Chris Maggert admits he was scared the first time he tried one. But his dealer was persistent, kept bringing it up, kept urging him to give one just a little test.<\/p>\n
Finally, he gave in \u2014 and the owner of Maggert Lawn Care, Concordia, Missouri, soon found himself purchasing two of them, followed by a third and then a fourth \u2026 soon, he was hooked. Well, that\u2019s the sort of thing that can happen when you use a stand-on mower for the very first time.<\/p>\n
The stand-on mower may not be addictive in the true sense of the word, but the green industry professionals who use them and love them can\u2019t imagine working without them. Since the first Wright Stander (the only stand-on that can be called by the trademarked term \u201cStander\u201d) rolled out of the factory in 1997, this style of grasscutter has been gaining in popularity.<\/p>\n
What was so scary about trying a stand-on? \u201cJust the change,\u201d says Maggert. \u201cSince I\u2019ve been in the industry, I\u2019d always used sit-downs. I\u2019d seen the stand-ons around but never got into them myself. Then two years ago, my dealer got me looking at some. I bought two of them, and though I was still scared, I fell in love with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maggert was worried about whether his workers would accept \u201cthe new kids.\u201d \u201cWe were all so used to my zero-turn mid-mounts, I just didn\u2019t know how they were going to react, if they would like standing all day \u2014 or if I would,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd it was hard at first to get used to the controls, which were quite different.\u201d However, he reports that, after the first couple of weeks, his guys \u201cjust absolutely loved them.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then Maggert, too, was smitten. Why? Let him count the ways. \u201cThey\u2019re more versatile, quicker. They\u2019re slimmer, so you can fit more of them on a trailer, and they\u2019re easier to work on because everything\u2019s kind of right there. They\u2019re better on hills and on your body. The visibility is much greater, and they\u2019re lighter.\u201d<\/p>\nMany landscapers feel that stand-ons give them a more comfortable ride than a zero-turn rider. (Photo: Exmark)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The stand-on mower fan club includes Rob Eisner, owner of Personal Touch Landscaping in Fort Myers, Florida, and Dan Ziegler, the general manager. They\u2019re such fans, in fact, that Eisner says, \u201cWe have no sit-down mowers. Zero.\u201d Ziegler explains that they did have some zero-turn riders after Eisner acquired other companies, but quickly sold them.<\/p>\n
Bryan Coleman, owner of Coleman Landscaping LLC, Chalfont, Pennsylvania, says that with his mowing crews, mower preference is a generational thing. \u201cSome of the older guys still like the riders. The newer guys, the younger ones, really like the stand-ons. The only thing they don\u2019t like is when they run into a low-hanging branch \u2018cause you\u2019re a little higher up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lloyd Von Schleiha, product manager at Exmark, Beatrice, Nebraska, says a lot of different factors account for a preference for stand-ons. \u201cIt can go back to how a contractor has set up his trailers. He might go with a stand-on because it\u2019s a more compact footprint than a rider. \u201cIf they\u2019re mowing HOAs, going from one yard to the next and the next, [stand-ons are] more maneuverable in smaller yards, and they can just kind of go through them. If they\u2019re mowing in gated areas or smaller backyards, a stand-on may be more practical than a larger sitdown rider.\u201d<\/p>\n
The topography of the sites can be a consideration, too, says Von Schleiha. Or it could be price; stand-ons tend to be less expensive than ZTRs.<\/p>\n
There are regional preferences as well. \u201cIf you go to Kansas City (Missouri), pretty much all you\u2019ll see are stand-ons,\u201d Von Schleiha says. \u201cIn that market, they\u2019ve done really well for whatever reason, maybe because of the strength of a local dealer. But go to other parts of the country, and they won\u2019t even know what a stand-on is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ron Scheffler, senior product manager at Bobcat, Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, says that while landscapers can be more efficient on a stand-on mower, \u201cPeople still like to sit. I also believe many customers don\u2019t understand the benefits of utilizing a stand-on mower.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are many reasons why landscape professionals have a bromance with stand-ons. Let\u2019s look at some of the main ones more closely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey beat you up less\u201d<\/h2>\n
