I live in S. Texas and in 1989 I bought a burned out Ford 4400 Diesel tractor, rebuilt it, built a very heavy duty shredder, and started clearing brush and mowing fields. I used to make upwards of $8,000 a year on the side. Now that the area is developing I don't make anywhere near that. It is not a really fun job but the money is there and since I do all my own maintenance and fabrication I pocket all I make.

I am in with the city code inspector and she gives me a list of all the local property that need mowing. I contact these people, most of whom live out of town or state, and agree to take care of their lots. After that when the inspector gets a list of lots to be mowed, I just mow my customer's, copy the mow notice, and sent it to the owner as an invoice. That way there is no question about whether their lot needs to be mowed.