With the anticipated arrival of spring and the busy landscaping season, now is a great time to evaluate the state of your tools. How sharp are your loppers and pruners? Do your shovels still have dirt from last season caked on them? Have your cutters’ pivot points rusted over?

Taking an inventory of your tools will help you hit the ground running once spring green up is here. Knowing how to maintain and care for tools is great, but understanding why keeping your tools sharp, clean and healthy is just as important. Here are four reasons to make tool maintenance part of your routine.

1. Safety first

You may think a dull tool is safer to handle than a sharp one, but that’s not necessarily true. Tools that aren’t well maintained can cause you and your crew harm.

Dull shovels, cutters, pruners, hoes and more can force your crew to use excess force and have the tools slip from their grip, causing accidents on the job site. Also, blades that are chipped could break and cut or injure someone.

2. Ease of use

Tools that are well cared for, sharp, oiled and still in ideal working condition make a difference on the job site.

Remember how much easier it was to dig a trench with a brand new trencher? Or how quickly a new pruner cut through branches? By maintaining the health of your tools, you can keep that ease of use lasting a lot longer, helping your crew work faster and more efficiently. Faster, easier work means your team can move onto the next job sooner, increasing your business and success.

3. Stop the spread of infestations

An important step in tool maintenance is cleaning and sanitizing the tools from job to job. Dirty tools can potentially spread disease or introduce unwanted organic matter to another job site, causing you issues and callbacks to the job site after you’re done.

Save time and hassle by wiping your tools with alcohol or other disinfectants after each job.

4. Replace when needed

Eventually your tools will need to be replaced and the weeks leading into spring is a great time to set your crew up for success with new tools.

Not only will you be ready for a busy season ahead of time, stocking up now means you can save with Ewing’s tools promotion. Buy in bulk on the tools you’ll need this season and save!

Stop by your local Ewing store to shop, save and have a successful spring season!