It’s been 30 years since I used my first battery-powered landscaping tool. It was designed to trim grass. It was small. About the size of a hand mixer you’d use in your kitchen. I remember crawling around on my hands and knees through my neighbor’s yard to trim the lawn. I was working to earn the $5 fee I charged to mow. $2 for the front. $3 for the back. It took forever. It was hot and I was very uncomfortable. I’ve been waiting three decades for something better.
Battery-powered, professional grade landscape equipment has arrived and it’s better for everyone.
In 2019, our leadership team committed to replacing our entire fleet of hand-held equipment with battery-powered equipment. This is what we've learned.
Quiet operation
Our customers and our staff benefit from reduced noise pollution. Even our customer’s customers benefit from reduced noise pollution. The gas-powered leaf blowers we’ve replaced were 20% louder than their battery-powered equivalent. And, the newest models are getting quieter every year.
Zero emissions
A 2011 study showed that a leaf blower emits nearly 300 times the amount of air pollutants as a pickup truck. Not anymore. Our battery-powered equipment has zero emissions. It’s better for our customers, better for our staff, and better for the environment.
Light weight & low maintenance
Our staff benefit from light weight equipment. It produces less vibration, it's less fatiguing, it's easier to maintain, and it's more reliable. Instead of using 1/3 gallon of fuel per hour, per unit, we use 0 gallons of fuel per unit.
We're halfway to our goal of replacing our entire fleet with battery-powered equipment. Not the kind you have to crawl around on your hands and knees to use. We’ve found it’s better for our customers, our staff, and the environment. We are setting a higher standard for landscaping that requires more than doing good work. It requires changing the way we operate.