When Alan McClellan was 20 years old, mowing lawns for a living was probably the last thing on his mind. Then, while walking around the Branch County Fairgrounds, he spotted a Walker Mower for the very first time.
As a matter of fact, the outdoor display featured a new mower, a snow thrower and two decks. “It was the best thing since sliced bread,” McClellan says about the Walker. “I was attracted by its versatility, the way it handled, and how easy it was to maintain. So I purchased the entire display, with the intent that I would mow a few lawns to help pay the bill.” Twenty years later, McClellan operates True Trim Lawn Care in Coldwater, Michigan.
On-The-Job Training
“It would be accurate to say that I liked the mower so much that I started my own business,” McClellan adds with a smile. “I picked up some lawns and then was laid off from my factory job. By the time the company called me back, I saw a better future in maintaining properties than working in the factory. In fact, during the previous year, I had collected nine different W2s, so obviously I wasn’t on a career path.”
The new Model C, powered by a 16-hp Kohler engine, put McClellan on a path. He picked up a few commercial properties, all the while honing his mowing and maintenance skills. “I learned on the job,” he admits, “but one thing I had going for me, in addition to my new mower, was my inability to say no. Customers would ask, ‘Do you apply fertilizer and pesticides?’ I would say, ‘Well yah.’ I didn’t, but I soon did. ‘Do you plow snow?’ ‘Well yah,’ but I had to get a snow plow first. ‘Do you sweep parking lots?’ ‘Well yah,’ but I better buy a sweeper.”
After subcontracting his lawn care to TruGreen for a few years, McClellan received his applicator’s license by attending classes at nearby Lansing Community College. He farmed out his first large snow plowing job, until he was in a position to buy bigger and better equipment. As for the sweeper, this agreeable and hungry owner purchased one, but no longer sweeps parking lots. “That’s an entirely different animal,” he emphasizes, “with the work having to be done during evening hours.”
What True Trim Lawn Care does is mow and maintain upwards of 180 accounts. With a customer mix divided almost equally between homeowners and commercial properties, the company provides a broad array of maintenance services. In addition to mowing and trimming, crews trim trees, mulch beds, apply fertilizer and weed control, remove snow, salt driveways and walks, and repair and maintain irrigation systems. They also do some installation work (which includes building retaining walls), and “bush hog” (rough mow) a few properties.
“We operate two three-men mowing crews and one spray crew,” McClellan explains. “One mowing crew is equipped with two 23-hp Walker Mowers with 48-inch GHS decks, while the other runs two 27-hp Super B’s with 60-inch side-discharge decks. We also have a smaller Model S that we use as a backup and in tight areas during fall cleanup.”
The side-discharge crew is assigned to the more expansive commercial properties where picking up clippings isn’t a requirement. The GHS crew primarily handles the upscale lake properties, banks, restaurants and other properties where customers want that manicured look. “We maintain several lake homes,” McClellan points out. “Once we won our first account, the rest just kind of followed. I remember a homeowner inviting me over for an estimate. He told me that if I did a good job, another 10 properties along the lake would probably hire me. He was right.”
In addition to its Walkers, the GHS crew is equipped with a trailer-mounted vacuum that sucks up clippings in the summer and leaves in the fall. McClellan customized the debris-handling system by fashioning a truckmounted box to a trailer. When the box is full, the crew simply trailers it over to his property and hydraulically dumps the debris.
“None of our equipment runs by itself,” McClellan adds. “I try to surround myself with employees who take pride in their work and like what they see when their truck pulls away. I am very fortunate to have that benefit with the group of guys I have now.”
Looking back, this now 20-year mowing veteran notes that he has always been able to repair equipment. As a matter of fact, his technical aptitude goes beyond equipment. During slow winter months, his company will purchase a home and employees will work “fixing it up,” to be sold the next spring. “This gives them something to do between snow falls,” says McClellan. “Plus, it brings in some revenue for the company.”
Growing His Business
The last couple of decades have been quite a ride for this entrepreneur. Ten years ago, McClellan started selling outdoor power equipment out of a storefront in town, and later moved the operation to his 76-acre property in the country. He has since paired his lines down to one (Walker), although his technician can fix nearly anything.
“I’ve learned over the years that there is only so much time in the day,” McClellan laments. “Running the dealership and keeping my growing maintenance operation going was a challenge, although it did one important thing for me: It got me off the mower. Doing so allowed me to spend more time thinking about the business and selling. That’s an important lesson for any smaller contractor. If you want to grow, you have to make it grow.”
McClellan also has a young family that keeps him busy, too. He has been married to Kim for 19 years. Cody (age 18), Courtney (14), Caitlyn (8) and Carter (3) keep both parents on their toes. Cody is already following in his dad’s footsteps, working with a mowing crew during the summer.
“I think I was about nine when I first drove a Walker around the yard,” Cody reflects. “I may have been doing some actual mowing on our property by the time I was 12.” When asked about taking over the business, Cody looks at his father and says simply that “Dad wants me to gain experience from the ground up before I think about running the business.”
McClellan nods his head in agreement. “Cody is taking an agriculture class at the Career Center in town and is seriously thinking about a twoyear degree in horticulture. Ultimately, he will be much more knowledgeable about the industry than I ever was, but he still needs to get first-hand crew experience before running the business. When that day comes, he can say to his employees, ‘My dad didn’t just hand over the business to me. I worked my way up.’”
Cody is fortunate. His father may not have a degree in horticulture, but has definitely attended the school of hard knocks. His mentoring will allow the second generation to skip a few of the more difficult classes.
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