Hard yards for ‘old-school’ teen
Jayden Tibby might be New Plymouth’s most old-school contractor and he’s just 15.
Tibby, who rocks a leather cowboy hat and Red Band gumboots, started his own lawn-mowing business, Tibstas Lawn Mowing, two years ago, and he’s a common sight around the suburb of Moturoa on his way to and from jobs.
Despite his age, he is an old soul at heart. He prefers using a push mower to a rideon as it gives him time to think, and he listens to music from the 1950s like The Everly Brothers that others his age would never have heard of.
“They’re just so catchy,” the Spotswood College student said.
He rides his 10-speed bike to jobs with all the equipment stacked up on a trailer attached to the back.
He dipped into his savings and some Christmas money from his grandparents to buy the trailer, which he got for a good price. “It was $300 on Temu,” he said proudly.
He’s not always looking for a bargain. His equipment includes a Ryobi mower, edger, weed whacker, and leaf blower.
“Once I found a good brand, I stuck with it because it will last me a long time.”
He did have to break from Ryobi once, when the power edger was proving a bit too powerful and eating into his client’s concrete. Tibby now uses a traditional foot-powered grass edger to ensure a tidy finish.
He also inherited a ride-on mower from his nan Lyn Fraser, who he lives with.
But that’s in the shop getting fixed at the moment.
He currently has five clients and said he does things the “oldfashioned way” that he learnt from watching others.
He doesn’t charge by the hour, for instance, but sets his price according to how long it has been between cuts and how big the lawn is.
“They’ve got my phone number and they text me or I see they need doing and we negotiate,” he said.
Fraser wants him to save his money, especially as they have a family trip coming up to Rarotonga for a wedding, but Tibby finds it hard.
There are too many good online shopping options and junk food, he said.
“I’ve been taught to spend your money on the important things and then get your junk food and what not,” he said in his careful, measured manner.
“So I pay for petrol and batteries and then drinks for when I’m out biking.”
If he’s not riding his bike to jobs, he’s getting a ride from his nan, who was overtly very proud of her grandson.
Fraser said she had encouraged him to get out and work and “do the hard yards”.
She had started a savings account for him to help him achieve his goals. “Rarotonga is a big holiday for us.
“He’ll do deep-sea fishing and swimming with the turtles over there.”
When Tibby leaves school, he hopes to be a farmer or a truck driver.
Fraser said he’d always been a good driver and could already back her trailer into the driveway perfectly.
“He’s always been great at parking in small spaces; he had a tractor and trailer as a little fella and would drive it around all the time.”
Tibby can be contacted through Tibstas Lawn Mowing on 027 607 1749.