PESTICIDES Illinois group unites Page 8 BUFFALO Hard times hit upstate Page 11 PROFILES Youngsters successful Page 16 HBj A Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publication NOVEMBER 1983 COLLECTIONS Pain in pocketbook Page 20 Volume 7, Number 11 $2.00 WWN GIRE NDUSTEY Serving lawn maintenance and chemical lawn care professionals Loan-hunting? Staying one step ahead of your banker If you don't need to borrow money to finance your lawn care business today, you will tomorrow...or the day after that. Sooner or later, you're going to have to replace capital equip-ment, buy or expand property, finance inventory, or handle some other business transaction too large for your checkbook. But you Pesticides Effort may have been in time Quick action by a united pesticide applicators' group in Wauconda, 111. may have saved the day. Wauconda councilmen had passed a law severely restricting the commercial use of pesticidesŠincluding requiring erection of signs labelled "dan-gerous and deadly chemicals" where pesticides had been applied in certain situations. So a group of professional pesticide applicators met in late August in nearby Schaumburg to discuss their options. They went into a Sept. 14 hear-ing with town councilmen armed with a proposal which would be a compromise, and a petition signed by homeowners who had used their professional services. "We had some very favorable things happen," said Bill Fischer of Spring-Green Lawn Care Corp. to page 4 might face a big disappointment if you don't go into your banker's office prepared. Fewer than 10 percent of the small businessmen who go to a bank asking for a substantial loan go adequately prepared, accord-ing to Theodore Silbert, chairman of New York's Sterling National Bank. "All the small businessman really needs to get a loanŠif he deserves oneŠis to be as good at applying as he is at selling," Sil- bert says. "Bankers are busy and harrassed men, and if the loan application doesn't put the basic information up front, the banker doesn't have time to dig for it." Bob Kenney, a vice president for Florida's Southeast Banks, agrees. "If you're seriously thinking of going in and applying for a busi-ness loan, you need to get your act together," Kenney says. Kenney says that, first, you must detail the purpose of the loan. to page 26 Spreaders examined Dr. Nick Christians of Iowa State University takes a look at the reliability and effi-ciency of five commercial makes of fertilizer spreaders. Page 17 Busy months Year's end filled by shows November and December are two of the most popular months for lawn and turf industry-related seminars, conventions and trade shows, as evidenced by the Pro- fessional Lawn Care Association of America's annual event Nov. 8-10 in Indianapolis and the Asso- ciated Landscape Contractors of America Landscape Management Ne Dr. 0157 0122505 STEVE BATTEN TEXAS AGM UN SOIL £ CROP COLLEGE STAT 10 31 IV SCIENCES ION TX 778A3 ** Division conference Nov. 13-15 in Denver. The PLCAA kicks off with its annual Early Bird party at the Indianapolis Convention Center Nov. 7. Two days of informational sessions alternating with exhibi- tions follow. The ALCA event begins Sun-day night, Nov. 13 with the annual Brag/Blooper dinner in Denver's Marriott Southeast Hotel. Nov. 14 is devoted to a workshop con- ducted by consultants from the Sales Management Institute. Attendees can then elect to visit one of two split sessions on Nov. 15: Session A is "Computers and Your Business;" Session B is "Growth Regulators and Weed Control." ALCA is also offering middle management personnel and employee workshops in Boston Nov. 30-Dec.l and in Washington, D.C. Dec. 2-3. They are the final workshops in a series of six which began two months ago. The workshops have been developed by the management consulting firm of Perrone and Ambrose Associates. They empha-size training based on the princi- ple of "learning by doing." The first three days of Novem-ber will be a busy time in New York and Illinois where turfgrass to page 24 BEARD COLLECTION Without a summer application of Dursban, big problems could pop up in fall. While most insects emerge in spring, sod webworms and other varieties don't spring into action until late summer or fall. And even DURSBAN* insecticideŠwhich gives you long-lasting residual action Š won't protect your customers' lawns from spring to fall. That's why it's important to apply DURSBAN twice a yearŠon your first round for the early risers and later in the summer to get the late bloomers. And considering the relatively low cost of DURSBAN, a two application insecticide program makes doubly good sense. After all, DURSBAN costs as little as 35 O z a: H c/3 D Q Z w < U z £ < Tom Panattoni of True-Green, Carol Stream, 111. (left) faces attorney Ian Oppenheim, who is playing the role of a television interviewer, and John Kenney operates a hand-held video camera during a media workshop held for Wau-conda, 111. pesticide applicators in August. Oppenheim and Kenney were repre-senting the Pesticide Public Policy Foundation, then known as the National Environmental Law Foundation. Pesticides Effort may have been in time from page 1 "They were in a listening mode. They've extended the date (of enforcement) well into October. The ordinance has been held in abeyance while the Environmen-tal Committee is studying our new proposal." The pesticide group was to receive a responseŠand all indications were that it would be a favorable oneŠOct. 19. The bill which would have forced professional pesticide applicators from town (and they agreed that is the action they would have taken) was an amend-ment of a 1964 bill. "There were a lot of people at the hearing," Fischer said. "And we left with the feeling that they were in a mood to back off a lot of the lousy, ugly language in the original bill." Fischer said that the "single most effective thing we did was to activate the citizens." Chemicals get new labelling Aliette, Orthene and Fusilade, three chemicals used in the lawn/ grounds industries, have received new federal labelling from the Environmental Protection Agency. Aliette 80WP fungicide has been approved for use on orna-mentals to control Phytothphora root rot. Aliette, a product of Rhone-Poulenc Inc., is a systemic compound that may be applied as a drench or soil-incorporated. Orthene, a product of Chevron Chemical Co., has received a spe- cial local need registration for control of fire ants in the state of Texas. Orthene Tree & Ornamen-tal Spray is for use in turf, lawn and non-crop areas. Under the new labelling, it may be applied to the fire ant mound either as a drench or as a dusting treatment. Fusilade, manufactured by ICI Americas Inc., is a selective over- the-top systemic herbicide for annual and perennial grass weed control. It has just received labell-ing for use on non-crop areas and on non-bearing and non-food crops. Paramount will enter lawn care Paramount Pest Control, a $5V2-million dollar business based in Falls Church, Va., intends to enter the lawn care market by 1985. Ralph Hughes, president, told PEST CONTROL magazine that preparations are already being made. "We expect that, in the next two years, we will be fully involved in lawn care," Hughes said. "The name won't be Para-mount, but it'll be a name people will identify with Paramount. We are now negotiating with a well-known individual in that field to come to work with Paramount. "Due to our size, we already have thousands upon thousands of leads. Many thousands of homeowners already trust us." PLCAA, ALCA sponsor seminars The Professional Lawn Care Asso-ciation of America, the Associated Landscape Contractors of Amer-ica and the National Arborist Association will jointly sponsor a series of two-day financial semi-nars Dec. 1-8. The seminars will be directed at owners, chief executive officers and other top management of green industry companies. Con-ducted by Ross-Payne & Associ-ates, Inc., a well-known financial consultant firm, each of the three seminars will be held at the Schaumberg Marriott Hotel, just to page 5 "GO WEST, young man!" was the title of an article about the nation's top lawn care markets which appeared in August's LCI. A1 Bowers of Hawkeye Chemical responded to that with a hand-written letter to LCI's editorial office. "Stay east," Bowers said. "L.A. (named No.l lawn care market in the country) is NOT a big lawn care market: much ground cover, landscape plantings and swimming pools, but small grass areas; lots of small 'landscapers' but few lawn care companies." Bowers went on to say that the census information was misleading. THE CONSUMER PRICE index rose to 299.3 at mid-year, which means goods and services which cost $100 in 1967 now cost $299.30. This reflected an increase of 6.9 points in the first half of the year. CHILDREN PLAYING on East Orange, N.J. apartment lawns was banned this summer by Mayor Thomas H. Cooke, Jr., according to an Associated Press report. "I can't let my love for them (children) overshadow the fact that their activities are detrimental to the city," Cooke said. One landlord was sen- tenced to 60 days in jail and fined $2,000 for allowing violations of the new code. THE MICHIGAN Turfgrass Foundation, using a unique OMC-Lincoln loan program, presented an array of new turf care equipment to Michigan State University's turfgrass pro- gram this fall. "This will help us with research programs such as compaction and cultivation, and improve our efficiency in maintaining our research plots," said Dr. Paul Rieke, professor of turfgrass management. CHEMLAWN plans a public offering of $15 million of con-vertible debentures due 2008. The proceeds will be used to finance part of its 1984 capital spending program, estimated at $20 million. The proposal has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. JOHN DEERE presented its new line of lawn mowers and tractors to 3,000 franchised dealers at a three-day demonstra- tion show at the Olympia Resort and Spa outside of Milwaukee, Wise, and at its nearby Horican, Wise, plant. Groups of 500 dealers at each showing were introduced to the line of walk-behind mowers and received a sales booklet. ACCORD LAWN Services has joined Dial One of the Tri-State Inc., an international franchise network providing resi-dential and commercial maintenance, repair and improve-ment. Philip Manes is president and owner of the five-year-old Columbus, Ohio lawn care service. THE ARIZONA Landscape Contractors Association will dis-tribute a President's Award in each category of its annual contest when it meets early this month. Previously, just one President's Award had been presented. DISABLED WORKERS will receive training in the landscap-ing, lawn care and groundskeeping field, thanks to a project sponsored by the Palm Beach Habilitation Center, Lake Worth, Fla. The project is part of a national outreach effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. HOUSING STARTS spurted in May 19.1 percent from April to the highest level since September, 1979. For the lawn care industry, that was good news: more homes, more lawns. The seasonally-adjusted annual pace for home starts is 1.79 million. WWN GARE INDUSTRY JERRY ROCHE, Editor KEVIN COONEY, Assistant Editor ROBERT EARLEY, Group Publisher TRUDY JOSLYN, Production Manager MARILYN MacDONALD, Production Supervisor MARIO ROSSETTI, Graphic Design JOAN SCHUMACHER Circulation Supervisor GAIL KESSLER, Reader Service Manager LINDA WINICK, Promotion Manager MARKETING/SALES Midwest Office: JOE KOSEMPA, Regional Sales Manager ROBERT EARLEY (216) 243-8100 7500 Old Oak Blvd. Cleveland, OH 44130 Southern Office: RON KEMPNER (404) 233-1817 National Sales Manager 3091 Maple Dr., Atlanta, GA 30305 Northwest Office: BOB MIEROW (206) 363-2864 1333 N.W. Norcross, Seattle, WA 98177 Classified: DAWN ANDERSON (218) 727-8511 1 E. First St., Duluth, MN 55802 Please send advertising materials to: LAWN CARE INDUSTRY 120 W. Second St. Duluth, MN 55802 218-727-8511 HRI\ A HARCOURT BRACE nnJ > JOVANOVICH PUBLICATION VBPA £abp ROBERT L. EDGELL, Chairman RICHARD MOELLER, President LARS FLADMARK, Executive V. Pres. ARLAND HIRMAN, Treasurer THOMAS GRENEY, Senior V. Pres. EZRA PINCUS, Senior Vice President PAT O'ROURKE, Group Vice President JOE BILDERBACH, Vice President JAMES GHERNA, Vice President GEORGE GLENN, Vice President HARRY RAMALEY, Vice President LAWN CARE INDUSTRY (USPS 397250) is published monthly by Harcourt Brace jovanovich Publications. Corporate and Edi-torial offices: 7500 Old Oak Boulevard. Cleveland. Ohio 44130. Advertising Offices: 757 Third Avenue. New York, New York 10017, 111 East Wacker Drive. Chicago. Illin-ois 60601 and 3091 Maple Drive, Atlanta. Georgia 30305. Accounting. Advertising Pro-duction and Circulation offices: 1 East First Street. Duluth, Minnesota 55802. Subscrip-tion rates: $16 per year in the United States; $20 per year in Canada. All other countries: $45 per year. Single copies (pre-paid only): $4 in the U.S.; elsewhere $4.50; add $3.00 for shipping and handling per order. Second class postage paid at Duluth. Minnesota 55806. Copyright © 1983 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho-tocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Microfilm copies of articles are available through University Microfilm, International, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48160. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, P.O. Box 6200, Duluth, Minnesota 55806-9900. INDUSTRY NEWS from page 4 outside of Chicago, 111. Titles of the seminars are "Compensation Planning," "Financial Analysis" and "Finan-cial Planning." Dates are Dec. 1-2, 5-6 and 7-8, respectively. For more information or regis-tration, contact the headquarters of any of the three sponsoring organizations: PLCAA at (404) 977-5222; ALCA at (703) 821-8611; or NAA at (516) 221-3082. Merit is now 'recommended' Merit Kentucky bluegrass has been placed on the Virginia-Mar-yland sod production recommend list, according to Jim Steinke, mar-keting director of Full Circle, Inc., Madras, Ore. A widely-tested grass, Merit has performed well in trials in New Jersey, New York, Missouri, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. Merit, being produced in Oregon, has demonstrated extremely good sod strength. Dow specialty efforts growing Dow Chemical USA has realigned its organizational policy and structure, planning for continued growth in specialty chemicals. With the changes, Dow hopes that its specialty chemicals will account for 50 percent of its earn-ings by 1990. "We see specialty chemicals as being the growth area in terms of maximum return on investment," Š says Public Relations Director r- Terry Witt. "I don't think you'll | see a dramatic overnight change, z but there might be more of an evo- > lutionary change." g Dow also hopes to accelerate its g research and provide more tech- g nically-oriented field representa-tives, according to Witt. "With » more concern over environmen- tal impact and misuse problems, we hope to develop new concepts § in specialty chemicals to fill the existing pest control gaps." Dow has established a Spe- g cialty Chemicals Department g under Group Vice-President R.T. 2 Williams, formerly general man-ager of the Coatings Department. to page 32 Your blueprint to success for 46 yearsŠChampion. Since 1937, Champion sprinklers and accessories have made for efficient, economical irrigation systems. xpenenj: e. Go with Champion. Šr-aŠ-ŠdL Š CHAMPION ŁSPRINKLER EQUIPMENTL 146p N. Naud Street Ł Lodj Angeles, Calif. 90012-1982 Inside California, telephone: (213) 221-2108 Ł (213) 223-1545 Outside California, call toll free: 1-800-421-9051 Ł 1-800-421-90541 I s®* W ŁŁi k*A \ v.J 4 Bp . >>2 AÎ:!:: THE MORE PUCES THE MORE TIME AHD Look around you. Whether you service commer-cial or residential customers, the more places you find to use Roundup® herbicide, the more you'll save. Any side-by-side comparison along fencelines, sidewalks or curblines would prove Roundup works considerably faster than string trimmers and other mechanical weed control methods. So the more trim-ming and edging jobs you do with Roundup, the more time you'll save per call. A complete weed control program with Roundup can also mean a considerable savings of time and labor on repeat treatments. With a 2% solution of Roundup you can control over 90 kinds of problem weedsŠroots and allŠso they won't grow back. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS FOR ROUNDUP Roundup® is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company. © Monsanto Company 1983. RUP-SP3-102 à « : ¡lilS^J YOU USE ROUNDUP, LABOR YOU'LL SAVE What's more, Roundup leaves no residual soil activity, and it won't wash or leach out to harm desirable vegetation. That makes Roundup ideal for around shrubs and flower beds, around trees and other areas. Using Roundup makes good business sense. Look around. The more you do, the more you'll save. See your herbicide dealer soon. FOR A FREE GUIDE TO ROUNDUP, CALL 1-800-621-5800 TOLL FREE. IN ILLINOIS CALL 1-800-972-5858. Monsanto VERSATILE EFFECTIVE Circle No. 118 on Reader Inquiry Card UPFRONT w DC p c/3 D Q z w DC < u z £ < J Is it too late for you, too? It was a perfect example of what can happen if local lawn care businessmen don't heed the warnings they hear and read about. It was what might be called a "panic" meeting in Wauconda, 111., where a law has been passed severely restricting the commer-cial use of pesticides. Nearly 50 individuals from companies that apply pesticides inside Wauconda's city limits attended. They began at 7 p.m. one day in late August, and con- tinued through midnight. Many would have liked to stay longer. Yet all this discussion was after the fact, because the law had already been passed. The most they could hope for was to enlighten the town's trustees, and perhaps get a rescission or altera- tion. On hand were Ian Oppenheim and John Kenney, who chaired A Fast, Dependable Approach to Turf Maintenance Easy Operation-Two Operating Levers Do It All... Control Ground Speed and Direction. Dependable-Backed by a Strong Dealer Organization Plus Twenty Five Years of Engineering Experience. Comfortable-Natural Sitting Position with Cushioned Back Seat and Padded Arm Rests. 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No tools necessary to dissemble and repair. Ł PRICING Š Here's one instance where you pay less for the best. 5 GAL. (20 K) ALSO AVAILABLE IN 2Vfe GAL. (10 K) 3% GAL. (15 K) BIRCHmEIER has the Back Pack Sprayer for you Š -FOR MORE INFORMATION-TREBOR CORPORATION 4047-A JONESBORO ROAD . FOREST PARK. GA. 30050 Ł 404-366-0957 Circle No. 131 on Reader Inquiry Card If you need a day-in-day-out performer that'll handle all kinds of spraying jobs, get the work-horse. A Dobbins power sprayer. Every Dobbins is built smart and tough to help you cut any spraying job down to size. Ł Professional design... adjustable nozzle, easy-fill tank. Ł Heavy-duty... made with non-corrosive materials for years of reliable service. Ł Complete line... from 8 gal. to 300 gal. capacities, skid mounted and trailer type models. To put a Dobbins power sprayer to work for you, see your local power equipment dealer, call us collect, or write us for free catalog information. hmm QQgg|N§ Master Manufacturing Co. H H [PCD1W E(Rj P.O. Box 694, Dept. LCI1183 ODD AVER Sioux City, Iowa 51102 ^^ orHM gw 712/258-0108 THE WORKHORSE Circle No. 116 on Reader Inquiry Card the session, from what is now known as the Pesticide Public Policy Foundation. "There is no Lone Ranger," Kenney said. "Nobody's going to gallop in on a white horse and sal-vage the day." Bombardment "Environmental-emotionalists are coming at us from all direc- tions, all at once," Kenney said. "They have so much money, it's unbelievable. And with that money, they are devising ways to get rid of pesticides forever." As a hedge against this type of situation arising too frequently, PLCAA President Don Burton has proposed formation, within the PLCAA, of a "Pesticide and Environmental Issues Alert Com-mittee" to help its members keep abreast of developments. If this committee is eventually enacted, it would provide for one interested member in each state to keep the PLCAA itself informed of any legislative developments. The PLCAA would then be able to organize and mobilize lawn care businessmen in the affected areas. At the Wauconda meeting, there were a series of no-holds-barred role-playing sessions. One PLCAA member, John Eckhardt of Crystal Green Corp. in Wau-conda, was involved in a mock public hearing. In addition, Tom Panattoni of True-Green, Carol Stream, 111., and Barry Matthews of Spring- Green, Naperville, 111., played television interviewees with Oppenheim taking the role of the interviewer. (See "Industry News".) "It's a game," Oppenheim said. "The other side is playing with very good players. You have to play it too." Panattoni and Matthews were both subjected to leading ques-tions during the mock interviews. "When you're standing under those lights, you lose a sense of where it's at," Panattoni said later. Added Matthews, "It's scary just going through the walk-through. I can imagine what it could be like in a real situation. The sad part is that it's going to be the people who don't have this information who will be inter- viewed." No, the sad part is that pesticide applicators in Wauconda, 111. let the situation get out of hand. Will you? LAWN CARE MARKETPLACE Weather, economy Buffalo is hit hard by factors beyond the control of anyone Two factors over which lawn care operators have no controlŠthe weather and the economyŠhit the Buffalo (N.Y.) area this past summer. Typical of most of the country, this western New York city remains in a deep recession. Com-pounding professional lawn care problems was some topsy-turvy weather. "Eighteen days this summer, we had temperatures over 80 degrees with less than l/16th of an inch of rain," noted Mike Hulbert, sales and marketing director for Grand Island's Mister Lawn Care. "That was worsened by the atro-cious sewer and water rates in the area, which forced people to hold down their watering." Kevin Kassay of Turf Tec in Clarence Center, a suburb of Buf-falo, has eight years experience on lawns. "I never saw it this bad," Kassay claimed this summer. "This is as extreme as it gets in this area. For the most part, though, people have been very understanding." Traditionally, Buffalo has also been one of the last communities to feel the ravages of difficult eco-nomic timesŠand one of the last to respond to positive economic turnarounds. The bad economy has hit busi-nesses both large and small. Like that of David Williams Jr. of Williams Spray Service in sub-urban Williamsville, which lost 15 of 70 previous customers over the winter. "Most of them couldn't afford Kevin Kassay professional lawn service," Williams said, "or had to move because the people lost their job." Williams has since increased his customer load to 155. It's not, however, nearly as easy to sell as it had been in the past. "People are calling for three to five estimates," Kassay observed. "There's a lot of shopping going on. Unfortunately, a lot of it is based on price. "It was never like that before, QMNHI State University of New York at Buffalo when customers were always impressed by timeliness and promptness." Jim Hornung of Elbers Land-scaping Service is the only retail nursery and landscape contractor inside the Buffalo city limits. "Traditionally, we have heard that this industry is less affected than others," Hornung said. "I believe in that 100 percent. But I also think that, as we come out of the recession, our times will be tougher. "In hard times, customers spend more time at home and want their houses looking better. As we come out of economic hard times, though, the availability of money may change spending hab-its. Fifteen percent of our regular maintenance customers have already cut back." Jim Foote, local Davey Lawn-scape manager, is also having his problems. "We've had a few up-and-down years since we started in 1978, but nothing down as much as this year. Most of our cancella- tions have been from customers getting lower prices from some- body else," Foote noted. "People who have kept our ser-vice are buying more, but people who were cost-conscious went with somebody else. "The economic slowdown didn't hit us until this year. Now, it'll be two or three years before Buffalo recovers." Mister Lawn Care thinks it may have found a solution to the prob-lem of finding new customers. "We run our own sales depart-ment," said Hulbert. "We make friends with the people, dealing with them on a one-to-one basis and taking our time with them. "I would say that 75 percent of all service business lost is because of neglecting customers. We don't neglect them. "And our concept is extremely successful: we've just about dou-bled our business in each of the last five years." Christine Hausrath of Hausrath Landscaping sends out person-alized Christmas cards to 300 cus-Christi ne Hausrath tomers each winter. That concept, too, works. "I always put a little note in each card," she said. "People look for that personalized thing, because they like to feel impor-tant." Mike and Mary Molloy, who just bought Turf Tec after eight years with ChemLawn, have things rolling. "We expect a fair amount of to page 13 Buffalo notes By Jerry Roche Asked to describe their major agronomic problems this year, Buffalo lawn care businessmen were inconsis-tent, to say the least. Each person queried on a recent trip to western New York had different problems with which they had to cope. Mike Hulbert of Mister Lawn Care, for instance, named sod webworm. Dave Williams Jr. of Williams Lawn Spray countered with fusarium blight, red thread and chinchbug. Mike Molloy of Turf Tec nominated brown patch, leafspot and crabgrass. Jim Hornung of Elber Landscaping thought grubs were the worst. Jim Foote of Davey Lawnscape had some experience with red thread, dollar spot, chinchbugs, European chafer, billbugs, crabgrass and doxolysisŠthough no overabundance of any. Difference of opinion in that regard coincided with the entirely different ways each of the businesses oper- ated. Here is a sampling: Davey Lawnscape Manager Jim Foote runs eight trucks and four support vehicles out of the Buffalo office, which posted the most sales of any Davey Lawn- scape operations in 1982. "I think the lawn care industry can pat themselves on the back because five years ago, 50 percent of lawns had grubs. Now one out of 10 does. "But billbugs are on the increase, and they're a lot harder to kill." Foote, in an effort to stim-ulate sales during an unusually slow summer, tried block pricing with some effectiveness. But he says that there will be future marketing changes. "I'm working the techni-cians 47 to 50 hours a week. But five hours of that is due to page 12 r* > Z n > 73 m Z a c C/3 H 73 Z O < m DO m 73 NOTEBOOK /rom page 11 to trying to improve contact with customers." Foote sees some troubles on the horizon: "I think the industry has let down the consumer. Somehow, we've got to figure out a way to keep lawns green. But I don't have any answers." Mister Lawn Care Everything's coming up roses for this company (see accompanying story). "This is a great area," says Hulbert. And owner Jeff Gardner chimes in, "There's a lot of busi-ness out there, you've just got to know how to get it. That's the name of the game." Mister Lawn Care employs 35 during the peak season. Besides Gardner and Hulbert, other key people are Ron Howard (service manager) and Mark Eick (office manager). Williams Spraying Service Dave Williams has learned quite a few lessons during his one year in business. Like not to use cheaper brochure distribution systems. "I'm not going to send out any more flyers," he notes. "I dis- tributed 5,000 last year using one of those cheap services. I was really excited about it, and was waiting for the phone calls to start pouring in. But nothing happened. "Next year, I'm going to expand my newspaper advertising bud-get. But I've found that door-to-door solicitation actually works best of all." Turf Tec Mike Molloy and Kevin Kassay left ChemLawn to strike out on their own business two years ago. And things are progressing rapidly. "You get a whole different per-spective of the industry," says Molloy. "I always enjoyed work- ing for ChemLawn, but there's a little bit more adventure being out on your own." With the nursery next door, Turf Tec can also offer garden bed, resodding and dethatching ser-vicesŠall of which contribute to the continued success of the busi- ness. "We've taken on a lot of new people," Molloy says. "I see the public's awareness in lawn care increasing." Elbers Landscaping Jim Hornung, who maintains five trucks and one service car, is plan- ning on expansion. "We don't have the space here to do what I want to, which is to include selling firewood and our commercial landscaping busi-ness," Elbers says. "Right now, location is a problem. We'd like to stay where we're at, but we can't firm anything down. "And some of the expansion has to come fairly quickly." Elbers Landscaping claims to be the only retail nursery and 'I see the public's awareness increasing' landscaping contractor within the Buffalo city limits. Being in both businesses, Hornung sees some vital industry trends. "Companies that produce gran-ular chemicals are changing, but too late," he notes. "(O.M.) Scott's is a prime example. "They need to cut back to basics. Because of the confusion about their products, people are hiring liquid lawn care companies to do their work for them." Hornung controls five crews, three with automatic work sched-ules and two that have to sell their jobs. Most of the work is within a five-mile radius of the officeŠ from downtown Buffalo, well into the surrounding suburbs. Seventy percent of the work is residential, the rest commercial. Hausrath Landscaping Kevin and Christine Hausrath have managed to overcome a debilitating injury to Kevin that forced him from the field into bed last year. The business maintains its solid, steady growth despite Christine having to handle nearly all the office work by herself. "She's been handling the whole businessŠI don't know how," said Kevin. The Hausraths maintain 300 accounts, including 200 residen- tials. They use six field personnel and now need a mechanic to work out of the home base, which is large equipment storage building behind their house. Kevin suffered a herniated disc last November trying to straighten If you think you've seen late-germinating crabgrass in your turf, you may really have been looking at a goosegrass problem. Either way, you can solve the problem with CHIPCO® RONSTAR® herbicide. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRABGRASS AND GOOSEGRASS. Goosegrass is more common than you might think. It's easily mistaken for crabgrass, espe-cially when it's mowed. What's the difference? Check the color first. Goosegrass is a darker green. And it always grows in tufts. Crabgrass doesn't. There's another important difference: goosegrass is much harder to control. Unless you use RONSTAR. CRABGRASS OR GOOSEGRASS«. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WITH RONSTAR G. RONSTAR is the only herbi-cide you can count on for effective preemergent control of both crabgrass and goosegrass. While other products will give you satisfactory performance on crabgrass, they don't even come close to RONSTAR on goose-grass. Years of testing prove it: Goosegrass control, 100-150 days RONSTAR after application. 