Brendon Kelley is shop manager at Garrick Santo Landscaping, Wilmington, Massachusetts. He says that, after 20 years in the business, \u201cmy body\u2019s taken a beating.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s used virtually every type of mower, and to him, there\u2019s no contest. \u201cA lot of people prefer zero-turn riders. But when I\u2019m on a stand-on, I can really feel the suspension absorbing those shocks. Considering all the time you spend on a machine, it\u2019s a completely different world, not being in pain. It\u2019s a very smooth ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\u201c<\/b>When I\u2019m on a stand-on, I can really feel the suspension absorbing those shocks. Considering all the time you spend on a machine, it\u2019s a completely different world, not being in pain. It\u2019s a very smooth ride.\u201d\u00a0<\/b>\u2013 Brendon Kelley, Garrick Santo Landscaping<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
Maggert thinks posture plays a part. \u201cThey force you to stand up straight all day versus being hunched over. Standing is a more natural position. When you sit on a mower all day, your nerves get pinched \u2014 they kind of beat you up, bouncing up and down with the little hills and ditches and things. When it rains it gets even harder \u2014 even more fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maggert adds, \u201cThe last two years, we\u2019ve really ridden them hard and, honestly, I don\u2019t have as many back problems as I used to. I don\u2019t know if many of my guys have noticed that as much, but,\u201d he jokes, \u201cthey\u2019re a lot younger than I am.\u201d<\/p>\nStand-on mowers typically offer greater visibility than sit-down riders and is one reason some lawn care maintenance crew members prefer them. (Photo: The Toro Company)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Dominic Russo, owner of Russo Lawn Care, Cincinnati, agrees. \u201cWhen there\u2019s a dip in the ground, the whole machine kind of moves with it like a walk-behind does.\u201d<\/p>\n
It seems a bit counterintuitive that standing up all day would be less fatiguing and easier on the body than sitting down, but that\u2019s the consensus, at least among these professionals. And some studies even seem to support the benefits of standing versus sitting for long periods of time.<\/p>\n
Kelley agrees that stand-ons batter one\u2019s body less. \u201cWith landscapers, it\u2019s usually our knees, our backs or our shoulders that give out after a while. Being on a stand-on machine, it\u2019s a completely different world. You\u2019re not in pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryan Coleman, owner of Coleman Landscaping LLC, in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, knows what Kelley means. He says that stand-ons have \u201cgot his back,\u201d so to speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stand-ons just don\u2019t hurt your back as much. It does take a little bit for your legs to get used to the different feel \u2014 but the suspensions, at least on the ones that we have, are very good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mower manufacturers are aware of these perceptions and are constantly working on ways to make the ergonomics of all mower styles better and less impactful to one\u2019s body. \u201cOperator fatigue, operator comfort \u2014 these are real issues,\u201d says Von Schleiha. \u201cWe take that seriously. One feature on our standons allows an operator to dial in his weight to adjust the amount of suspension that will be needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he stops short of saying that a stand-on is less fatiguing than a rider. \u201cIs one type more comfortable than another? That really depends on the operator and on how the machine is being used. If you\u2019re constantly jumping on and off the machine to pick up trash or move something out of the way, a stand-on is a lot easier on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if the ground is rough, you might feel as if the stand-on would beat you up a little bit more. So while I can see where someone might say that a stand-on is more comfortable, I can also see where someone else might say the exact opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carl Agee, commercial mowing product manager for John Deere, Moline, Illinois, has a theory about this. \u201cWhen an operator is standing, his body has more hinge points to absorb shocks or bumps during operation. Your ankles, knees, hips, all these things give, and that helps absorb a lot of that vibration that can come up through the mower. When you\u2019re sitting, those same shocks go straight into your lower back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re more nimble\u201d<\/h2>\n
