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With temperatures warming and Spring Fever starting to take hold, many of us turn to specialized equipment to help us with our outdoor chores. If you already have several pieces of lawn equipment, chances are good it will need a little attention before you put it to work this year. Or maybe you are thinking of adding a new mower or tiller or something similar to your arsenal? Either way, read on to get some ideas of how you can stretch your equipment dollar a little further this year.

Buying New

OK, maybe a new lawn mower doesn't exactly have that "new car smell", but you can definitely get excited by the idea of having a sleek, new machine to help you out with your chores. Some of the main advantages of buying new lawn and garden equipment are:

factory warranty covers any repairs or defects in workmanship
little or no maintenance the first year
comes with latest ease of use and emissions technology
more fuel efficient
older machine may be too expensive to fix

Snapper offers a full line of Lawn and Garden equipment and Carters sells and services all of them in house so you'll know you are getting a one stop shop for the life of the equipment.

Snappers 2009 lineup of lawn and garden equipment includes:

Walk behind mowers
Lawn and garden tractors
Riding mowers
Zero turn mowers
Snow throwers
Portable generators
Pressure washers
Field and brush mowers
Rear tine tillers
String trimmers
Chipper/Shredders
Leaf blowers
Lawn vacuums
Accessories such as dethatchers, grass catchers, garden carts, snow throwers, front end loaders, box blades, grading blades, tire chains and weights, snow cabs, and the list goes on.

Well, you get the idea. Sometimes it's just smarter to consider buying new equipment and taking advantage of a good Spring sale or financing offer and getting access to the latest technology and efficiency. Come in and talk to the folks at Carters today about upgrading to a new piece of powered equipment or adding a handy accessory to your existing Snapper product.

Buying Used and Repairing

Of course there are lots of great deals on used equipment out there, too. You can often find something for sale locally at auction or garage/yard sales or on eBay or Craigslist that just needs a little TLC to get back into service. The economics of buying used and repairing can sometimes be even better than buying new if you know what to look for.

The main advantages of buying used are:

First owner paid the depreciation on the equipment so initial cost is less
The model has been out for awhile so known issues or design problems are identified and solutions available
Spare parts may be included with the unit (extra set of blades, bagging system, sun canopy, tune-up kit, etc.)
Reliability of the unit is known (Tip: ask the service man who works on the equipment which models are most reliable or easy to work on!)
Aftermarket parts or upgrades may be available and possibly lower cost than OEM.

A full service parts warehouse like Carters is likely to stock many of the items you need to revive that great used equipment find. Bring the model number and serial number information to the sales counter and chances are good we can get you going at a fair price. We maintain a full inventory of common parts such as belts, spark plugs, air and oil filters. For harder to find items, we can turn to our online network of suppliers or search our extensive library of older parts catalogs to find a supplier when other parts stores hit a dead end.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle by breathing new life into your used equipment purchase! At Carters, we team up with you to save money and also benefit the environment.

Maintaining what you already have

So you don't need a shiny new tractor and your wife said no more garage sales until you mow the back yard and till the garden? Well, we can help get your existing equipment up and running, too. Spring is a great time to service your tiller, weed wacker or mower and get ready for a busy season of hard work.

Replace drive belts
Change oil and filters
Replace and gap spark plugs
Replace clogged fuel filters
Sharpen blades, tines and chains
Lube chassis and wheel bearings/bushings
Replace worn parts and safety shields/guards
Repair tires and tubes
Power wash air cooling fins on engines

A tuned up and serviced engine uses less fuel, runs cooler, lasts longer and gets the job done faster. When every dollar counts, servicing your equipment is a great way to economize and protect your investment while maintaining your property value.

Give us a call or stop by one of our convenient locations today. We're here to help!