94% Dacthal* Betasan* 37% Summary of 9 years of testing conducted by Univer-sity Experiment Station and Rhone-Pbulenc personnel. So you have two choices. Use an ordinary crabgrass herbicide Mike Moìloy lawn mowers. They have an optimistic out-look. "I want to be here 10 years from now, so our kids can take over," said Christine. "In the Buffalo area, the reputa-ble landscapers have a good rela-tionship. But there are some Mike Hulbert a tree by himself. He can't be back to work until this coming spring. Hausrath Landscaping is a full-service company that will add chemical spraying to its list next season. They just purchased a 300-gallon spraying unit and a flatbed trailer to add to their inventory of Bobcat and Toro Jim H or nun g problems: with the economy the way it is, it's hard to tell people, 'Yes, I'm charging $5 more than Joe Blow, but he's not insured.'" The Hausraths have managed to cope with that problem. "We've got good customers," Kevin related. "We got rid of all the bad onesŠlike the ones that and hope crabgrass is your only problem. Or play it safe and use RONSTAR this season, for ex-cellent, season-long control of both crabgrass and goosegrass. NO RAM-OUTS, ROOT PRUNING OR PROBLEMS WITH PLANTINGS. RONSTAR is the most con-venient herbicide for your turf care program. It won't leach, so you can fit it into your schedule earlier. It's highly selective, causing no root pruning in peren-nial bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and bermudagrass, no harm to ornamental plantings or trees. QUALITY! IS THE "R Hr CHIPCO TURF CARE ; THE "RIGHT APPROACH " Wherever the professionals really care for turfŠand espe-cially where both crabgrass and goosegrass are problems Šword is getting around. CHIPCO RONSTAR herbicide is your best choice for effective, con-venient, long-lasting control. For more information on RONSTAR or other CHIPCO turf care prod-ucts, ask your CHIPCO dis-tributor. Rhône-Poulenc Inc., Agrochem-ical Division, Monmouth Junc-tion, NJ 08852 (W^nO* fOULBNC SPREAD THE WORD. Please read label carefully, and use only as directed. will nickel-and-dime you to death." [M] BUFFALO from page 11 growth," Mike says. "Now, it's more selling yourself than the company's name. And you've got to know the product well. "There's not so much the push for numbers here as there was at ChemLawn. A new business has to build up a good base, and the only way you can do that is to keep your customers happy." Turf Tec and Elbers Landscap-ing each have an ace in the hole: nursery businesses. Turf Tec works in conjunction with Wood- stream Nurseries and Hornung has Elbers Nursery. Hornung agrees with Hulbert, Hausrath and Molloy when they talk about close contact with cus-tomers. "Twice a year, I talk to the cus-tomer on a one-to-one basis," he says. "You've got to perform that to retain the customers. "Plus, we thrive on repeat maintenance business, and Kevin Hausrath because we like to keep tied into the customer 12 months of the year." Services offered by Elbers Landscaping are: spring cleanup; lawn seeding, fertilization and maintenance; ornamental main- tenance; annual plantings; and fall cleanup. Hornung also sells and delivers 300 to 500 Christmas trees, most of the sales being closed on the telephone. Fire-wood sales and snow plowing are also on that company's list of ser- vices. Since Hornung bought the business three years ago, the land-scape maintenance portion has decreased from 95 percent to 60 percent. Just as Hornung found the right niche, so did Kevin and Christine Hausrath, who started their busi-Jim Foote ness as a snow plowing sideline to hubby Kevin's factory job 10 years ago. Now, they have expanded into landscape maintenance, ornamental maintenance, sod-ding and landscape design. "The ball is just getting bigger and bigger," says Christine, fur- ther noting that the pair had just purchased a spray unit and will begin putting down liquid chemi-cals next spring. [Ml Ralan* is a registered trademark of Elanco Products Company. Betasan* is a registered trademark of Stauffer Chemical Company. Dacthal* is a registered trademark of Diamond Shamrock Corporation. Circle No. 125 on Reader Inquiry Card Dro^jty^e units Reliability of spreaders tested By Dr. Nick Christians How reliable is your drop-type spreader? When you purchase drop spreaders, which have been widely used to apply granular fer- tilizers to lawns for many years, it's generally assumed that they will accurately and consistently deliver the desired amount of fer- tilizer. But is this always the case? To test the assumption, five makes of fertilizer spreaders were evaluated at Ohio State Univer-sity to determine if they could, in fact, be relied upon to (a) deliver the same amounts of material time after time at a constant set- ting; (b) release uniform amounts of fertilizer across their width; and (c) release consistent quan-tities of fertilizer regardless of the amount of material in the hopper. The spreaders studied were the Model 50 produced by Central Quality Industries of Polo, 111.; the Turf Tender Model 30H12 pro-duced by the Gandy Co. of Owatonna, Minn.; the Model 3000 produced by the Ortho Division of the Chevron Chemical Co., San Francisco; a spreader produced by Precision Products, Inc., Spring-field, 111.; and the Model PFl pro- duced by O.M. Scotts, Marysville, Ohio. Two of each Two of each were used for each of the tests. Since it is not possible to oper-ate the spreaders over field areasŠor even over smooth sur-facesŠwithout affecting speed of operation and other variables, a machine was constructed to oper-ate the spreaders under control-led conditions. The calibrating machine was constructed with two sets of drive wheels welded to steel axles. The drive wheels were connected by a chain drive to a 10:1 gear reducer which was operated by a variable speed V-belt system. The power source was a Vfe-hp electric motor. The spreaders were placed on top of the machine so that the drive wheel of the spreader was in contact with the drive wheel of the machine. For each repetition, the machine was started, the drive wheel was allowed to turn five times, the spreader was then opened and allowed to operate for an additional 15 revolutions. The operating speed was maintained at 2V2 mph throughout the inves-tigation. The study was conducted in two parts. In the first, evaluations were made of consistency of material delivery among 10 repeated trials. Fertilizer material was collected in trays placed below the spreaders and weighed to the nearest 1 /10th of a gram. This part of the study was conducted with two fertilizers: Scotts Turf Builder and a granular urea. Materials of the same lot number were obtained from distributors to limit variability among bags. Same amount Spreaders were set to deliver the same amount of material per unit width of hopper: six grams per inch for the Turf Builder and four grams per inch for urea. Each set of tests was performed with three levels of fertilizer in the hopper: (a) full, (b) half-full, and (c) nearly empty. Variability in the study was evaluated by using a statistical calculation called coefficient of variation (C.V.). Without going into detail, it should be sufficient to say that spreaders which were quite inconsistent in delivery had high C.V. measurements and those which were more consistent had low C.V.s. There was a considerable amount of variation in fertilizer release among the spreaders for both the Scotts Turf Builder and the granular urea. When the Turf Builder was used, the Gandy 30H12 was the most consistent with a C.V. of 3.4, followed by Scotts PFl and Ortho 3000 with C.V.s of 5.1 and 9.6, respectively. These variations were equiv-alent to 6/10ths of a pound of Turf Builder per 1000 square feet for Testing the Gandy spreader the Gandy, 8/10ths for the Scotts and one pound for the Ortho. Remember that each of the 10 replications were taken at the same setting. Variations, then, as large as one pound of Turf Builder per 1000 square feet could poten-tially be found between one pass and another on a lawn area. Wider variations were found between machines for the urea. With urea, the Scotts spreader was the most consistent and the Ortho the least, with variations of .72 pounds and 1.52 pounds per square feet, respectively. The Scotts was much more uniform in its release from replication to rep-lication. The level of urea in the hopper had little effect on the mean quan-tity of urea release over 10 replica-tions for the Central, Scotts, Gandy and Ortho spreaders. The Precision spreader did show a decrease in material released as the level was decreased. The reason for the larger total release of material from the Precision spreader than from the other spreaders was that material was forced past the shut-ter plate of this make as the drive wheel of the spreader was oper- ated. Comparisons of C.V. values indicate that level of urea in the hopper had an effect on repeatability of delivery of mate- rial among replications, even though for most spreaders the average amount delivered was constant. C.V. values for Central, Gandy, Ortho and Precision (machine No.2) increased as level of material in the hopper decreased. The Scotts machine maintained nearly constant varia- tions as the level of material was decreased. to page 30 Replication Replication ORDERING RETASAN? CALL ami FIRST! 1-800-228-0096 (IN NEBRASKA 1-800-642-8873 IN COLORADO 1-800-332-4045) When you make your decision to order Betasan, make it Clean Crop.® With Clean Crop® Betasan® you'll get competitive prices, service and a wide selection of quality formulations to choose from, including: Clean Crop® Betaaan®4E, Clean Crop® Betaaan®3.6 plua fertilizer, Clean Crop® Betaaan® 12.5-G, Clean Crop® Betaaan® 7-G, Clean Crop®Betaaan®3.6-G. fVllHJv HM'ri Be sure to ask about our early order programs and prices on these fine Clean Crop( Chemicals: Oftanol 1.5-G Easier to calibrate and apply: USE: 3 lbs. per 1000 sq. feet for subterranean insects. 1.5 lbs. per 1000 sq. feet for surface feeding insects Better coverage: More particles per square inch. Diazinon® - AGSOO, 5-G, 14-G Dursban® - 4E; $0 WEEDONE® DPC -controls OXALIC SPURGE Balan® - 2.5 G pre-emergent herbicide 2.3G twice as concentrated, BOOK YOUR PESTICIDE NEEDS - CALL Balcom Special Products UAP-Special Products Selco Supply Co. Greeley, Colorado Omaha, Nebraska Greeley, Colorado Xiloli (303) 352"4750 (402) 33°-1910 i303) 351-7110 Growers Service Special Products Central Valley Special Products Columbus, Ohio Bryan, Texas (614) 276-5103 (409) 272-8479 Balan® is a registered trademark of ELANCO. Clean Crop® is a registered trademark of United Agri Products. Betasan® is a registered trademark of Stauffer ChemicaL OFTANOL® is a registered trademark of The Parent Company of Farbonfabriken Bayer GmbH, Leverkusen. Diazinon® is a registered trademark of CIBA-Geigy Corp. Dursban® is a registered trademark of Dow ChemicaL WEEDONE® is a registered trademark of Union Carbide. Circle No. 124 on Reader Inquiry Card Successful pros Age a 'minor' factor to two youngsters CJ Dave Williams Jr. of Williams Lawn Care Innovations and More We offer straight fertilizer materials... or we can mix them up eoo or we can include herbicides and insecticides. We offer the most versatile line of custom tailored fertilizers and combinations in the professional lawn care industry. Whether it's straight fertilizer materials (like ammonium nitrate) or mixed formulations to serve your nutrient and seasonal requirements, we can give you what you want, when you want it. And that includes fertilizers incorporating leading herbicides and insecticides like Balan®*, Dacthal®** and Ronstar®*** (available in certain states only). You'll find them all at USS Agri-Chemicals, where quality and performance are assured. Agri-Chemicals Division of United States Steel P.O. Box 1685, Atlanta, GA 30301 Phone: (404) 572-4132 See us at the PLCAA SHOW, Indianapolis, Booth 344. * Balan* is a registered trademark of Elanco Products Company, a Division of Eli Lilly Company. ""Dacthal* is a registered trademark of the Diamond Shamrock Corporation. "Ronstar* is a registered trademark of Rhone-Poulenc, Ine Lawn care is a relatively young industry. So, too, are some of the people engaged in itŠlike Don Zerby and Dave Williams, Jr. Six years ago, a youngster bought a mower on his mom's credit card and pulled it around the neighborhood behind his bicycle, looking for lawns that needed a trim. Today the bike has been replaced by three trucks, and the 20-year-old Zerby employs up to five workers during peak periods as he and his brother Bob operate a professional main- tenance and design business in Willoughby, Ohio. Zerby, who handles the main-tenance accounts for Zerby Land- scape Co. while his brother concentrates on landscape con-struction and design, says the key to success in this industry boils down to "persistence and aggres-sive marketing." As a 14-year-old junior high school student, Zerby decided that the lawn in front of the local Buick dealership at his school bus stop needed his services, "so I went in and bugged him (the owner) every day until he finally said OK." That's how he obtained his first commercial account, a 100-foot strip of turf that the Zer-bys continue to maintain today. In 1978, the size of the company doubled when brother Bob joined and the two bought their first truck to keep up with their grow- ing number of clients. Today, Zerby handles 35 accounts, and he's continually hunting for new business. Expansion Last November he decided to expand the number of mainte-nance accounts his firm handles, so Zerby got on the phone with potential customers and then sent individual maintenance pro- posals to every one on his list who expressed interest in his services. "PersistenceŠif you want it bad enough you keep going after it. I've found that it's paid off," he says. From 12 residential customers in 1977, when he was 14, Zerby's clients now include eight Taco Bell restaurants and several area banks. While he says he wants to continue to grow, "I don't want to get too big...we'd lose that per-sonal touch." And in upstate New York, the 19-year-old Williams handles 155 customers out of his parents' house while keeping abreast of new developments by attending industry seminars. "I could handle 300-400 (cus-tomers) comfortably," says Williams, owner of Williams Spray Service in Williamsville, N.Y. "I've built up a good base now, so I know I can at least make a good living." Williams started in lawn care by buying his father's list of 70 clients a year ago. He went to a sales training sem-to page 19 More lawn care companies in the United States and Canada use Professional Turf Equipment spray equipment. LONG LASTING TANKS: Tanks are available in stain-less or mild steel with the option of a single or multiple compartmented spray unit. All tanks are baffled and double welded to guard against cracking. SPECIAL BEDS: Specially treated wooden beds assure long life. Our bed rails are fully enclosed channel to minimize rust and corrosion. REMOTE THROTTLE: A re-mote throttle control and tachometer allow the appli-cator to set his pressure and volume accurately and conveniently. HOSE REELS: Heavy duty electric hose reels complete with 300 foot of hose allow for easy unrolling and wind-ing. Standard units are equipped with single reels; however, units may be built with multiple reels. DRY MATERIAL COMPARTMENT: You no longer need to haul bags of dry material. The rear compart-ment may be equipped to haul bulk granular products. A handy hopper is located in back to allow your applicators to fill their spread- ers with one pull of a lever. Now you can spread and spray at the same time with your dry material protected. CHEMICAL INDUCTOR: Our unique inductor system enables your ap-plicator to custom blend products on site. With a multiple compart-mented unit, he can transfer ma-terial from one compartment to another and custom blend in any compartment. HIGH VOLUME PUMP: Our dual stage centrifugal pump, is durable, requiring little mainten-ance. It is capable of pumping and suspending granulated materials such as IBDU®or powders. How- ever; this system is so versatile that high pressure pumps may be added for tree work or units may be equipped to spray both trees and lawns from separate compart-ments and hose reels. These are just some of the reasons why Professional Turf Equipment is the leader in custom lawn and tree spraying equipment. Custom sprayers tailored to your operation allow you to design the equipment for your method of operation. Our unique agitation system provides maximum agitation without shafts or bearings to cause leaks or break- downs. That's why we're number one when it comes to custom lawn and tree equipment. GET DOUBLE DUTY FROM YOUR IN-TERMEDIATE PICKUP. Now available as a single or a dual compartment sprayer with a 220 gal, capacity, this unit allows you to use your small size pick