The day before the Walker Talk editor arrived, Mike Hill celebrated his 54th birthday—54 that is, going on 45. This energetic Walker user worked 30 years for Reynolds Aluminum before retiring five years ago. For nearly 10 of those years, he logged overtime as a rolling mill operator, producing Reynolds Wrap® aluminum foil, only to go home and mow lawns.
“I wanted something else to do and I kept seeing pickups towing trailers and mowers around town,” says the owner of Clean Cut in Louisville. “Upon a friend’s advice at work, I purchased a 36-inch walk-behind mower, a set of ramps for my pickup, a hand-held blower and a string trimmer. A year later I bought a trailer and a 16-hp Walker Mower with a 42-inch GHS deck. It has always been just me, my Walker Mower, and lots and lots of overtime.” Hill continues to trailer his 36-inch Scag, but rarely uses it.
Not much has changed from the very beginning—from Hill’s customers to his equipment. He maintains primarily small residential accounts, and up until last year, used much of the same equipment he purchased nearly 15 years ago. “I pulled into a Lowe’s parking lot last year,” Hill recalls. “When I came back out of the store, my string line, blower, and gas can full of gas were gone.”
Hill returned to the store and talked with the store manager who pulled up a video recording of the parking lot. It showed that the equipment had been “lifted” even before its owner had entered the store. Hill pulled up, a box van pulled up beside him, and the rest is history. “It was all original equipment and it hurt me to see that it was stolen,” says this Walker user. “Now, my hand-held equipment is locked onto the trailer.”
Amazing Deck
Not to say Clean Cut’s owner hasn’t made a few advancements over the years. Last year he replaced his 16-hp Kohler with more than 2,000 hours on it with a new 20-hp engine. The original Walker Mower (with new engine) and the Scag walk-behind ride along in style on a custom-built 14-foot trailer. The original 42-inch deck hangs on the outside of the trailer neatly tucked behind a fender.
“I don’t use that deck much anymore,” Hill explains. “Several years ago, I purchased a 52-inch side-discharge deck that does a great job with the clippings. Only a handful of my customers want me to collect their clippings, and the larger deck with the mulching kit works wonders on leaves.”
“The first year after I purchased the kit, I was mulching leaves when a lady stopped me and wanted to know how I could fit so many leaves into the dump box,” Hill goes on to say. “She was amazed when I opened the box and saw that it was empty. ‘Where did they go?’ she asked inquisitively, as if I were a magician. ‘On the ground,’ I said, ‘where they do the most good.’ She could hardly believe it, and it is truly unbelievable how the mulching kit literally disintegrates the leaves. People, even some of my customers, routinely think I collect the leaves. Instead, the leaves go back on the lawn where they add nutrients.”
Hill charges a little more for mulching the leaves simply because it takes a little longer to mulch than to mow. “Oak leaves are the most difficult to mulch, but when they are dry, they, too, are no match for this amazing deck,” he explains.
Slowing Down
Since retiring, the Louisville native has made a few adjustments. He only mows 20 lawns a week, on a Tuesday/ Wednesday/Thursday schedule. On his “off ” days, he’s either working on his new two-story garage (that he calls his “garage mahal”), renovating his lake house, or showing friends through his and wife Chris’ home, which again he has literally redone from the floors up. “I take pride in everything I do,” says Hill. “That’s one reason why I’ve had so much success in my mowing business. Customers like their lawns and landscapes looking neat and clean.”
He says the Walker is the ideal mower for him. Being a one-person operation, he doesn’t want to spend all his time trimming and blowing, and the Walker’s outfront deck design and maneuverability help cut down on both tasks. “I know this mower isn’t for everyone,” Hill adds. “It’s more expensive than others on the market and it’s not as fast as many mid-mount machines. But it fits my application to a tee. It’s easy to control and sweet to handle. I love my Walker.”
Indeed, Hill likes it so much that he’s looking into the purchase of a new Super B. “I rarely pick up clippings and I don’t collect leaves,” says Hill. “The Super B could be just the mower I need.” In the meantime, he’s made a couple of other purchases that indicate just how much he has slowed down since retiring.
He points to his “garage mahal” that houses what looks like a new diesel pickup. Instead, it’s a 2001 Ford F-250 with a 7.3-liter diesel engine. “I’ve just detailed it,” Hill says, while beaming with pride. “See, I’ve even cleaned all the rubber along the inside of the doors.” The vehicle looks brand new, but actually has just over 125,000 miles on it. Its purpose is to tow around a new 33-hp John Deere utility tractor.
“I’m thinking about doing a little snowplowing and some excavating around the lake house,” he relates. “The tractor is the smallest John Deere I could get with a cab. You need the cab when moving snow. It also has a backhoe attachment, which will come in handy.” To accommodate his new purchase, Hill asked his trailer manufacturer to bolster the end gate and install a couple of jacks for additional support when loading and unloading the tractor.
Hill looks at his watch out of habit. “My friends say they can set their watch by me. I guess that’s what happens after working so many years in a factory and only having just so much time to get everything done at home.” Face it, for this retiree, there still isn’t enough time in the day.
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