Larkpine Lending Group, a small-business funding service in Iowa City, IA, explains funding for landscaping and lawn care companies: equipment financing for mowers, trucks and trailers, lines of credit for crew payroll and materials, and buying an existing route. Johnson County landscaping counts come from Census County Business Patterns 2023.
At a glance
- Landscaping employer sites, Johnson County, IA, CBP 2023
59
- Under five employees
67.8%
- Paid employees
410
- Landscapers without payroll (2024)
163
- Structures to compare
Equipment loans and a credit line
Can you finance a lawn mower? Yes, and trucks too
Yes. Commercial mowers, from walk-behinds to zero-turns and stand-ons, are financed as equipment, secured by the machine. So are trucks, enclosed and open trailers, skid steers, aerators, spreaders and hardscape tools. Dealers may offer their own financing; compare it with a partner's offer on total cost, not just the monthly payment.
Lawn care equipment financing for used machines is possible with an hour-meter reading and a condition report. The equipment financing page explains loans versus leases.
Crew payroll and materials
Residential clients may pay at service or monthly; commercial and property-management clients may pay on invoice terms. Mulch, stone, plants and fuel are bought up front for installs. A line of credit drawn for payroll and materials, repaid as invoices clear, matches that cycle better than repeated one-time loans.
See the line of credit page for how draws and repayment work.
How much does it cost to run a lawn care business? Cost per crew-hour
We do not publish a figure. The main costs are equipment payments, fuel, crew wages, insurance and materials for installs. Track cost per crew-hour from your own records: total those costs for a month, divide by crew-hours billed, and compare with what you charge. A funding request built on that figure gives a partner more to read than a general estimate.
How to buy a lawn care business or route
A route purchase is mostly customer contracts plus equipment. Partners look at contract terms (renewable? transferable?), how long customers have stayed, the equipment's condition and the seller's revenue records. A term loan with seller financing for part of the price is a common shape; working capital covers the transition months.
The term loan page explains acquisition financing, and the working capital page covers the transition.
Illustrative arithmetic: adding a crew
Illustration only, not an offer: a company adds a two-person crew with a $14,000 zero-turn, a $9,000 trailer and a used truck at $28,000. The equipment is financed separately; the first month's payroll for the crew, about $8,500, comes before the crew's first invoices are paid. That first-month payroll is the line-of-credit draw.
Johnson County, IA landscapers in Census figures
Johnson County, IA had 59 landscaping services employers in 2023 (NAICS 561730), with 410 paid employees and about $19.2 million in annual payroll; 40 of them (67.8%) had fewer than five employees (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Nonemployer Statistics 2024 counted 163 landscaping businesses without paid employees (NAICS 2022 code 56173). The county also had 32 janitorial services employers, another crew-and-route business.
Landscaping sits alongside contractors on the construction and trades page. Johnson County, IA figures: Iowa City, IA page.
What partners usually review for landscapers
- Revenue by month
- Commercial contracts and their payment terms
- Equipment quotes and the age of the existing fleet
- Existing equipment payments
- Insurance certificates partners may ask to see
Questions a landscaping company should answer first
- How old is the fleet, and which machines are due for replacement?
- What share of revenue comes from commercial contracts, and on what payment terms?
- How much material is bought ahead for installs?
- Do you have dealer financing on existing equipment, and on what terms?
- How many crews ran last year, and how many will run this year?
Those answers usually point to the mix of equipment financing and a line of credit that fits.
Install work versus maintenance routes
A maintenance route can bring regular revenue and small, frequent costs. Install and hardscape jobs bring larger invoices and large materials bills up front. A company doing both should keep them apart in its request: equipment financing for the fleet, a line for install materials and payroll.
By Larkpine Lending Group · Updated