up as a service unit as well as increasing your production capacity. This sprayer is also capable of spraying trees up to 35 feet or special lawn applications such as fungicides or weed retreats. Ł Electric hose reel. Ł Manual start HD engine. # Available as 1 or 2 tanks. Ł Light weight. WHEN A SELF PROPELLED UNIT IS NEEDED, OUR "SKID RIGS" HAVE THE ANSWER. Heavy duty construction provides you with a versa-tile sprayer as well as a light weight unit. These sprayers come with all the fea- tures of our bigger units plus a heavy duty commercial engine. Available as pick-up units or full size sprayers these sprayers can be built to your size speci- fications. No other self propelled spray-ers offer the durability and versatility of Professional Turf Equipment sprayers. Ł Available in the size you want. Ł Heavy duty electric start engine. Ł Your choice ot pumping systems Ł Steel or "Poly" tanks available. Ł Have representative give me a call. Ł Interested in further information. Professional Tiirf Equipment 400 NORTHTOWN RD. NORMAL, ILLINOIS 61761 NAME: TITLE: COMPANY: ADDRESS: -I TELEPHONE: CALL US (309) 454-2469 Don Zerby of Zerby Landscape Co "I have found it hard to sell around here because I'm only 19 and people have watched me grow up. Some of the people in the neighborhood think I'm still a lit-tle kid," Williams says. Zerby advised his counterpart in New York to promote a profes- sional image. He believes, "If you look like a kid, you'll be treated like a kid." If he can help it, Zerby doesn't let his customers know how old he is and stresses the firm's knowledge and professional image at every opportunity. But occasionally, when he's still in the office at 9 or 10 p.m. finishing up the bookwork, "Sometimes I won-der what I'm doing this for. Why can't I be a kid for a while? But I set my priorities a long time ago...I enjoy what we're doing." [®] LAWN FUNNIES I >J /AYli^^^^^ I / V! ^ , Ł » Ł I / * 1 A z n > & m Z a c H Pö Z o < m S 00 n po "He's trying to convince me that his method of weed control is bet-ter than ours." YOUNGSTERS from page 16 inar sponsored by the Indepen-dent Lawncare Businessmen's Association (ILBA) last winter. Now, he says, "I'm confident that I could make one sale an hour now if I had to." He has nothing but accolades for the ILBA, especially for beginners: "It's really saved me from making a lot of mis-takes." The Zerbys got their education by taking landscaping classes at Ohio State University and Cleve-land State University four years ago. Now that he's comfortable with the technical aspects, Don says he plans to take business courses this winter to improve that side of the operation. "In my position, I shouldn't be on the Taco Bell property cutting grass every week," he says. He intends to learn how to budget his time to concentrate on dealing with his customers instead of bookwork and day-to-day mainte-nance chores. In between his 14-hour-a-day work schedule, Zerby also finds time to be vice president of the Ohio Landscapers Association (OLA) to help promote profession-alism in the industry. "They (OLA) turned us on to really being professional," Zerby says. He recalls that the first sum- mer he and Bob had three trucks, each was a different color and one was covered with primer spots from their after-hours repair pro-gram. 'Why can't I be a kid for a while?' Now the brothers insist on uni-formed workers, clean vehicles and a comprehensive mainte-nance program, proudly noting that one of his trucks has 140,000 miles on it, "and it still runs great." Williams, meanwhile, keeps abreast of new industry develop-ments by chatting with competi-tors and attending the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation con-vention. As can be expected, their age presents a problem to the busi-nessmen in their customer rela-tions. W*A*Cleary Covers It All.«* Fungicides, Herbicides, Insecticides, Slow Release Fertilizers and Specialty Products for the Golf Course, Professional Lawn Care, Home Owner, Nursery/Ornamental /TT^üa Cleary Chemical and Commercial Industries. Circle No. 106 on Reader Inquiry Card P.O. Box 10, 1049 Somerset Street, Somerset, NJ 08873 (201) 247-8000 Accounts receivable: A pain in the pocketbook A necessary, if distasteful, part of every business involves collec-tions. The client who fails to pay for services demands extra time and effort from lawn care busi-nessmen, who respond in dif-ferent ways to the ever-present problem. "I have tight quality control on collection payments/' says Gary Weaver of TurfGard in Troy, Ohio. He cancels clients who are consistently late, which results in many lost customers. "To a lot of people that's a no-no, but my bad debt ratio is always less than one percent," Weaver says. He adds that "you have to work at it," to keep top quality accounts on the books while for-saking the troublesome ones. Jeffery Gardner of Mister Lawn Care, Grand Island, N.Y., says he's had "pretty good luck" keeping down the number of collections problems. "We stop treatment after the second straight treatment without getting paid," Gardner says. But he then gives the client an addi-tional 30 days to settle the account. If a check hasn't arrived within that time, "we send them a letter saying 'no pay, no spray,' and fol-low that up with a phone call." "We don't mind dropping a cus-tomer if he's habitually late," comments Tom Gravitte of Gre-neleves, Hickory, N.C.Šbut that's not necessary very often. While all bills are marked payable upon receipt, Gravitte notes that few customers respond so quickly. "Sometimes you have to go up and knock on doors every eight weeks," he says. Arite-Way Landscape Care's Phil Fred says he seldom sprays twice without getting paid. The Mooresville, Ind., lawn pro admits that "I'm not 100 percent satisfied with our system, but accounting to page 38 Setting up your own collection system Even with a credit check and down payment from customers, you'll always have a few "bad apples" on your client list. Henry "Bud" Nestler of Woodbourne Cultural Nursery, Melville, N.Y., suggests the following collection system to handle those late accounts: 1) Send customers an invoice listing goods shipped or services performed with cost breakdowns. 2) If payment is not made, then send a statement of account to the customer the first of the month that the account is due. The statement lists all invoices for the month. If no payment is received, send a second invoice a month later stating that the account is past due and any interest rate clause in your contract will be imposed. 3) If you still haven't heard anything from the account at this stage, it's time to send letters of collection. If the customer is a personal friend, you may prefer to make a personal visit. Four letters or telephone calls are in order. 4) Your next step is to send a registered letter or telegram. This type of message will suggest to the customer that the matter is now urgent. 5) Still no response? You've done your part, and now it's time to call in your attorney or a bonded collection agency to take care of the matter. 6) If all else fails, take the errant client to small claims court. Nestler says to be sure to avoid conflicts with the Federal Trade Commission's debt collection guidelines. Acts that violate federal law include: calling during off-hours or Sundays, threatening the debtor with jail, using obscene or abusive language and urging clients' employers to pressure the debtor to pay. Make sure you're there when hundreds of lawn care professionals meet to take part in the green industry event of the year... PLGAA Conference & Show Indianapolis/Nov. 8-10 LEARN FROM AN ALL-STAR LINEUP OF LAWN CARE INDUSTRY EXPERTS Ł COMPARE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Ł TAKE PART IN EXCITING ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS Ł NEW SEMINARS Ł NEW SPEAKERS Ł FUN SOCIAL EVENTS Ł NEW LADIES PROGRAM KEYNOTE ADDRESS THE LAWN CARE INDUSTRY: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE JACK VON FOSSEN, President, Chemlawn Corp. EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION AND RECEPTION Make plans to arrive Monday, November 7th, and take advantage of the Early Bird Registration and Reception Theme Party (6:30 PM to 8:30 PM). Pick up your badge and convention packet and be ready to go Tuesday morning when the Show opens. THE TRADE SHOW The Indiana Convention-Trade Center plays host to a super display of lawn care equipment, suppliers, and manufactures. See the latest that the industry has to offer, and enjoy the unique "Specials" that several exhibitors are offering this year. WORKSHOPS A panel of green industry experts has been assembled to conduct shirt-sleeve workshops focused on management techniques that boost the bottom line: BETTER MANAGEMENT FOR SINGLE BRANCH OPERATIONS. BETTER MANAGEMENT FOR MULTIPLE BRANCH OPERATIONS. SEMINARS Here is a partial list of this year's exciting lineup of speakers and topics: GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS: A CLEAR AND PRESENT / DANGER RAY RUSSELL, Director, Govern-ment Relations, Dow Chemical Co. ORGANIZING AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: OUR MOST URGENT NEED IAN OPPENHEIM, Executive Director, Rational Approach to Pesticides, Inc. TIME IS RUNNING OUT... SEND IN THIS ADVANCE REGISTRATION FORM AND SAVE! REGISTRATION FEES PLCAA Members: Non-Members: Spouse/Student: Ladies Program: One Day Registration: Advance $ 60.00 (per per.) $100.00 (per per.) $ 20.00 $ 10.00 Members-$30.00 On-Site $ 75.00 (per per.) $115.00 (per per.) $ 25.00 $ 10.00 (Wed., Nov. 9) Non-Member-$45.00 'Advance Registrations accompanied by a PLCAA Membership Application and dues payment may register all representatives as members if received by October 24,1983 Amount Enclosed $_ NAME . Make checks payable to P.L.C.A.A. TITLE NAME OF COMPANY STREET. PHONE) ). CITY. .STATE. .ZIP. Complete and mail today to: PROFESSIONAL LAWN CARE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA 1225 Johnson Ferry Road NE, Suite B-220, Marietta, Georgia 30067 (404) 977-5222 NOTE: (1) Any cancellation MUST BE in writing. $10 non-refundable. No refund given after November 1, 1983. (2) Advance registrations will not be acknowledged after October 24,1983. (3) Hotel reservation cards must be sent directly to the Hyatt or Hilton (overflow). Reservations with the Hyatt MUST be received by October 13, 1983. NEW AGRONOMIC ISSUES FOR THE LAWN CARE INDUSTRY JOE VARGAS, Michigan State; JACK HALL, VPI; CHUCK DARRAH, Chemlawn Corp. NEW IDEAS IN EQUIPMENT FOR THE LAWN CARE INDUSTRY ...A review by industry representatives CUSTOMERS, COMPLAINTS AND CANCELLATIONS YOUR CUSTOMERS AND HOW THEY PERCEIVE YOU: RESULTS OF A RECENT MARKETING STUDY CAROL SCOTT, The Barickman Company COMPLAINTS: FROM WHENCE THEY COME ALLAN DUEY, President, Jay-Lan, Inc. SAVING THE CANCELLATION: A FEW SUGGESTIONS John Kenney, President, Turf Doctor THE NEGATIVE OPTION TIME BOMB L. D. ANDERSON, President, Fertilawn, Inc.; J. MARTIN ERBAUGH, President, Lawnmark/ Div. Erbaugh Corp. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH AND ITS APPLICATION TO KEEP YOUR COMPANY GROWING ALTURGEON, Vice President, Research, Tru-Green Corp. STAYING LIT WITHOUT GETTING TORCHED: STRESS MANAGEMENT TOM JADIN, Director, Winnebago Mental Health Institute ti Ł f * N »' . k ^ I JL 4 < è t ifi ¿«Łti AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE WEAPON IN ITIE WAR AGAINST CRABGRASS. The overwhelming choice among America's biggest lawn care companies is Betasan® for crabgrass control. In fact, in a survey of 75 of the largest com-panies, Betasan is used by four out of five. It's not hard to see why. Because year after year, Betasan gives lawn care professionals better control of Smooth and Hairy Crabgrass, without a worry about damaging existing turf. ONCEAlfeARWNSlbEWAR. One application usually stops crabgrass cold, all year long. Plus you can count on Betasan to help control other such troublesome weeds as goosegrass, barnyardgrass, redroot pig- weed, shepherdspurse, lambsquarters, dead- nettle and poa annua. Betasan is easy to apply and available in liquid and granular formulations. NUMBER ONE FOR LAWN SAFETY Betasan is safe and effective on established bluegrass, fescue, bentgrass, Bermuda grass, annual and perennial rye, Zoysia, bahia, cen-tipede and St. Augustine. So when the battle with crabgrass is your number one priority, use the number one crab-grass control. Betasan. The first choice on the home front. The choice of more companies caring for more lawns in America than anything else. Always follow label directions carefully. Stauffer Chemical Co., Agricultural Chemical Division, Westport, Connecticut 06881. Beksan NftiAGMNsr CRABGRASS. Stauffer TOOLS, TIPS, TECHNIQUES Overwintering sprayers With winter weather ready to set in, here are some tips for overwintering sprayers: Ł Completely hose donw inside of tank; fill half full with water; flush; repeat Ł Remove nozzle tips and screen; use soft brush to clean in detergent solution Ł Fill tank half full; add detergent solution; operate pump 30 minutes; flush through boom If 2,4-D or an organophosphorous insecticide has been used, the following steps should be included: Ł Replace screens and nozzle tips; fill tank half full with water and add one pint of ammonia for every 25 gallons of water; operate pump five minutes, discharging small amount through boom and nozzles; leave overnight; flush out in morning through nozzles Ł Hose down sprayer; fill tank half full with clean water; flush through boom Ł Remove nozzle tips, strainers and screens and store in light oil; store sprayer in clean, dry place; keep pump from freezing temperatures. Whistle for When You Need a Top Utility Grass Houndog is one of the better varieties of the new generation of turf-type tall fescues which are provid-ing high quality, durable, low-maintenance turf in a wide variety of situations. Houndog is an ideal choice for home lawns, parks and playgrounds, golf course roughs and athletic fields. Rated as possibly the darkest green of the turf-type tall fescues, Houndog has proven it is drought toler-ant and will prosper during periods of exceptional heat in the North as well as in the transition zone and upper South. A moderately low-growing, leafy variety, Houn-dog approaches the modern Kentucky bluegrasses in appearance. It provides the turf manager with the advantages of the legendary deep root system of the older pasture- type tall fescue varieties such as KY-31 and Fawn. Houndog is normally cut at 1 Vi inches but will retain its appearance and prosper at heights up to three inches. As a low maintenance variety, it is recommended that a minimum amount of fertilizer be applied an-nually. Houndog is a product of inTERnfiTionflb SEEDS, inc PO Box 168 Halsey. Oregon 97348 Telephone (503) 369-2251 Ł TWX 510 590-0765 COUNT ON IMITRO-26 PLUS 1 Week 2 Weeks 3 Weeks 4 Weeks 5 Weeks 6 Weeks 7 Weeks 8 Weeks 9 Weeks 10 Weoks IHWIINWrilMHMIMBIli ...