banking everything on a completely electric model to start.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s this mentality that you have to go all in,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cBut I would suggest making the transition with one piece of equipment at a time, like I did. It\u2019s a lot more manageable. You do not have to be all one or the other. Use electric where it makes sense and use gas where it makes sense. I would imagine trying to switch everything over all at once would be incredibly difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Going forward, Parsons says he is in the process of generating some marketing efforts that would better promote that his company is incorporating electric equipment. Up until now, they\u2019ve really been perfecting the transition. But now, it\u2019s time to let a wider audience know and build buzz in his market about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnecdotally speaking, customers have really appreciated it,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, we\u2019re in that process of incorporating it into marketing. I think most people like to know that their lawn care company is staying on the edge of what\u2019s come out in terms of new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to barriers to adoption of electric equipment, the two biggest that Parsons has seen have been run time of the equipment and the upfront cost. It\u2019s a significant out-of-pocket investment to go electric.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe upfront cost is a definite drawback as these mowers are expensive,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cBut you do get a good return on investment, so in the end, it does make sense. With the efficiency, it\u2019s a significant fuel savings. You\u2019re not making all those stops at the gas station anymore, either.\u201d<\/p>\n
In terms of production trade-offs, Parsons says that the mowers cut incredibly well but don\u2019t mulch leaves as well. Overall, he says it\u2019s a smoother, more preferable ride.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also had some issues with the performance of electric blowers on certain properties and will substitute gas power where it\u2019s needed. Having the capabilities of both styles of equipment is another reason why his hybrid model has been helpful to date, he says.<\/p>\n
As he\u2019s incorporated more electric equipment, Parsons says that there have been some internal changes that have been essential. Crews need to be retrained on how they perform day-to-day tasks. But Parsons says training and acclimating crews to the new technology is straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have some new terminology now, like \u2018battery management,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cOur crews have had to learn to manage their battery run times. We do our recharges on our trailers or sometimes the communities that we work in allow us to use their plug-in stations. We\u2019re researching going solar in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early on, crews learned the hard way with timing errors. A battery would run out while on the job and a new one would have to be brought on-site to get the equipment back up and running. But as with any big change, there are always bumps in the road. Overall, Parsons says these have been minor, and crews have adapted to the changes.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAs you adopt a new practice, there are always going to be challenges,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cI think we were a really good size to make this transition. We had 30 employees, 16 of whom were on maintenance, when we started converting to electric, and it helped that we weren\u2019t too big. We were able to add equipment slowly and make carefully planned-out changes. We had time to learn as we went.\u201d<\/p>\n
One benefit that Parsons noticed as more electric equipment was brought in was a drop in the time requirement for engine maintenance.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get your Saturdays back, on maintenance,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are no oil changes, no spark plugs and no fuel filters. Overall, the maintenance is a lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
While maintenance is overall less work, Parsons says that you do need to have some knowledge and understanding of how motors work in order to service electric equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Mean Green has done a good job creating a mower that you can understand and work on in-house, but for some there could be a learning curve on the differences from gas,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a few things that went wrong, but we\u2019ve always been able to fix them and get back up and running. Honestly, considering you don\u2019t get dirty, I\u2019d rather work on an electric mower any day. In the end, I would say this is a simpler platform. It\u2019s a battery system, and everything plugs into that. It\u2019s pretty easy to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parsons adds that success comes down to getting the crews to buy in. Ultimately, they\u2019re going to be the ones running the equipment and they have to understand the benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very hands-on and am always working with the crews. I think that made a big difference in a smooth transition,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cAs with anything new that you implement, you need to get the crews on board in order to be as successful as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Parsons says that crews are happy with the transition to electric and they\u2019re seeing benefits as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t realize quite how much exhaust fumes you\u2019re making until you stop making them,\u201d Parsons says. \u201cWith the electric mower, all you smell is cut grass, which is really nice. You also don\u2019t have to wear protective earmuffs and honestly, you can hear your cell phone ring in your pocket. So, the quiet nature of these mowers benefits the crews too. Once they\u2019ve used one of these machines, they really don\u2019t want to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parsons says there\u2019s no doubt in his mind that the future for landscaping professionals will be based in electric equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future of the green industry is electric,\u201d he says. \u201cWhether you get on board now or you get on board later, it\u2019s going to happen. In my opinion, it makes sense to start implementing the equipment now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parsons Landscaping found new opportunities by adding electric equipment to its fleet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":5026,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[32],"class_list":["post-4102","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","main-categories-equipment"],"yoast_head":"\n