All the contractors I spoke with praised the standon mower\u2019s maneuverability. \u201cI\u2019ve found them to be really nimble in places, especially here in Cincinnati, where there are a lot of hills,\u201d says Russo. \u201cThey do well on them, even when compared to walk-behinds. Traditionally, we\u2019d always heard, \u2018walk-behinds are the only way to go on hills.\u2019 Well the stand-ons I\u2019ve used stick to hills just as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maggert says his guys find stand-ons to be \u201cquicker, more versatile. You can get into corners and smaller areas better. They\u2019re faster at picking up trash, because you don\u2019t have to get up and down 30 times on one property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because the operator is standing, he\u2019s able to utilize his body mass to make it move this way or that, says Agee. Suddenly I pictured Paul Blart, Mall Cop weaving through crowds of shoppers.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind of like a Segway?\u201d I asked. \u201cYes,\u201d he replied. \u201cVery much like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Are stand-ons safer on hills?<\/h3>\n
Too often, we hear tragic stories about landscapers who\u2019ve flipped zero-turn riders while mowing steep hills, became pinned underneath and were seriously hurt or even killed. Would a stand-on be safer in such a circumstance? Chris Maggert, owner of Maggert Lawn Care, Concordia, Missouri, a full-time firefighter who runs his landscape business on the side, thinks so.<\/p>\n
\u201cRollover is a significant hazard for landscapers. If you\u2019re sitting down on a rider with the rollbar up (he\u2019s referring to the rollover protective structure, or ROPS, that most zero-turn riders have), you can catch a tree branch or a swing set or something and have an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Worse is a rollover when a rider\u2019s rollbar is down. \u201cYou have a chance of getting pinned underneath or breaking your back or neck.\u201d He adds sliding down a hill and turning over in the water is a top cause of worker death.<\/p>\n
With stand-ons you\u2019re not strapped to the machine so you can jump off if you start to slip. Rob Eisner, owner of Personal Touch Landscaping in Fort Myers, Florida, says safety is one of the main reasons he went with an allstand-on fleet. \u201cA lot of our properties back up to waterways, and if you are on a sit-down mower with your steering controls in front of you, almost locking you in, it\u2019s harder to escape.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mower manufacturers warn against mowing hills steeper than 15 degrees of incline with a ZTR, but in the field, there are no guarantees of adherence.<\/p>\n
Ed Wright, vice president of engineering, sales and marketing at Wright Manufacturing Inc., Frederick, Maryland, says, \u201cIt\u2019s a particular technicality, but we wouldn\u2019t say there\u2019s greater safety in a stand-on type of mower; rather, it\u2019s that the hazard is less. That\u2019s an important distinction. It\u2019s really that the hazard is reduced than that the safety is improved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re very productive\u201d<\/h2>\n
Russo says he\u2019s been getting a lot more work done since he began using stand-ons. \u201cCompared to the walk-behinds I was using five years ago, when I went to a stand-on I could do five or six more 3\/4-acre yards a day. It was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a faster ground speed than a commercial walk-behind machine. I can pick up so much more business throughout the week because I can do stuff faster, even as a solo guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cCompared to the walk-behinds I was using five years ago, when I went to a stand-on I could do five or six more 3\/4 acre yards a day. It was incredible.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Dominic Russo, Russo Lawn Care<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Agee says Russo is right about the speed factor. \u201cTraditionally, stand-ons have faster ground speeds than commercial walk-behinds.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bottom line is \u2026 well, the bottom line. Time is money, and if these machines save time, that makes them valuable. \u201cContractors are always looking for ways to work faster,\u201d Agee says, \u201cso they can add more jobs per day and increase profitability on the accounts they already maintain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re easier to work on\u201d<\/h2>\n
Through use or abuse, every mower needs to get serviced from time to time. How do standons stack up in this regard?<\/p>\n