—mmm A Liquid Nitrogen fertilizer solution. A Combination of controlled release nitrogen (slow release) and free nitrogen for quick green up. IMITRO-26 PLUS C P Chemical Co .Inc. 39 Westmoreland Avenue White Plains. N Y 10606 (914) 428-2517 Circle No. 107 on Reader Inquiry Card Circle No. quiry < ŁPatented MOTORLESS LIQUID CHEMICAL SPREADER The WS-480 Grounds Wheelie is the best designed, highest quality, most accurate and trouble-free liquid applicator manufactured. It features a motorless, ground-driven pumping system which does not require gasoline, batteries, cords or water hoses. The Grounds Wheelie is used to apply liquid fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and growth regulators. The twin wheel pumps spray a fan of solution 6' wide at 1000 sq. ft. per gallon. Coverage is relatively unchanged by the speed at which the sprayer is pushed. The faster it is pushed, the faster it pumps. The pumping system and the (6) gallon container are made of corrosive resistant materials. The spray comes from (2) nozzles in the form of tiny droplets providing a steady, uniform application which greatly reduces costly chemical drifting. The frame is fabricated of heavy gauge steel with fold-up booms. Ihe shut-off controls are located on the handle grips. (Other models and sizes available.) WHEEL SPRAY CORP. Box 97. Delafield, Wl 53018 - PH: (414) 646-8640 VISIT US AT BOOTH #205, PLCAA CONVENTION Circle No. 136 on Reader Inquiry Card Shows in November, December numerous from page 1 associations are sponsoring con-ferences. The New York State Turfgrass Conference will be held at the Rochester War Memorial with a variety of general-interest turf topics scheduled the first day. The afternoon of Nov. 2 will bring three separate sessions for golf, lawn and landscape, and athletic field personnel. An all-day pest and pesticide workshop will be held Nov. 3 with a certification exam and recertification credits being offered. Dr. Thomas W. Fermanian of the University of Illinois is in charge of the North Central Turfgrass Exposition, Nov. 1-3 at the Park Hilton Hotel in Arlington Heights, 111. Seedsmen meet In addition, the 31st annual convention of the Atlantic Seeds-men's Association will be held in Orlando, Fla. on Nov. 2-3. The first day will be the Atlantic Seeds-men's meeting with the Lawn Seed Division following Nov. 3. The Professional Grounds Management Society will sponsor a Basic Personnel Management workshop Nov. 16 at the Turf Val- ley Country Club, Ellicott City, Md. This is a fourth annual event. A show specifically designed for arboristsŠArbor ExpoŠwill be held Nov. 17-19 at the Hilton of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Civic Center. The National Fertilizer Solu-tions Association will have its professional development, educa- tion and trade show Dec. 5-8 in Kansas City. Irrigation show Dec. 7-9 brings the world's largest exhibition of irrigation equipment in Denver, where the annual Agri-Turf Irrigation Exposition and Conference is expected to attract more than 3,000 at Currigan Hall. This con-ference is being sponsored by The Irrigation Association of Silver Spring, Md. The Ohio Turfgrass Con-ference and Show is slated for Cincinnati's Convention-Exposi- tion Center on Dec. 5-8. Sessions will be held for general informa- tion, lawn care professionals, golf course superintendents and grounds maintenance personnel. A series of Landscape Design Short Courses, sponsored by The Ohio State University, will be held beginning Dec. 12. The five three-day programs will continue through next July. They are being handled by Fred K. Buscher of the Wooster, Ohio, Extension Center. And by then, everyone associ-ated with the green industries should be ready for the holiday break. [W] Spray equipment Picking nozzle can be tricky business Nozzle selection is of utmost importance when outfitting boom-type sprayers, which have proven versatile and well-adapted to turf spraying. When properly operated, boom-type sprayers can distribute almost any pesticide with minimum drift problems. Easley S. Smith, Virginia Tech Extension agricultural engineer, wrote about nozzle selection in the University of Georgia's "Turfgrass Topics." "Nozzles should be selected STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION Statement required by the Act of October 23, 1962, Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code, showing the ownership, man-agement and circulation of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY published monthly at One East First Street, Duluth, St. Louis County, Min- nesota 55802, as filed September 19,1983. The name and address of the Publisher is: Robert Earley, 7500 Old Oak Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44130. The owners are: Barclays Nominees Branches Limited, 4 George Yard, Lombard St., London EC3, England; Cede & Co., c/o The Depository Trust Co., P. O. Box 20, Bowling Green Station, New York, NY 10274; Katharine Brace Cummings, c/o Ernst, Cane, Berner & Gitlin, 7 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019; Ellen Knowles Har-court, William I. Jovanovich & Peter J. Ryan as Ttees U-T-A Dtd. 5/23/66, c/o First National City Bank, 20 Exchange Place, New York, NY 10005; Mrs. Thekla E. John- son, 19 Hewitt Ave., Bronxville, NY 10708; Walter J. Johnson, 19 Hewitt Ave., Bronx-ville, NY 10708; William Jovanovich, P. O. Box 490, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510; Kray & Co., 120 South LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60603; Pacific & Co., P. O. Box 7877, San Francisco, CA 94120; Rice & Co., c/o Agency The Toronto Dominion Bank, 42 Wall St., New York, NY 10005; Joseph C. Sindelar, 794 Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137. The known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders owning or hold-ing 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities are: None. Names and addresses of individuals who are stockholders of the corporation which itself is a stockholder of the publishing cor-poration have been included in the two par-agraphs above when the interests of such individuls are equivalent to 1 percent or more of the total amount of the stock or securities of the publishing corporation. Average number of copies of each issue during proceeding 12 months, and of single issue nearest to filing date, respectively, are as follows: Total number of copies printed (net press run) 14,395 -14,401; paid circula-tion (1) sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales: None -None; (2) mail subscriptions: 2,032 -1,757; total paid circulation: 2,032 -1,757; free dis- tribution by mail, carrier or other means samples, complimentary and other free copies: 12,018 - 12,257; total distribution: 14,050 - 14,014; copies not distributed (1) office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing: 345 - 387 (2) return from news agents: None - None; total: 14,395 -14,401. I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete. (Signed) Joe Bilderbach, Vice President/Circulation according to the rate and type of application," Smith wrote. "Fan, flooding or hollow-cone nozzles are commonly used by turfgrass managers." Fan-type nozzles are especially well-suited for broadcast booms, Smith noted. When operated at the proper height and spacing, they will provide uniform dis-tribution across the swath at a pressure of 20-40 psi. Fan nozzles are available with spray angles ranging from 65 to 110 degrees, but 80 degrees is the most common, Smith pointed out in the newsletter. He added that when the 80-degree nozzles are spaced 20 inches apart on a boom, they should be operated 17 to 19 inches above the ground for uniform application with the proper over-lap. Flooding nozzles can also be used on broadcast booms, Smith wrote, but do not provide as uni- form distribution as fan nozzles. They have a wider pattern of dis-tribution and are usually spaced further apart (30-80 inches), he further noted. Flooding nozzles have larger orifices and are com-monly used for fertilizer applica- tion at 15-30 psi. Hollow-cone nozzles are often used in foliar application of fungicides and insecticides. They use pressures of 30-60 psi to pene-trate heavy foliage, Smith wrote. Brass nozzle tips are the most common, but nylon, aluminum, stainless steel and ceramic are also sometimes recommended because of corrosion and abra- sion. [W] 25 > z n > pa m 2 a c H pa Z O < m co m PO YOU CAN SPEND MONEY RETREATING OXTAIL GOOSEGRASS CRABGRASS OR This year don 7 spend your time and money retreat-ing! You can again receive the reliable control of crabgrass, spurge, foxtail and other weeds with the convenience of pumping a liquid into your tanks. YOU CAN SAVE MONEY Dacthal® is not only back but it's now available in a flow able form. For years Dacthal® has been the standard of the industry when it came to pre-emergence weed control, and now Bulkkem offers you Dacthal® Flowable. Save money and contact Bulkkem for Flowable Dacthal.® Available in bulk quantities of 200 gallons or more. AVAILABLE IN BULK Easy transport, less waste, less handling problems, when supplied in bulk ASK ABOUT OUR SPECIAL CONTAINER PROGRAM. CALL our toll free number 1 "800-447-41 3 1 or write for further information. distributed by BULKKEM BULK SUPPLIERS Of m LAWN CHEMICALS THE BULKKEM CORPORATION Ł 400 NORTHTOWN ROAD Ł NORMAL. IL. 61761 Things your banker will want to know from page 1 "Just 4to open a business' isn't going to be enough," he notes. "What are you going to use the funds for in that business? You tell us what specifically that money is going to do, and we can guide you into the type of loan, short term or long term, you should be looking for." Also, different businesses have different cycles. So the banker must know where your business is going, and what cycle it will be going into if the loan is approved. "If you have a business that fluctuates in a seasonal cycle, and your term loan is set up on a monthly basis, what's going to happen?" Kenney asks rhet-orically. "You're not going to have the cash to make your payments on the down-turn of that cycle. So you need to schedule a loan the way your business operates. "But if we don't know to sched-ule it that way, you probably won't have the cash to repay the debt when it is due, even if you are showing a nice profit. And we hate that." You must also be prepared to reveal how you are going to meet your sales goals: whether you've done any market research, whether you've determined your break-even points, whether you've checked with the Cham- ber of Commerce on demograph-ics, etc. Employ people? You might have an edge if you are going to put other people to work. "This is especially true in areas of high unemployment," Kenney adds. "Let us know; you may stand a better chance." You must also make the banker cognizant of the level of your working capital, a very important factor since one of the fastest ways of going out of business is to increase sales too rapidly and not have the working capital for it. Present a history and study of lawn care, as your loan officer may not be an expert. Also, tell him the ownership structure of your business: are you or will you be a corporation, a closed corporation; are you going to sell stock; are you or will you be a proprietorship or a partnership? Key personnel Another important factor in your presentation is the caliber of the key management of your busi-ness. "If you're a closed corporation or a proprietorship, do you have all the expertise to do lawn care?" Kenney asks. "And if you get out there on an interstate highway and get clobbered, what's going to happen to the business? Do you have any backup? If so, what are their qualifications?" Make a note of your advisors: your CPA, your accountant and your attorneys, for the loan officer's reference. "We also need to know the products, the competition in the area, the market areas you serve, who your main suppliers are, if you have (or will have) a union shop or a non-union ship, your union relationships if you are union, and the description of your physical facilities," Kenney con- tinues. "And, if it's an existing busi-ness, we need a three-year finan-cial statement. These should be year-end statementsŠbalance sheets, profit and loss, and the changes in working capital posi- tion. "If your year-end is June and you come in to see us in Decem- ber, then you're going to have to have an interim statement to bring us up to date. "Sometimes in a closed corpor-ation or a proprietorship, we like to see tax returns to prove that you are actually coming in with what you say. Also, normally in small operations you can bet, whether you're a corporation or not, that it will require personal endorse- ments." Collateral? Finally, you must offer up appropriate collateral that won't depreciate faster than you pay the loan back. Obviously, if you expect your banker to remain friendly and approve the loan, you need to do some planning before your trip over there. Silbert suggests having a professional accountant prepare your loan application and perhaps go to the bank with you. "Unfortunately, most small businessmen tend to be myopic about acquiring expert help or even acquiring the necessary know-how themselves," he says. "They don't like paying an accountant extra for preparing a presentation to save the banker's time. to page 27 viip /MT "iian^f Save Time With Formolene | i\tLF\i I WILE 30-0-2 Liquid Lawn Fertilizer Add Formolene to your liquid ^ KkM IWI^^ program and you'll have more time to treat more Mwmr Ivlrilll Ł lawns Š up to twice as many! Because of Formolene's high concentration of nitrogen and its AlA/M ^ low-burn potential, it can be applied with less water, fc^^mlf W IHiJ One fill of your truck could treat more than twice as _ _ m^^^m mrmm ww manY average sized lawns as urea, A\|\llJ Ijfjl IRI fm urea blends or UAN solution. So you AF ml ^B war mr^^^rw^wmww inrrease vnur customer baseŠand 1 ^ wr "m^mrmrmmrnm can increase your customer base-\ff\M 111 your profits! Ł ^/Ull Formolene's Advantages are Outstanding: ^^^^^^ Ł Low-burn potential # Qu,ck green-up and lasting color I llwl I I w Ł Ł Uniform, moderate turf growth Ł Blends with other nutrients, chemicals Ł Requires no agitation A "Do-it-yourself" Source for A Water Insoluble Nitrogen . ^gffk You can convert 25% of Formolene nitrogen into a low- ^HMBnfl^^^ cost water insoluble nitrogen sus- WHJ^^p^ ° pensionŠright in your truck tank. %ff Get the Whole Story |10RM•M£f For more information on ^|QU(D ^IL1ZER5 Formolene Liquid Fertilizer, contact your nearest Formolene Dealer. He w* can supply you with complete ^^\'hesucalc( chemical and pricing information. Box 899, Clinton, Iowa 5; FORMOIENE LIQUID FERTILIZERS HA WKEYE V CHEMICAL COM PA \ Y Box 899, Clinton, Iowa 52732 Phone: (319) 243-5800 Preparing for your trip: Here are the questions you should make sure to answer BEFORE you visit your local banker to inquire about a possible loan for your lawn care business, according to Bob Kenney, a vice presi-dent for Southeast Banks in Florida: Ł What's the purpose of the loan? Ł How is your firm going to progress? Ł How are you going to meet your sales goals? Ł Are you going to put additional people to work? Ł What kind of working capital will it require to hit a certain level of sales? Ł What's the history and the nature of your type of business? Ł What's the ownership structure of your business? Ł What's the caliber of the key management of your business? Ł Who are your advisors? Ł What is your business all about? Ł What do the financial statements say? BANKERS from page 26 "But if the presentation isn't prepared, the loan more than likely won't go through. If you don't go to an accountant, you may have to settle for a loan with too short a maturity and wind up depleting your capital." Finally... Once you have all your state-ments together, your banker can sit down and go over them and talk to you. "Believe it or not, we want to make loans," concludes Kenney. "Most of our profit comes from loans that we make. "And the better the presenta-tion you make to us, the better your chances are of obtaining a loan." ŠDana Cassell @] Happy Thanksgiving to all our lawn care friends from the staff of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY EXCLUSIVE FORMOLENE DEALERS: ALPINE PLANT FOODS. LTD. New Hamburg. Ontario NOB2GO Canada 519-662-2352 BLAKLEY FERTILIZER COMPANY Springfield. IL 62707 217-529-5692 TYLER ENTERPRISES. INC. Elwood. IL 60421 815-423-5808 FLO-UZER INC. Kingston. OH 45644 614-642-3001 LARRY FRICKER COMPANY INC. Anaheim. CA 92681 714-774-6777 GREAT PLAINS ASSOCIATES LTD. Niles. Ml 49120 616-683-7463 UAP SPECIAL PRODUCTS Kearney. NE 68847 308-234-2124 HOWE INC. Shakopee. MN 55379 612-445-6570 MOYER AND SON INC. Souderton. PA 18964 215-723-6001 OLD FOX CHEMICAL COMPANY Enfield. CT 06082 203-749-8339 UAP SPECIAL PRODUCTS N. Kansas City. MO 64116 816-221-2783 ELDON C. STUTSMAN INC. Hills. IA 52235 319-679-2281 GEORGE S. TERRY & COMPANY INC. Oakfield, NY 14125 716-948-9355 TEXAS UQUID FERTILIZER CO. Houston. TX 77026 713-236-1733 TURFWIZ Chesapeake. VA 23320 804-547-7111 VOGEL SEED AND FERTIUZER Jackson. Wl 53037 414-677-2273 WESTERN FARM SERVICE INC. Alpaugh. CA 93201 209-949-8476 WOLFKILL FEED & FERTIUZER Monroe. WA 98272 509-932-4769 HA WKEYEyLCHEMICAL COMPANY Clinton. Iowa 52732 (319) 243-5800 You can rake in big money IN LAWN CARE INDUSTRY'S Win $250, $500, even $1,000 at the PLCAA Show in Indianapolis, November 8-10, when Lawn Care Industry awards $1750 in cash! Enter our "LONG GREEN" SWEEPSTAKES at any participating booth...and you might go home $1,000 richer! HERE'S ALL YOU HAVE TO DO: 1) Get either copy of LCI's "PLCAA SHOW EXTRAS" with listings of participating booths. 