Tom's McLean Service

Tom's McLean Service
Memorabilia:
Artifacts from Tom's McLean Service over it's 40-years in business

(Click Image to Enlarge)
May 1958 calendar page, with hand written labor records for the month. This was found behind a wall during the remodeling. Sharpening was the most popular service,
with prices as follows: Power reel mower was $9.00, hand (push type) was $4.00, rotary mower was only $2.00. A tune up cost $6.00 plus parts.

Form for parts sales, circa 1970s

These are from the 1960s, may have been used as repair tags

May 1970: The most common repair tag, with triplicate copies and a detachable claim check. This was tied to the mower being serviced. This form was also used for sales of new equipment. This particular repair order was for a scheduled pickup of a Toro riding mower, written by Tom Corner. It was obviously cancelled, since the repair portion was never completed.

Saturday, March 24, 1973: Customer copy, completed repair order for a tune up on a Toro lawnmower. The name and address were completed by the customer, the description of repair and date were completed by the counterman. Harry Baker did the tune up; his initials are in the box, and I recognize his handwriting from when I worked with him over a decade later.

October, 1982: Customer copy, completed repair order for a warranty repair on an Ariens snowblower, which was picked up.
Jack Wright did the repair. I picked up the machine (the "E" in the upper left corner). The repair order was probably written by myself.

April, 1983: Same customer had an electric start kit installed on his Ariens

November, 1984: Customer copy, completed repair order for a Hechinger push mower. The tune-up labor was $44.00 (up from $6.00 in 1958), but also included sharpening.
This was the most common service at Tom's , where thousands of push mowers were repaired over its 40 year existence. Repair order written by Tom Corner, work completed by Ernie.

Dated October 5, 1974; hours worked by employees "Brian" and "Doug" (perhaps Brian Volz and Doug Gray?). They worked after school during the weekdays,
and all day on Saturday, Brian made $2.00 per hour, Doug was paid $1.75 per hour. Tom hired many of the local high school kids from Langley and McLean.

Mid-1970s: Winter sales and service specials were offered to boost off-season business, and encourage customers to beat the spring rush.

Late 1981; Another winter service special. Typically, this would generate a lot of business. We would then have so many
completed mowers piled up during winter,that we had to call people and ask them to please pick up their mowers to make more room.

THE COMPETITION

Numerous stores competed for the lawn mower business as is seen in this compilation page culled from the 1964 McLean Community Directory.
Most of the hardware stores all sold or serviced lawn mowers. McLean Hardware contracted repair work to Lane's in Arlington, and sometimes to Tom's also.
Note how Tom's is the only shop listing factory authorized service. Tom, and the mechanics working for him, went to a lot of service schools.

1967: Allen's Hardware sold this Ariens snowblower on a Thursday, when the temperature reached 58-degrees in the DC metro area.

Another compilation of ads from the 1972-73 McLean Community Directory shows little change in the field. Lane's on Old Dominion drive was the newcomer,
selling John Deere and Stihl. Later, McIntyre Hardware opened in the Kaul building, selling Toro mowers, as did Dart Drug store on Chain Bridge Road (now Total Wine).

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7/18/2021 (revised 05/31/26)