ENFIELD — Two power equipment business owners in Enfield — including one that recently opened — say they are seeing an increase in demand for their tractors and mowers.
People purchase equipment because they want to save money and take care of their properties themselves. Others who own landscaping companies are buying more equipment to meet with demand from those who want to hire them.
Jack Monahan worked at Twin State Tractor and Equipment as a mechanic for a few years before buying the business in 2020. Twin State sells a line of Kioti tractors that can tackle a number of jobs with attachments. Their most popular tractor is in the 20 to 40 horsepower range which will plow the driveway, cut the lawn and maybe pull some firewood out of the woods, Monahan said.
Monahan said he thinks increasing demand among homeowners has to do with the cost of hire someone to tend to properties.
“The biggest thing I see is the cost of having somebody come mow your lawn all summer, plow your driveway all winter or come fix your driveway every time it washes out,” Monahan said in a phone interview. “It has become more economical for a homeowner to own their own tractor and do their own snow removal or driveway repair.”
Even though a new tractor that can run more than $18,000, implements, such as a backhoe attachments and more let the homeowner do more of their own work rather than pay others.
“You pay someone to plow your driveway maybe two times a week for six weeks, that can equal seven months’ of tractor payments,” Monahan, 58, said.
Ronson Smith, owner of the new Bobcat dealer on Route 4, almost directly across from Twin State Tractor, thinks people value their time more than money and that is why there has been so much growth in landscaping and property management businesses.
“I think some of it is because the world is so busy,” said Smith, who also owns Woodsville Power Equipment, also a Bobcat dealer, which he opened more than 20 years ago. “Everybody is so busy they are looking to hire someone to cut their lawn to free up time to do other things. Everybody is busy doing something.”
Whether it is to save time or money, there appears to be enough demand to support the competing businesses.
Smith, 48, said they do a lot of business down in the Enfield area from the Woodsville store. Being closer to customers in Hanover, Lebanon and Norwich will cut down on travel time.
“So it just made sense to set up shop down there,” Smith said in a phone interview from his Woodsville location.
In his 20 years in the heavy equipment business, Smith said he has seen a bit of shift in the buyer demographic.
“It used to be construction companies, but now we are selling to a lot of homeowners who have a lot of acreage,” he said.
He agrees with Smith that the growth of the commercial landscaping business for residential customers is fueling demand for power equipment.
“It used to be just a handful of commercial guys out there but now there are a few dozen.”
Bobcat Enfield sells a full-line of Bobcat equipment including tractors, mowers and skid steers.
Dana Charbono, general manager of Bobcat Enfield, which opened in February, said skid steers are designed to lock up the wheels or tracks on one side of the machine. That enables the operator to spin the machine around with a zero turning radius and go in a different direction. Skid steers can also accept attachments including buckets, forks, augur and snowblowers.
“The lawn and garden residential stuff is probably going to be the bread and butter for us,” Charbono said. “But we do sell the Bobcats on the commercial level as well.”
The Enfield store will likely also draw customers from places like Brattleboro and Claremont, who have been going to Woodsville, Charbono said.
Both Twin State Tractor and Bobcat Enfield also sell parts and accessories and have full service departments.
Charbono said business has been promising since they opened.
“We should definitely do well here,” he said.
Charbono said the significant growth in the number of landscaping businesses in the area may have to do with the high demand and low capital investment to start a business
“Anybody can get into it if you don’t mind getting your nails dirty,” Chabono said. “There is a big demand, especially in this area. They want to have somebody take care of their yard work. It is not easy work but you can get into it for relatively low investment and there is a lot of money to be made doing it.”
Charbono said he knows of a few people, just out of high school, who invested less than $20,000 for some basic equipment to get started and are paying it off rather quickly.
Route 4 also has a couple of businesses selling significantly larger equipment for construction companies and major projects like road reconstruction or site work for a large building.
Rob Taylor, the land use and community development administrator for Enfield, said it is not unusual to see similar businesses grouped near each other and he sees a benefit for the town.
“You see co-location with car dealerships,” Taylor said. “We are starting to see that with a few heavy equipment dealerships and I think they will all do well. We are definitely proud of what we got going here in Enfield.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