2) Go to any listed booth, get an entry blank with complete rules/details (for non-exhibitors only), fill it out and drop it in the ballot box. 3) Enter as often as you like, but only once at each participating booth. 4) Pick up your prize Š if you're one of our instant winners Š and have your picture taken at the winning booth. Prizes will be mailed if winners are not present. That's it Š for the fastest "green' you might ever see! See you at the show... and good luck! WWN GIRE INDUSTRY;; (HBJ) A HARCOURT BRACE JOVANOVICH PUBLICATION 7500 Old Oak Boulevard Ł Cleveland. OHIO 44130 Ł (216) 243-8100 HELPFUL TI PS Avoiding spray equipment breakdown By Steve Derrick It's 1 p.m. and one of your spray trucks pulls into the shop for repairs. Thank goodness it's Fri-day, you say to yourself. This is the third time someone has had a breakdown in the last five days. If that scenario sounds familiar, yours might be one of the many lawn care companies looking for more reliable equipment. And even if that doesn't sound famil- iar, you're still probably always on the lookout for more reliable equipment. So the following suggestions should help you choose equip-ment more suited to your opera-SAVE $THOUSANDS PER YEAR in fuel, equipment, and chemicals and improve productivity and environmental safety. LV2001 - SI-SPRAYER SPRAYS 5 ACRES TARGETS PESTICIDES 12 VOLT PUMPS & AGITATION NO PAINT TANKS & DECKING MOUNTS ON MINI OR FULL SIZE PICK-UPS SIMPLE TO USE The advanced low volume LV2000 series sprayers and Injection Gun System are designed, built, and proven in production lawn spraying by PRO'S with 10 years experienceŠto give YOUR COMPANY the competitive edge. LEASE TERMS AVAILABLE Spray smarter and fight unreasonable pesticide laws. Your order generates a donation to the PLCAA sponsored Pesticide Public Policy Foundation. CALL Tom Jessen at Perma-Green Supreme 219-663-8417 or 769-8313 - COLLECT Circle No. 121 on Reader InquiiyCard BEAT THE COMPETITION: Keep Fertilizer Dry and Prevent Costly Spills with the 'SHOWER CAP" by Lawn Tech $14.95 Durable, see-thru vinyl cover fits most professional quality spreaders Completely waterproof and spillproof Easy to attach Š just slip it onto spreader Secure fit prevents spills Š avoids burnout and product loss Simple, 1-piece construction Folds up for convenient storage Limited 1-year warranty (216)937-5517 Call or write: plus $2.00 shipping charge and state sales tax where applicable Šlaw. lick P.O. Box 149 Avon Lake, O. 44012 For Professional Lawn Care _> E-Z VACÄ7 USE WITH YOUR TRACTOR! % MODEL 40 W ILLUSTRATED 5 MODELS AVAILABLE There's an E-Z Vac model to fill every lawn care need! All products from E-Z Rake are designed and built for long life, efficient performance and high value. Craftsmanship, quality and experience go into every E-Z Rake product. E-Z RAKE, INC. BOX 506 Ł LEBANON. IN 46052 POWER THATCHERS Ł VACS Ł SPRAYERS Circle No. 110 on Reader Inquiry Card tion, and should help you keep it running longer. Analyze the job Your first step in selection is to analyze what tasks you want your equipment to performŠnot only now, but also for the future. Will you be spraying only liq-uid formulations? If so, then agita-tion will be of little concern. However, if it is likely that wetta-ble powders, suspensions or even granules may be mixed, you must pay particular attention to the agi-tation system. Now, go one step further. What can break down in that agitation system? Are there bear- ings, belts, shafts, seals, etc.? If so, consider each part a potential breaking point and analyze how much time and money will be spent repairing it. Think to the future. You may only need a sprayer for simple applications now, but will you be looking at special applications in the future? Perhaps a sprayer with dual compartments, a chem- ical inductor or tree and shrub capabilities is what you really need. It may cost more now, but it can pay big dividends next year. Diagram the system It is important to understand how your potential system works if you want to spot trouble areas. A diagram of the system will allow you to do this. Trace the flow of material through the pumping system. Look for weak areas or areas sub- ject to high pressure. These are the first places breakdowns will occur. Also, examine the flow dia- gram for simplicity. A confusion of pipes, bends and plumbing can be an indication of a poorly-designed system (see diagram). Maintenance One guarantee you can be sure of is that any spray rig you buy will need maintenance. Your con-cern should be how complicated the maintenance will be. Will your applicators be willing or able to perform it, or will you need a mechanic? Do you have a full-time mechanic? All these are questions often overlooked. However, if you choose a sprayer that is easy to repair and simple to service, you have taken a big step toward reducing down time. All machinery will break down. You expect it to, and you know it willŠbut you don't know when. That is why you want to be very sure the sprayer you buy does not have special, hard-to-find parts incorporated into its design. If you don't ask, you may never know until it's one o'clock on a Friday afternoon, so make sure parts are easy to obtain and economically priced. Price Price should be your final con-cern. In fact, you should never discuss price until after you LETTERS L decide which unit best suits your needs. The lawn care industry depends heavily on its equip-ment, and production capacities run as much as $1,000 per day. These facts considered, one or two days of extra down time during the life of a piece of equipment can easily make up for any price difference you may find. Your considerations are reliability and versatilityŠnot price. [W] DATES New York State Turfgrass Conference, Nov. 1-3, Rochester War Memorial, Rochester, N.Y. Contact: Ann Reilly, 210 Cartwright Blvd., Massapequa Park, NY, 11762. (516)541-6902. North Central Turfgrass Exposition, Nov. 1-3, Arlington Park Hilton Hotel, Arlington Heights, 111. Contact: Dr. Thomas W. Fer- manian, University of Illinois, 106D Hor- ticulture Field Lab, 1707 S. Orchard St., Urbana, IL, 61801. (217) 333-7847. Atlantic Seedsmen's Association Con- vention, Nov. 2-3, Howard Johnson's Flor-ida Center Hotel, Orlando, Fla. Contact: Margaret Herbst, Atlantic Seedsmen's Association, 230 Park Ave., New York, NY, 10017. (212) 685-5917. Professional Lawn Care Association of America Convention and Trade Show, Nov. 8-10, Indianapolis Convention Cen-ter, Indianapolis, Ind. Contact: Jim Brooks, PLCAA, 1225 Johnson Ferry Rd., Suite B-220, P.O. Box 70455, Marietta, GA, 30007-0455. (404) 977-5222. Associated Landscape Contractors of America Landscape Management Division Conference, Nov. 13-15, Denver, Col. Con-tact: ALCA, 1750 Old Meadow Rd., McLean, VA, 22101. (703) 821-8611. Professional Grounds Management Society Management Workshop, Nov. 16, Turf Valley Country Club, Elficott City, Md. Contact: Jeffrey A. Bourne, Howard County Recreation and Parks, 3430 Court House Dr., Ellicott City, MD, 21043. (301) 997-0715. Arbor Expo, Nov. 17-19, Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Contact: Daryl Komar, Conference Management Corp., 17 Washington St., Norwalk, CT, 06854. (203) 852-0500. Agri-Turf Irrigation Exposition and Con- ference, Dec. 4-7, Currigan Hall, Denver, Col. Contact: The Irrigation Association, 13975 Connecticut Ave., Silver Spring, MD, 20906. (301)871-1200. Ohio Turfgrass Conference and Show, Dec. 5-8, Cincinnati Convention-Exposi-tion Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. Contact: Dr. John Street, The Ohio Turfgrass Founda- tion, 2021 Coffey Rd., Columbus, OH, 43210. (614)422-2601. National Fertilizer Solutions Association Convention and Exhibition, Dec. 5-8, Kan-sas City. Contact: NFSA, 8823 North Indus-trial Rd., Peoria, IL, 61615. (309) 691-2870. Ohio State University Landscape Design Short Course, Dec. 12-14, Fisher Auditorium, OARDC, Wooster, Ohio. Con- tact: Fred K. Buscher, OARDC, Wooster, OH, 44691. (216)263-3831. Pennsylvania Turfgrass Conference and Trade Show, Dec. 12-15, Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pa. Con-tact: Christine E. King, Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council, 412 Blanchard St., Bell-efonte, PA, 16823. (814) 355-8010. North Carolina Turfgrass Conference, Jan. 3-5,1984, Pinehurst Hotel, Pinehurst, N.C. Contact: W.B. Gilbert, 1119 Williams Hall, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27650. (919) 737-2657. Maryland Turfgrass '84, Jan. 9-11, 1984, Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Md. Contact: Cheryl Gaultney, Box 223, White Marsh, MD, 21162. (301) 335-3700. Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition, Jan. 19-21, 1984, Miami, Fla. Contact: Julia K. Garmendia, TPIE, P.O. Box 16796, Temple Terrrace, FL, 33687. (813)988-7198. Steve Derrick Steve Derrick graduated from Purdue University with a degree in agricultural business manage-ment, and from the University of Illinois with a master's degree in business administration. He has served as treasurer for the Illinois Turfgrass Association and was a founding board member of the Professional Lawn Care Associa-tion of America. To the editor: Beginning with your August, 1983 issue, you printed a two-part article titled "Environmentalists: A Threat to the Industry's Sur-vival," which I authored. Rightfully so, I have received some criticism regarding the phrase "eliminate the use of 2,4-D, if possible" as it appears at the end of Part I, August. Without the accompanying text which is Part II, one would infer that I am admitting that 2,4-D is the evil toxin that so many characterize it as. Not so. The point I am trying to makeŠ which may not be clear even with the textŠis that, due to existing and potential political pressure against 2,4-D, we as an industry would be wise to: 1) Reduce the usage of 2,4-D, so as to not provide the tool of debate against us, and 2) Be prepared with an alterna-tive if 2,4-D were to be suspended. Verdict: I'm guilty of using a poor choice of words. I am very concerned and apoplgize. However, I am glad to hear the debateŠyour readers are reading. Jerome R. Faulring Hydro Lawn Gaithersburg, MD < z n > P0 m Z a c H PO Z O < m oo m X S 00 W Don't Be DRUMMED BULKKEM has the solution. Chemicals in Bulk! New laws and stricter enforcement can hit you in more places than your pocketbook! Don't be drummed out of business by the difficulty and high cost of container disposal. Let Bulkkem give you the solution! With bulk, we can deliver directly intoyour storage tanks or ship to you in our convenient 220 gallon returnable shippers. There are no containers to dispose of so you save money two ways. You take advantage of bulk pricing and you save the cost of cleaning and dis-posing of containers. Contact Bulkkem for your bulk pesticides. We can keep you from being drummed out of business! 220 gal. 550 gal. & 1400 gal. PESTICIDES available in BULK:. Dacthal 6F Ł Phenoban 801 Trimec 899 Ł Amine 4# Ł Trimec Ester (2,4-D + 2,4-DB + Dicamba acid) Ł MCPP 4# Ł Big Green Plus (Iron Sulfur) CALL our toll free number >800'447-41 31 or write for further information. BULKKEM BULK SUPPLIERS OF m LAWN CHEMICALS THE BULKKEM CORPORATION Ł 400 NORTHTOWN RD Ł NORMAL IL 61 761 Variability in quantity of Ortho fertilizer released across width of the Precision #2 spreader. Compartment Effect of level of urea on quantity of urea released. IO r 9 T., 8 -7 -6 -. c m 5 ® <0 E 4 3 en 2 Scotts 1 ŁŠŠ Gandy Ortho l i Full 7 full Nearly empty Level Reliability of spreaders from page 14 Differences were also observed among the spreaders in release of fertilizer across the width of the hopper. The Gandy and Scotts were very consistent in release, regard-less of location along the width of the spreader. The Central and Ortho were more variable, though acceptable. But the Precision spreader varied greatly in deliv-ery. Flexible plate A rate of 5.4 pounds per 1000 square feet more of the Ortho lawn fertilizer was released at the center of the Precision spreader than was delivered at the sides. This can be attributed to the flexi- ble shutter plate: as the drive wheel of the spreader was turned, granular material was forced down on the plate which bent in the middle, allowing excess fertil-izer release in the center. The plate regained its original shape when the pressure was released. In considering the results of this investigation, it should be noted that only accuracy has been discussed. Differences in ease of operation, durability, weight, resistance to corrosion and pro- posed use must also be consid-ered. m Dr. Nick Christians Dr. Nick Christians, a graduate of Ohio State University, is assis-tant professor of horticulture at Iowa State University. Dr. Christians is a member of the American Society of Agron-omy and the American Society for Horticultural Science. This magazine gives y ou good reading, good writing and good arithmetic We present the information in our articles clearly, accurately and objectively. That's good writing. Which means good reading. We present the information in our circulation statement clearly, accurately and objectively. That's good arithmetic. BPA (Business Publications Audit of Circulation, Inc.) helps us provide precise and reliable information to both advertisers and readers. An independent, not-for-profit organization, BPA audits our circulation list once a year to make sure it's correct and up to date. The audit verifies your name, your company, your industry and your job title. This information enables our advertisers to determine if they are reaching the right people in the right place with the right message. The audit also benefits you. Because the more a publication and its advertisers know about you, the better they can provide you with articles and advertisements that meet your information needs. BPA. For readers it stands for meaningful information. For advertisers it stands for meaningful readers. Business Publications Audit of Circulation, Inc. 360 Park Ave. So., New York, NY 10010. V DrM Wk make stae you get what you pay for INDUSTRY NEWS from page 5 Coalition to pick first director A pro-pesticide coalition that is national in scope has elected to call itself the "Pesticide Public Policy Foundation," rather than the "National Environmental Foundation for Human Health" or the "National Environmental Law Foundation," as previously reported. Named to the pro tern board of directors were chairman Bob Felix, Jerry Faulring, Ray Russell, Dr. Robert Miller and John Ken- ney. Felix represents the National Arborists Association; Faulring and Kenney the Professional Dave Dietz Lawn Care Association, Russell Dow Chemical Company and Mil-ler the 2,4-D Coalition. Dave Dietz of Oregonians for Food and Shelter was tentatively chosen to be the organization's administrator. The organization plans to be incorporated as a non-profit foun- dation. Attending an August meeting in Schaumburg 111. were Felix; Faulring; Russell; Miller; Kenney; Oppenheim; Dietz; Jim Brooks of the PLCAA; Dr. Al Turgeon of Tru-Green, East Lansing, Mich.; Dr. Roger Funk of the Davey Tree Expert Co., Kent, Ohio; Sherry Roethe of Tempo 21, Chicago; Robert Bartlett Jr. of Bartlett Tree, Stamford, Conn.; Erik Haupt of Haupt Tree, Sheffield, Mass.; Chuck Cissel of Guardian Tree, Rockville, Md.; John Hendrickson of Hendrickson Tree Experts, Wheeling, 111.; David Dickson of Swingle, Inc., Denver; Bob Earley and Jerry Roche of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, Cleveland, Ohio; and Dan Moreland of Pest Control Technology magazine, Cleveland, Ohio. Group buys Wheel Horse John Munn and Robert Hawkins, president and vice-chairman of the board of Wheel Horse Prod-ucts, respectively, have announced the transfer of ownership from American Motors