Brian Boucher is the quintessential entrepreneur. He first started mowing lawns at age 15. In 1997, at age 18, he started a company, Beaver’s Landscaping.
“I’ve only had two ‘real jobs’ in my life,” Brian says. “I worked at a gas station in high school and then at an electronics store installing those old bag cell phones. The owner of that store said he would have to fire me if I didn’t start wearing a uniform. I was mowing lawns on the side at the time. So I told him, ‘See ya’ later,’ and haven’t had another job since.”
Upon leaving that electronics store, Brian focused 100% on his mowing business. He didn’t consider that a job because he absolutely loved it. He didn’t have a Walker Mower at first, but heard about the machine from another contractor. Before long, Brian got a loan and purchased his first Walker.
“It was a GHS machine with the Hi-Dump,” Brian recalls. “I used that mower for 15 years before deciding to sell my mowing business and focus on my other business.”
Brian had purchased an electronics store of his own in 2001. He primarily sold car stereos and remote starters. The store quickly branched into cell phones as the market began to develop in the early 2000s. It was a rocky start.
“I bought my first wireless store 10 days before 9/11,” Brian says. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘What did I get myself into?’” But it all worked out and cell phones quickly became a staple of society. Brian’s company, Team Wireless, began acquiring other stores one by one. He had to make a choice, and leaving the lawn maintenance industry seemed to be the right one.
But that didn’t mean Brian was going to stop mowing grass as a whole … not a chance.
Brian Boucher’s Walker fleet (from left): two Model T’s with 52-inch decks, a Model H with 62-inch rear-discharge deck, and an older machine set up with a fertilizer spreader.
“I needed something to mow my own yard with, so I bought a new Walker,” Brian says. “Then when we bought our 1,500-acre property a few years ago, I needed a couple more Walkers. I could never go an entire week without mowing. It’s nice to have options parked in the garage.”
Gorgeous Grass is the Centerpiece of His Sanctuary
It’s really somewhat ironic. Brian Boucher makes his living nowadays with a piece of technology that helps people stay connected. Yet, he seems to be happiest when simply enjoying nature in solitude.
“I spend about 25 hours a week sitting in the seat of a Walker Mower, alone,” Brian says. “My stress relief is being out on the mower. There is nothing better than the smell of fresh-cut grass and straight lines. I really enjoy making those checkerboard stripes because they’re pretty neat to see.”
Brian Boucher wears his “Walker tan” with pride. He spends so much time in the sun with his left hand wrapped around a Walker steering lever that the top half of his fingers stay milky white all summer.
So how does this busy entrepreneur find the time to spend so many hours on his Walker Mower? The key is having good people working for him in his cell phone business.
“I’ve always been a believer in the idea of hiring people smarter than you,” Brian says. “When you can do that, you don’t have to be there. You just have to pay them well and treat them well.”
This approach has given Brian the freedom to do what he really loves to do, which is taking care of his sprawling property. “One month my truck didn’t even have 500 miles on it,” Brian relates. Furthermore, most of those miles were racked up on the private gravel roads crisscrossing his land. “I just never leave,” Brian continues. “My friends tell me, ‘Brian, you have got to leave the compound.’ But I don’t need to leave because I have everything I want right here.”
Using Walkers to Maintain 1,500 Acres
Of Brian’s 1,500-acre outdoor sanctuary, 15 to 20 are turfgrass that needs to be mowed. The main lawn around the house is roughly five acres. The remaining turfgrass is scattered across the property around ponds, orchards and food plots for deer.
Brian Boucher fertilizes twice a month and mows every three days to maintain a lush, clean, dark green lawn.
The five acres around the house are maintained the most meticulously. Brian mows them every three days to a height of four inches. He uses one of his two Model Ts with a 52-inch deck and GHS system to throw down some pretty sweet stripes. For the other 10 to 15 acres that need to be mowed, Brian uses his Model H with a 62-inch rear-discharge deck.
Brian’s fourth Walker Mower is set up as a dedicated spreader. It’s an older machine so Brian isn’t as concerned about fertilizer residue causing corrosion on the deck. Brian uses this unit to spread a standard nitrogen fertilizer on the five-acre lawn every single month during the growing season. Each application is followed by an application of Milorganite a couple of weeks later, which adds another dosing of nitrogen along with some iron.
“I’ve really gotten into using Milorganite,” Brian tells. “It has made a huge difference. It doesn’t really make the lawn grow thicker, but does help it get to this dark green color that looks fantastic.”
Constructing Paradise
Brian’s property was actually a farm before he bought it several years ago. It looked nothing like it does today. Brian had half of his five-acre lawn hydroseeded. The other half was sodded, requiring roughly 15 semi-loads carrying 300 pallets each. Along with fertilizing, a 200-head sprinkler system has helped the lawn take on a life of its own.
Brian Boucher on his Model T25i.
“If I don’t mow every three days, I’m in trouble,” Brian relates. “It is so thick and green. You can see footprints when people walk on it. I love it.”
In addition to his own outdoor sanctuary, Brian mows and maintains two of his local cell phone stores’ lawns. “Employees can’t understand why in the world the owner of the company would be doing the groundskeeping,” Brian says. But to him, it makes perfect sense. This wireless business mogul is simply wired to mow.
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