\u201cStand-ons are, because of their compact nature, a little bit harder to service when things break,\u201d says Von Schleiha. \u201cBecause we\u2019re packing an engine, a drive system, the deck, belts, everything, into a smaller footprint, it\u2019s a tighter package. That can be a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\nMany stand-on mower operators have found them easier to service than zero-turn riders. (Photo: John Deere)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Most of the contractors I spoke with, however, say just the opposite, finding stand-ons easier to service than zero-turns.<\/p>\n
Russo, for one, is undaunted by the stand-ons\u2019 internal compactness. \u201cI would say they\u2019re probably about the same degree of difficulty as riders. It\u2019s maybe even easier to change the blades on a stand-on just because the deck doesn\u2019t reach up quite as high.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continues, \u201cwith a sit-down, the deck is like right underneath you, so reaching the bolts to change the blades out is a little more difficult. In a stand-on, the bolts are right in front of the engine, so they\u2019re a lot easier to get to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelley says that as stand-ons have improved over time, so has their serviceability. \u201cAs they introduce new generations, they find all these little things to change and fix and make simpler.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelley says, \u201cOn the old stand-ons, for example, it was a nightmare to try and change the clutch underneath because they would have a bar running through it. But now, you can literally reach your hand in there and there\u2019s nothing blocking your work area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maggert has also found stand-ons easier to work on than his mid-mount ZTRs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to have to take three fenders off, a hood and two sides \u2014 you had to take the two fenders off just to work on a battery. And you had to take the hood and the side panel off to work on the fuel filters,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re smaller and lighter\u201d<\/h2>\n
Its smaller footprint is one of the standons\u2019 main advantages; Maggert can fit four of his smaller ones in a single trailer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s helpful when we need to mow bigger properties,\u201d he says, adding, \u201cWe can fit them in sideways instead of longways, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also finds them easier to navigate through narrow passageways, saying that his 32-inch light stand-on fits well through back gates.<\/p>\n
Eisner mentioned the stand-ons\u2019 lower weight, about 300 to 600 pounds lighter than an average ZTR. That\u2019s a big appeal for him. \u201cBecause we mow so frequently in southwest Florida and we do it yearround, that\u2019s important,\u201d he says. Also, the ground is often soft; at least four or five months of the year, there are daily downpours.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can rut up a yard by running the same pattern all the time,\u201d adds Ziegler. \u201cThat\u2019s less of a problem with stand-ons as opposed to sit-downs because of their reduced weight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should you add them to your mower fleet?<\/h2>\n
After digesting all the reasons why contractors like them, you may want to take a \u201ctest-stand\u201d yourself. You may not go as far as Eisner, who went to an allstand-on fleet, but you may find that one or more of these units may be just the ticket for mowing certain properties.<\/p>\n
Stand-ons do tend to be less expensive than sit-down riders; however, none of the contractors interviewed for this story cited price as one of their primary reasons for purchasing them.<\/p>\n
If you decide to buy one, you may join the other landscape professionals who find the stand-ons\u2019 agility, lighter weight, smaller size, reduced operator fatigue factor and other characteristics deserve a standing ovation.<\/p>\n
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What stands out about stand-ons?<\/h3>\n
Those interviewed in the story say the following are features they like about stand-on mowers:<\/p>\n
\n
Easier to maneuver in tight areas<\/li>\n
Lighter weight prevents rutting<\/li>\n
Smaller size means more can fit in a trailer<\/li>\n
Fewer shocks to operator\u2019s body<\/li>\n
Fast-moving, so productivity is increased<\/li>\n
Easy to maintain and repair<\/li>\n
Better and safer on hills, no roll-overs<\/li>\n
Less expensive than zero-turn riders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
This article originally appeared in Irrigation & Green Industry magazine.<\/em><\/h6>\n
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