Corp. A small investor group, led by Wheel Horse's management, put together a $13 million financial package backed by the city of South Bend, Ind. and other Indi- ana financial institutions. Wheel Horse, which manufac-tures lawn and garden tractors, has annual sales of approximately $50 million. to page 32 ARM YOURSELF FOR THE BUSY MONTHS AHEAD .... with vital marketing data gathered by our experts in these proven research techniques: Ł WATS Telephone Ł Focus Groups Ł Direct Mail Ł Personal Interviews We provide top quality in-house printing, mailing, tabulating, data processing, and analytical systems. Count on us for your special research needs. Free cost estimates. Infometrics National Research Center A SERVICE OF HARCOURT BRACE JOVANOVICH PUBLICATIONS 131 West First Street Duluth, Minnesota 55802 Ph: (218) 727-8511 FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: J & L ADIKES, INC. Jamaica, N.Y. 11423 NORTHRUP KING CO. Minneapolis, MN. 55413 VAUGHAN SEED CO. Bround Brook, N.J. 08805 Downers Grove, IL. 60515 JACKLIN SEED CO. Post Falls, ID. 83854 ROTHWELL SEEDS, LTD. Lindsay, Ont., CAN K9V4L9 $ $ FOR POUND FOR POUND NOTHING EQUALS detphi KENTUCKY! BLUEGRASS THE GREENER KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS® PSS9S taL -r-ViMitir^'i BlUSÉÌ fc if Ł tf m W ŁU.s Plant Pat No 3150 32 oc w CQ S w > O Z >-oc F c/5 D Q Z w C* < (J z £ < hJ MONEYWISE Handling petty cash Part of the problem with having a petty cash fund is making sure that disbursements, for the purpose of filing income tax returns, are prop-erly recorded. There is an established business procedure for ensuring control of petty cash accounts. To start the account, cash a check for an even amount, and put the money in a safe place, designating a certain employee (usually a sec-retary/receptionist) to be responsible. Next, define what kindŠand how largeŠof disbursements will be handled by the account. Demand a receipt for any payments made, remembering that the IRS accepts scratch pad notations for anything less than $25. Make sure that cash on hand and receipts always total up to the amount for which your original check was cashed. When the money is nearly out, repeat the procedureŠbut cash the check for the total amount of receipts to date. Daily collections and all other cash receipts should be deposited directly into the company bank account. OFTEN COPIED. NEVER MATCHED: Suddenly, it seems everyone knows exactly what you need in a commercial mower. Amazingly enough, they all look just like a Bunton. Too bad they don't perform like one. The Bunton commercial mower has proven itself with a thirty-year track record. That's why it's been copied. Here's why it hasn't been matched: Ł Quality of cut. If you own a Bunton and any other brand, you already know which one produces the better cut, more consis-tently and with less downtime. That's why Bunton is preferred by lawn service profes-sionals everywhere. Ł Choice of type, size and power. You don't have to "make do" with a mower that's not quite right for your situation, or wait until next year when they say they'll introduce the size and type you need. We have it now. Have had it for years. And with Bunton you don't have to take the engine that "comes with the mower." We match one of nine commercial engines to your size and application. Ł Low maintenance. You're in the business of cutting grass, not debugging "new" products for old line manu-facturers catching up with the times, or new companies hoping to break into the business. Bunton's designs were proven years ago. The others may look the same on the surface, but none have copied the quality that provides the dependability and low maintenance of a Bunton. A past that assures a future. We sell more commercial mowers in the 24 inch to 61 inch range than all our competi-tors combined. We intend to keep it that way by making sure our customers are as satisfied in the future as they have been in the past. That assures you of a reliable source for original equipment, parts and service, long after the others are gone. Overall, it costs less to own a Bunton than a cheap imitation, because... Bunton builds 'em better. For complete information on the largest selection of the industry's most popular commercial mowers, please write or call for our new full line catalog and the name of the Bunton dealer in your area. Bunton builds em better. BUNTON CO. PO Box 33247* Louisville. KY 40232 U S A Phone 502/966-0550 Ł Telex 204-340 Contract numbers G.S.A.: GS-07S-07659 H.U.D.: OPH (C0)m-3650 INDUSTRY NEWS /rom page 31 CIL ending its U.S. retail sales Canadian Industries Limited's sulfur-coated urea will continue to be readily available through domestic formulators although the firm has discontinued retail sales operations in the United States. In late 1981 C.I.L. started hand-ling retail sales formerly mar-keted through their wholly-owned subsidiary, Chipman Inc., in addition to selling SCU in bulk to American formulators. Company officials decided recently to concentrate on supply-ing domestic reformulators rather than continue the dual sales effort. While the firm has dropped it's retail operations, C.I.L.'s products will continue to be marketed through domestic formulators. 'Bama picked as site of show Birmingham, Ala. has been chosen as site of this year's National Institute on Park and Grounds Management conference and trade show, Nov. 6-10. Headquarters hotel will be the Hyatt Birmingham. The Bir- mingham-Jefferson Civic Center will house the large exhibit area and some educational sessions. Programming will be broken into three concurrent programs: park personnel, campus grounds managers and turf/sports turf. Featured topics are "Develop-ment of Maintenance Perfor- mance Standards" and "Selecting the Right Equipment." For more information, write the National Institute, P.O. Box 1936, Appleton, WI, 54913, or call (414) 733-2301. Spring-Green picks agency Foote, Cone & Belding/Chicago has been chosen advertising agency for Spring-Green Lawn Care Corp. of Plainfield, 111. FC&B's direct marketing unit will handle all advertising for Spring-Green, which anticipates 1983 sales to grow 40 percent from 1982. Spring-Green has 55 fran-chises in five Midwest states and Texas. Toro honors distributors The Toro Company honored its top U.S. and international dis-tributors for 1983 with the presen- tation of its annual Mr. Toro awards recently. Top award was accepted by Dean Williams of Turf Equipment Co., Salt Lake City. Both the Mr. Service and Mr. Irrigation awards went to Spartan Distributors, Inc., Sparta, Mich. the Reader Service numbers of those items of interest to you. Inquiries serviced for 90 days from date of issue. For those countries outside the U.S., please apply appropriate postage before mailing. READER SERVICE INFORMATION CARD 11/83 2 | For more information on products or services mentioned in this issue, circle the corresponding numbers below, fill in appropriate information and mail today. 101 108 115 122 129 136 143 150 157 164 171 178 185 192 199 206 213 220 227 234 102 109 116 123 130 137 144 151 158 165 172 179 186 193 200 207 214 221 228 235 103 110 117 124 131 138 145 152 159 166 173 180 187 194 201 208 215 222 229 236 104 111 118 125 132 139 146 153 160 167 174 181 188 195 202 209 216 223 230 237 105 112 119 126 133 140 147 154 161 168 175 182 189 196 203 210 217 224 231 238 106 113 120 127 134 141 148 155 162 169 176 183 190 197 204 211 218 225 232 239 107 114 121 128 135 142 149 156 163 170 177 184 191 198 205 212 219 226 233 240 PLEASE CHECK BELOW YOUR PRIMARY BUSINESS AT THIS LOCATION: A CONTRACTOR OR SERVICES: C. OTHER ŁChemical lawn care company Please specify: Ł Mowing/maintenance lawn care company B. SUPPLIER: ŁChemical dealer and/or distributor Ł Equipment dealer and/or distributor ŁSeed broker/dealer NAME TITLE BUSINESS NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP TFI FPHONF ( ) AREA CODE I WISH TO RECEIVE (CONTINUE RECEIVING) LAWN CARE INDUSTRY EACH MONTH Ł YES Ł NO SIGNATURE DATE BUSINESS REPLY CARD FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 665 DULUTH, MINNESOTA POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE READER SERVICE DEPARTMENT WWN OIRE INDUSTRY POST OFFICE BOX 6080 DULUTH, MINNESOTA 55806-9780 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES I.I.I..I.I.I..I.II....II..I.I..I...II..I.II 1,11 PRODUCTS Replacement reel swivels for units Applied Plastics has been work-ing with lawn care specialists to develop replacement parts for lawn spray units, including replacement reel swivels, "O" rings and other accessories. Materials which Applied Plas-tics Technology works with include TFE (Teflon), Delrin and PVC, all of which have properties which are very much in line with lawn care applications. Said plas-tics are corrosion-resistant and can withstand high pressure. APT can provide replacement parts at a substantial savings to its customers, according to spokes-man John A. Maclntyre III. Circle No. 140 on Reader Inquiry Card New walk-behind line hits market The Toro Company introduces a new line of commercial walk-behind powers mowers. The line consists of a hand push and self-propelled rear-wheel-drive rear-bagger. The Toro mowers feature beefed-up com- merical aluminum decks, heavy duty three-speed transmissions (on self-propelled model) and durable suspension systems. Toro also says that its bagging system is the easiest on the mar-ket. The units are powered by five-hp Briggs & Stratton industrial/ commercial engines. Both models offer one-year limited commer- cial warranties. Circle No. 141 on Reader Inquiry Card Professional trimmer is lightweight, easy Thesman Industries of Torrance, Cai. introduces the Pro-Trim Model T-38, a professional edger and trimmer. This unique machine has a three-hp Briggs & Stratton engine. It is lightweight and particularly adept at edging lawns, sidewalks, curbs, ivy and flower beds. Other features are: moveable front wheel for around curved surfaces and corners; 7/e-inch tubular all-weld steel frame; large 10-inch blade that tilts a full 90 degrees; and front wheel of 8V4-inch solid rubber can be locked in three positions on axle. The Model T-27 comes with a two-hp engine. Circle No. 142 on Reader Inquiry Card Four walk-behinds are for professionals John Deere will manufacture four self-propelled walk-behind mowers for professional groundskeeping work. All four are powered by 11-hp Briggs & Stratton industrial-commercial four-cycle engines. Mowing widths are 32, 36, 48 and 52 inches. They also all fea- ture a variable-speed rear-wheel drive system that allows the oper- ator to choose one of six forward ground speeds without changing engine and mower blade speed. The steel deck is designed to allow close trimming on the oper-ator's left side. The models adapt to sulky and grass-catcher attach-ments. Electric start is optional for standard engines and also optional 16-hp engines. Mowing height ranges from l3/s to 6V2 inches. Circle No. 143 on Reader Inquiry Card Tuflex offers you four large model Tanks to solve your BIG pest control problems. The experts at Tuflex care-fully research and analyze your needs and assist you in designing and engineering the right tank and pump system for your job requirements. Anything less would be a compromise solution. Tuflex is the only manufacturer to specialize in seam-less fiberglass spray tanks built specifically for the pest control and lawn care industry. The exclusive Tuflex process allows a full five-year warranty on all hand-crafted seamless fiberglass tanks. Our tanks from 100 gallon to 1200 gallon are ready to r*i-\l\ T^s \ini 1 r- foi irrlnoct- rK^llpncrPO iü m Model PC-500:545 gallon portalble use tank. 81" long. 47Vi" wide and 48" high. Standard equipment: 18" vented cover with posi-lock hatch hard-ware. baffling system, integral molded mounting base for ease in mounting, steel tie down lugs to secure tank to frame, 2" polycoated drain and cali- brated sight tubes. gSnraMWMi Model u-600 75 Model U-600:580 gallon portable use tank, long. 55" wide and 50" high. Standard equipment: 18" vented cover with posi-lock hatch hardware, molded runners for ease in mounting to frame. 2" polycoated drain and calibrated sight tubes. Model PC-800 Model PC-800:860 gallon portable use tank. 80" long. 60" wide and 58" high. Standard equipment: 18" vented cover with posi-lock hatch hardware, baffling system, integral molded mounting base for ease in mounting, steel tie down lugs to secure tank to frame. 2" polycoated drain and calibrated sight tubes. Model PC-1200 Model PC-1200:1175 gallon portable use tank. 108" long. 60" wide and 53" high. Standard equipment: 18" vented cover with posi-lock hatch hardware, baffling system, integral molded mounting base for ease in mounting, steel tie down lugs to secure tank to frame. 2" polycoated drain and calibrated sight tubes. Call TOLL-FREE for economy prices and more information on our complete line of tanks. 1-800-327-9005 In Florida call collect (305) 785-6402 <8> 1406 S.W. 8th St r MANUFACTURING CO. Pompano Beach. FL 33060 Available options for above Tanks: Ł Exclusive double seal internal hatch (prevents hatch leakage) Ł Mechanical or jet agitation systems Ł Splitting or compartmentalizing Ł Pump and engine canopies MARKETING IDEA FILE oc w CQ S w > O Z > oc H co D Q Z w oc < u Z £ < J Promotional items John Cazzell of Four Seasons Lawn Care, Par-kville, Mo. has found that specialty advertising is one of the most effective ways of keeping his business in the forefront. Cazzell distributes such items as rain gauges, plant tine rakes, kiddie growth charts, key rings and even digital clocks. "Whenever we do a power rake job, watering is a key factor," Cazzell notes. "We leave behind watering instructions and the rain gauge. That item is extremely popular." For the customer's child, Cazzell distributes a paper chart that can be hung on a wall to chronicle the child's growth. And for mom, he's got the plant tine rake. When Cazzell goes out to bid a large com-mercial job, he gives away a small digital desk clock. "I feel like these items are really going to bring people back to us next spring, too," Cazzell says. "At least they'll keep our phone number out there." Prices are minimal: a growth chart costs about 25 cents, while the clocks are the most expensive, at $14.50 each. For more information on such items, look under "Advertising specialties" in the Yellow Pages. Protect your reputation Know these facts before you buy fertilizer Fact: Country Club and Greenskeeper fertiliz-ers are of the highest quality homogenous grades made today. With over 35 years of extensive university and proven end-use testing, the dependability of our product is clear. Each agronomically bal-anced pellet contains all three essential plant food elementsŠN,P,K, regardless of the material's sizing and coverage. This alleviates the possibility of certain elements sifting to the bottom of the spreader or particles being too large to pass through the opening. Our products are smooth flowing, non-binding and dustless, and specifically formulated with analysis for these end uses: GREENS and BENTGRASS TEES: SIZING FINE Country Club 18-4-10 90% Org. Sulfate-Minors 18-3-12 70% Org. Sulfate-Minors 20-0-10 50% Org. Sulfate-Minors FAIRWAYS and TEES: sizing medium Professional Lawn Applicators Turf Managers Country Club 18-5-9 50% Org. Sulfate-Minors 29-3-5 25% Org. Sulfate-Minors 12-4-8 50% Org. Muriate-Minors 8-4-24 30% Org. Sulfate-Muriate -Minors 13-25-12 Muriate-Minors 20-20-20 Soluble 33-0-16 Soluble Greenskeeper 20-8-8 50% Org. Muriate 20-4-10 40% Org. Muriate Minors 16-8-8 Muriate 10-6-4 50%&25% Org. Muriate-Minors 28-7-4% Soluble Fertilizers in Combination with Control Products Ronstar® Betasan® Dursban® Balan® 2,40 +MCPP Granular Control Products Tupersan® Treflan® Dacthal® Daconil® *Benomyl® #Thiram/Cadmium *not available in all market areas. Fact: Lebanon Chemical has the flexibility to insure you with the right product for your turf needs and within your budget. We are ready to formulate exactly the analysis that will be the most beneficial to you. This includes a complete line of sulfur coated urea