Find a Dealer
Newsletter Signup
Model Chooser
Request Quote
Financing
VideosReliability and durability every season of the year
Mar 13, 2009
Long hours and hard work take their toll on workers and equipment alike. But for Brian Fraser, owner of Greenlawn Landscaping Maintenance Co. in Farmington Hills, Mich., the days are easier with his fleet of Grasshopper mowers. Greenlawn specializes in large condominium apartment complexes, and each of the 42 complexes, with an average of 30 acres, is mowed approximately 26 times every mowing season. With more than 1,200 acres, our mowers have to be up to the challenge, he says. We have 15 Grasshoppers 12 928D and three 322D models and theyre the best investments we ever made. Fraser started using Grasshoppers 13 years ago when he used one as a temporary replacement. We liked it so much, we just kept it. Eventually, we phased out our other machines and went strictly to Grasshoppers. Fraser uses Grasshopper because of their performance and durability. We run each machine at least 40 hours a week, and we put more than 1,000 hours on them per year. They just keep going. The MaxTorque diesel engines are what Fraser likes most, though. At first, I hesitated to switch from gasoline to diesel, but the power, durability and fuel-efficiency of these engines cant be beat. Even with the higher price of diesel fuel, the benefits of diesels are greater. Switching back to gasoline is just not an option. Fraser also likes that Grasshoppers require little continued maintenance and incur less down time for repairs. We have a full-time mechanic, but maintenance on a Grasshopper is usually minimal. That gives us more time in the field to do our work, and time is everything. Fraser points out that even though his crews work hours-on-end each day, Grasshoppers smooth ride makes the work less tiresome and more comfortable. You can ride them all day long and you wont feel beat up at the end the day. That makes it easier to do the same thing the next day. With his business in Michigan, Frasers fleet of Grasshoppers keeps running from season to season. In the summer, were mowing. In the fall, were bagging leavesand the bagger attachment is the best weve ever used. That saves us from hours of back-breaking work bagging up leaves. When the snow falls, Fraser is out clearing snow from sidewalks, driveways and parking lots at the condo complexes. We have maybe 15 to 20 snows and average 45 inches of snow each year. Fraser uses four snowthrowers for deeper snow and four dozer blades for the smaller storms. We also have several sites with several miles of walks and the V-plow has proven to be by far the fastest method of clearing them. Even with all the hard work and long hours, his Grasshoppers still perform like they did the day they joined his fleet. And when its time to retire a mower, they still have a good resale value, even with 5,000 to 6,000 hours. Overall, there are just more incentives to stick with Grasshopper. In fact, Fraser had the opportunity to switch to a competing mower line, but after test driving the competitive models, each of Frasers four foremen decided unanimously not to switch, citing Grasshoppers superior comfort, quality of cut and PowerVac collection system. With all the benefits, its easy to see why Fraser continues to use Grasshopper year after year. When it comes to performance and durability, you cant find anything better.
Download PDF brian_fraser_user_story.pdf
