Delaware, OH Landscaping Equipment Financing: Zero-Turn Mowers, Skid Steers and Crew Trucks

A commercial mower is the machine a lawn crew runs every working day, and it is priced that way: a stand-on mower or a zero-turn mower built for daily commercial use costs several times a homeowner model, and a mulching kit adds to the dealer quote. The truck that pulls the mower trailer can sit in the same plan. A ladder rack, a toolbox, a ramp gate or a spray tank and pump mounted on the bed is an upfit that a dealer or outfitter quotes with the work.

Both fit equipment financing, because each item has a serial number, a dealer invoice and resale value. A request that lists them line by line gives a partner each price:

• Each mower with its make, model, cutting width and dealer price.
• The truck upfit as its own quote, separate from the truck.
• Any trade-in, with the model and the credit the dealer gives for it.
• Whether the mower replaces a worn unit or puts a new crew on the road, since that changes which invoices cover the payment.

Crews here are small. In Delaware County, OH, 62 of the 99 establishments under Landscaping Services (NAICS 561730) had fewer than five employees in 2023 (62.6%), according to County Business Patterns. For a crew that size, the term on a mower contract decides how much of each month's invoices goes to the payment.

Not every lawn care cost has a serial number. Nursery stock for an install job, irrigation pipe and heads, mulch, and fuel for the trucks are spent before the client's invoice is paid. For those costs, a working capital loan is one option and a credit line the business can draw on is another. An irrigation trencher or a sod cutter that goes from job to job fits equipment financing instead.

Illustration only, invented figures: a crew signs a $18,600 landscape install for a new office park and collects 30% at signing, $5,580. Before the final walk-through it buys $6,240 of shrubs and perennials and $2,180 of irrigation pipe and heads, spends $640 on fuel and dump fees, and pays $4,350 in crew wages for the job. In this example the business carries $7,830 of its own cash on the project until the client pays the $13,020 balance.

A business line of credit suits that pattern: the crew draws for the plant order and the wages, then pays the balance down when the final invoice clears. A one-time cost with a fixed price, such as a trencher, is cleaner as its own equipment contract.

A tree crew runs a different budget from a mowing crew. Brush chippers, stump grinders, a log splitter, climbing gear and rigging carry high prices per machine, and the chipper truck that hauls the chips can be the costliest single quote in the plan. Each machine can be financed on its own schedule, so a grinder bought used is not tied to the term of a new chipper.

Illustration only, invented figures: a brush chipper and a tow-behind stump grinder quoted at $64,000 together, financed for 60 months at an annual rate of 9.75%, set a monthly payment of $1,351.95. In this example the 60 payments add to $81,117.00, which puts the financing cost at $17,117.00 over the quote.

Wages are the other large line. In the March 2023 pay period, landscaping establishments in Delaware County, OH had 794 paid employees; annual payroll for 2023 was $41.7 million (CBP). Hiring a second tree crew means that payroll starts on the first job, well before the new crew's invoices are paid.

Mini loaders, the compact stand-on loaders that fit through a backyard gate, and dump trailers move mulch, soil and stone on jobs where full-size skid steers do not fit. Bulk material is a separate cost: a crew that orders mulch by the truckload for several jobs pays the yard before the jobs are billed.

In 2023, ZIP Code Business Patterns placed 29 establishments under Landscaping Services (NAICS 561730) at a ZIP 43015 address.

Larger landscaping companies that seed new lawns and build retaining walls and walkways for home builders add a hydroseeder, a dump truck and a cut-off saw or block splitter for hardscape work. These are heavier purchases, and a dump truck bought used may need a different term from a new hydroseeder.

• Hydroseeder: equipment financing on the dealer quote, with the tank size and pump model listed.
• Dump truck: financed as equipment, with the year, mileage and the seller's price in the request.
• Hardscape saws and a plate compactor: small items that can be bundled into one equipment contract.
• Seed, wall block and stone for a contract: working capital, kept off the equipment contract.

Owner-operators are a large group in this trade. The 2024 Nonemployer Statistics list 277 nonemployer establishments under Landscaping Services (NAICS 56173) in Delaware County, OH, with receipts of $14.9 million. Crews that also work alongside home builders can compare the construction funding page; county and city figures are on the Delaware, OH business funding page, and other trades on the industries page.