blends. A few of our most popular analysis are: Leb Pro 32-4-8 Muriate Minors 28-6-12 Muriate Minors 27-3-5 Sulfate Minors If your needs dictate your own label, we are fully equipped to formulate and bag private label products as well. Lebanon Chemical can also supply your chemical needs, and is a major distributor for Mon-santo, Rhone-Poulenc, Diamond Shamrock, Ciba Geigy, BFC, Mobay, Chevron, Rhom & Haas, Miller, Dow, Union Carbide, DuPont, Staufferand Elanco. Fact: Lebanon Chemical is a leader in providing service for you. Our knowledgeable sales representatives are ready to provide you with the information for your needs whether you're a golf superintendent, turf manager, or a professional lawn applicator. Because of their technical backgrounds, Lebanons sales staff can assist all professionals In solving turf grass problems and aid in the designing of a complete turf care program. Publications out-lining detailed specifications on our products and their use are available upon request, along with soil testing, specifically designed to diagnose soil related turf problems. Lebanon's Customer Service department is always ready to answer your questions and process your orders quickly and efficiently. And with a solid network of distributors throughout the country, Lebanon can ensure you of immediate service, and offer features such as palletized units and stretch wrapping of shipments. Lebanon Chemical is setting the standards today for you to grow tomorrow. Face FactsŠ When your turf management plans involve fertilization Š they should involve Country Club and Greenskeeper fert- ilizers from Lebanon. Distributor inquiries accepted ... Call today! Phone: East 800-233-0628 Pennsylvania 717-273-1687 Midwest 800-637-2101 Illinois 217-446-0983 LEBANON CHEMICAL CORPORATION P.O.Box 180, Lebanon, PA 17042 P.O.Box 647, Danville, IL 61832 Dacthal® - SDS Biotech Daconil® - SDS Biotech Betasan® - Stautter Balan® - Elanco Treflan® - Elanco Tupersan® Š DuPont Ronstar® Š Rhone-Poulenc Spot sprayer can be attached easily The Olathe Model 10 portable DC-powered spot sprayer is attacha- ble to any 12-volt vehicle. The chemical-resistant tank holds 10 gallons of liquid. It will pump 2Vi gallons per minute at 30 psi. The 36X12Xl5-inch unit also has 10 feet of EPDM rubber hose and an 18-inch hand gun with adjustable tip. It is another of the many attach-ments available for the Olathe Model 492 Turf Truck. Circle No. 144 on Reader Inquiry Card Tree fertilizer in five formulations The Doggett Corp. has five tree fertilizers for five situations. XL-Injecto Feed 32-7-7 has 59 percent of the nitrogen slow release in the form of Powder Blue Nitroform, and the remainder is 100 percent soluble. XL-Injecto Feed 12-24-24, with 50 percent nitrogen from Powder Blue Nitro- form, is to be applied at the time of year when the tree or shrub is approaching dormancy. XL-Injecto Feed 5-30-30 was designed for situations where there is a high deficiency in phos- phorous and potach, in theory, for root stimulation in stressed situa-tions or transplanting. XL-Spray-Fol 30-10-10 is 100 percent soluble to be used in the spring and summer in conjunc-tion with insecticide spray applications, and XL-Evergreen Special 30-7-10 is for evergreen trees, plants and shrubs to acidify the soil with additional iron. Circle No. 145 on Reader Inquiry Card Nursery Man O Z oc H co D Q Z w oc < u Z £ < j CLASSIFIED RATES: 70 cents per word (minimum charge, $20). Boldface words or words in all capital letters charged at 95 cents per word. Boxed or display ads charged at $65 per column inch (one inch minimum). Agency commissions will be given only when camera-ready art is provided by agency. For ads using blind box number, add $5 to total cost of ad. Send ad copy with payment to Dawn Anderson, LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, 1 East First Street. Duluth, MN 55802. BOX NUMBER REPLIES: Mail box number replies to: LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, Classified Ad Department, 120 W. 2nd St., Duluth, MN 55802. Please include box number in address. FOR SALE 74 Ford F600 1200 gal. tanker, Injector, hose & reel, $8,000; 68 Chevy 1,000 gal. tank injector, hose & reel, $4,000; 1,500 gal. Holden tank - lined, stainless valve, $1,000; 200 gal. tank, $800; 3 skid tanks, $100 each; Tandem trailer 7* x 20', $2,300; New Edge-R-Rite w/attachments, $650; Phone 815-436-2728. 11/83 Used Finn lawn feeder, 800 gal. w/hose, reel & spray gun $5000 00, (502) 782-2730,1 00 pm - 4:30 pm GROUNDCOVERS Pachysandra 6'/2C English Ivy 8;/?C Write for complete wholesale price list. GARDEN STATE GROWERS P.O. Box 38, Locust Grove Rd. , Pittstown, NJ 08867 v (201)730-8888 ^jgSjfr Lawn-Care MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Software for multi-user CPM or OASIS systems with 5mb, Hard-Disk. "RASCAL" in use since Dec. '81. $2500 + license, set-up, training. The Green Scene, 5842 Tampa Ave., Tarzana, CA 91356, (213) 705-6388. TF Spray trucks for sale. 750 gallon tanks, 350 cubic inch, 1 ton Chevy, 4 speed trans. 20 gallon/min. Bean pumps. 1978-1981. Several in stock. Call Ron Wilson. 1-800-543-0900 outside Ohio. 513-845-0517 in Ohio. 12/83 FOR SALE: Established sod farm in beautiful western Colorado. 170 acres of sod -155 acres farm ground - 4 homes - full line of equipment. For information call: 303-858-7464 or write to Jim at 1268 18-1/2 Road, Fruita, Colorado 81521. 11/83 Professional Lawn Equipment Rugged Minnesota Wanner truck, trailer and skid mounted sprayers meet lawn care professionals' most exacting specifications. Single or multiple compartment tanks range in size from 65-1500 gallons fabricated from stainless, mild steel or polyethylene, with mechanical agitation available to provide optimum chemical mixing. We manufacture a complete line of sprayers, pumps, controls, and turf care accessories, all with Minnesota Wanner quality and dependability! SEE USAT BOOTH #'S 442 AND 444 NOV. 8-10, PLCAA CONVENTION For more information contact: MINNESOTA WANNER CO. 5145 Eden Ave. So Mpls., MN 55436 612-929-1070 Circle No. 117 on Reader Inquiry Card MICRONUTRIENTS Will they make me money? What are they? How do they work? Are they purple or orange? Are they for lawns or gardens? Do they come in powder or liquid? Will it make my dog bark? Get all the answers with one phone call. Call collect 316-225-0071. Ask for our FREE Micronutrient Handbook. Ruffin wrote the book on Micronutrients. 316-225-0071 Call Collect: RuftiN ,INC 500 East Trail Ł P.O. Box 940 Dodge City, Kansas 67801 PS-322T SPRAYER, 22 GAL. TANK, 3 GAL. PER MIN. HYPRO PUMP, 3 H P. BRIGGS & STRAT-TON $400.00. USED ONLY TWICE (516) 271-5335, 9-5. 11/83 Spray TrucksŠ1976 GMC C6500, 1200 gallon fiberglass-2 electric reels-fully equipped, 1965 Ford F700,1200 gallon-2 electric reels-fully equipped Will sell truck and units separately Call (201) 337-3057 CLOSEOUT SPECIAL! Save your back issues of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY and save money at the same time. We're closing out our line of perma- nent binders at the special low price of two for only $7.50! (This is a $7.00 savings over our regular price plus postage and handling.) Orders will be filled as long as our supply lasts - quantities are limited. Order your binders today from: Book Sales, HBJ PUBLICATIONS, One East First Street, Duluth, MN 55802 TF 2 1977 Chevy C-50 800 gal. spray trucks I j Ł Excellent Cond. Ł 350 with 4 speed j I Ł Hydraulic reel with 300 ft. of hose | Ł Ready to operate-picture upon request | I Ł $8,600.00 each (412) 751-0470 I For Sale: established chemical lawn care com-pany in northern Illinois with approximately 2,200 customers. Write LCI Box 96. 11/83 19751.H. 1700,43,000 miles good condition, 7 H.P. auxiliary engine, Mechanical Agitation auxiliary tank, Bean 10/10, electric Hose Reel, 1500 gallon Chasis Mounted Tank (317) 635-6694. 11/83 HELP WANTED Manager needed for chemical lawn care company located in fast-growing Florida area Applicant must have management experience with the ability to be chief operating officer Competitive salary, benefits and profit-sharing. Send resume and salary history to LCI Box 90. 11/83 HELP WANTED - One of the leading landscape contractors in the Chicagoland area is presently seeking a branch manager to take full charge of our Lawn Care Division. The company has been established for over thirty years. Experienced applicants send resume in confidence to Clarence Davids, Sr., Clarence Davids & Sons, Inc., 12807 South Homan Ave., Blue Island, Illinois 60406. 11/83 General manager position open for chemical lawn and shrub division of established landscaping company in the sunbelt area. Tremendous oppor- tunity for an aggressive individual having experi-ence with a national or regional lawn care company. We are looking for a BUSINESSMANŠ the very BEST!! Knowledge of turf grass, orna-mental plants, and marketing needed. The right person will enjoy excellent salary, benefits, and opportunity for equity participation with unlimited earnings potential. Send complete resume includ-ing education, experience, and salary history. All replies will be kept confidential. Write LCI Box 85. Established lawn and tree care company near Washington D.C. needs a top quality individual to manage and develop our lawn care division. Expe- rience in product application, public relations and sales required. Excellent opportunity for ambitious individual who has the ability to lead others and get the job done. If you fit the picture we invite you to write LCI Box 93. 12/83 GO SOUTH WITH KAPP'S GREEN LAWN - Kapp's Green Lawn desires a Branch Manager for our new southern city. Applicant must have chemical lawn care management experience. Salary com- mensurates with experience. Benefits and growth potential, outstanding. Send resume to Kapp's Green Lawn - Home Office, 4124 Clubview Dr., Fort Wayne, IN 46804. SALES REPRESENTATIVE WANTED - For grow-ing turf supply company. Must have 10 years expe-rience and extensive knowledge of lawn care products. Must be willing to travel extensively. Send resume to LCI Box 95. 11/83 WANTED SALES REPRESENTATIVE WANTED - For grow- ing turf supply company. Must have 10 years expe- rience and extensive knowledge of lawn care products. Must be willing to travel extensively. Send resume to LCI Box 95. 11/83 MISCELLANEOUS SAVE MONEY by repairing your own equipment with our easy-on BODY REPAIR PANELS. Most panels can be UPS'ed. For free catalog, call or write 216-562-9732 or 216-461-9616. Auto & Truck Supply, 242 Hurd Road, Aurora, OH 44202.12/83 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY WORKING PARTNER - Looking for experienced person to develop new lawn care business in prime area in New Jersey. Should be management oriented and will be involved in developing all phases of operation. This is a ground floor oppor-tunity for someone with ambition, initiative and who can get things done. Write LCI Box 88. TF FOR SALEŠLandscape, maintenance and spray company in Southeast Wisconsin. Includes equip-ment, vehicles and customers Established 7 years Profitable operation Year round cash flow. Grossing over $100K Best OfferŠMust Sell Now! Serious inquiries only! Write LCI Box 92. Tired of working for the other guy? Ready to own your own lawn service business? My company is small but well established and profitable. Liquid and dry applications. Excellent growth potential for ambitious and competent manager. Mid-Atlan-tic area. Priced to sell. Owner financing with $12,000 down. Serious inquiries only. Write LCI Box 94. 12/83 ADVERTISERS Reader Inquiry No. Page Adelphi Kentucky Bluegrass ... .31 101 The Andersons 30 102 BFC Chemicals 42 103 Bulkkem Corp 25 135 Bulkkem Corp 29 104 BuntonCo 32 105 Champion Sprinkler Equip 5 106 Cleary Chemical Corp 29 107 C.P. Chemical 24 108 Dedoes Industries 15 109 Dow Chemical U.S.A 2, 3 110 E-Z-Rake 28 111 Grasshopper Co 8 112 Hawkeye Chemical 26,27 113 International Seeds 24 114 Lawn Tech 28 115 Lebanon Chemical 36 116 Master Mfg. Co 8 117 Minnesota Wanner 40 118 Monsanto Co 6,7 119 Moyer & Sons 38 120 Ohio Turf Foundation 19 121 Perma-Green Supreme 28 122 PLCAA 39 123 Practical Solutions 40 124 Professional Turf Specialties 17 125 Rhone-Poulenc 12,13 126 Roto-Hoe 38 000 Ruffin 40 128 SDS Biotech, Ag Chem Business 41 129 Stauffer Chemical Co 22, 23 130 The Toro Co 37 131 Trebor Corp 8 132 Tuftex 35 133 United Agri-Products 21 134 USS Agri-Chem 16 136 Wheel Spray Corp 24 This index is furnished for the readers convenience. However, the publisher can not guarantee its accuracy due to circumstances beyond our control. IS MANAGING ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE BECOMING MORE OF A PROBLEM THAN CONTROLLING SPOTTED SPURGE ? ? A complete software package designed specifically for the lawn care industry is now available for the Burroughs B20 Small Business Computer. This economical and easy to use system manages all office operations including accounts receivable, treatment invoicing, and service scheduling. It also uses treatment and service history to report on product usage and labor productivity. See this innovative and comprehensive package at the 1983 PLCAA Conference and Trade Show. November 8-10 in Indianapolis. For more information, call or write: Practical Solutions. Inc. 100 East Wilson Bridge Rd. Worthmgton. Ohio 43085 (614)436 9066 X, 'Si p0r Turf 'X « Here's the only one that controls both crabgrass and spurge Just as you'd expect, it's Dacthal® W-75 preemergence herbicide. And there's not another preemergence on the market that'll give you better control of your two most serious weed problems. The standard of excellence for crabgrass. It's been that way for more than 20 years with Dacthal. Which explains why today's lawn care professionals depend on Dacthal for effective and consistent crabgrass control. Plus proven residual activity that allows for fall overseeding. And since Dacthal is not water soluble, it won't leach or run off during wet weather as some preemergent herbicides do. The only way to control spurge. Dacthal W-75 delivers more effective spurge control than any other herbicide. Here's why. Spurge plants produce from 600-3500 seeds per plant. Once they've emerged, they're almost impossible to control with a postemergence. Spurge has to be controlled before it emerges. And the only preemergence labeled for the job is Dacthal. Dacthal does it all. A Dacthal application in spring, before annual weed and seed germination, provides excellent control of crabgrass. Make a second Dacthal application 60 days later for full season spurge control. And remember, Dacthal is also effective against 21 other annual grasses and broadleaf weeds including foxtail and purslane. What's more, it can be applied to more than 120 ornamental flowers and shrubs with no risk to ornamental root growth. This season, stop both crabgrass and spurge with the one preemergence herbicide you know you can count on. Dacthal W-75. It's back and ready to go to work. Always follow label directions carefully when using turf chemicals. Aàé Agricultural Chemicals Business SDS Biotech Corporation 7528 Auburn Road. P.O Box 348 Painesville, Ohio 44077 Nitr I CI paints a pretty picture Ł Ł Ł Ł m Ł r 1 1 1 ŁŁŁ1 1. 1 w m m dm Nitroform® provides a consistent 38% nitrogen that's released by soil bacteria slowly and predictably Š just when it is most needed to make turf and ornamentals green and healthy. And Nitroform continues this slow, steady release to sustain growth for over six months (even during periods of sparse rainfall). You'll find Nitroform nonbuming, nonstreaking, nonleaching. It's easy mixing and clean handling, too. This versatile nitrogen source is available in Blue Chip® for dry applications, Powder BlueŽ for liquid use, and it can be mixed and applied with insecticides and fungicides. When you're buying a complete fertilizer be sure to check the label to see that it contains Nitroform, the most efficient source of Water Insoluble Nitrogen. Nitroform can do beautiful things for your business. ® Circle No. 102 on Reader Inquiry Card BFC CHEMICALS, INC. 4311 LANCASTER PIKE, WILMINGTON, DE 19805 BEARD COLLECTION ŁŁŁŁŁŁŁ Ł Ł Ł Ł Ł