Young Business Owner is a Cut Above with Bobcat Mowers

At the age of 11, Cody Kuebler decided it was time to start a business. The hardworking and ambitious youth from Grimes, Iowa, asked his parents for a lesson on mowing the lawn. Once he got the hang of the family’s 21-inch push mower, he started knocking on doors to find customers. A summer job mowing neighbors’ yards is a familiar way for a motivated young man to get his start. But what Cody turned it into — aided by Bobcat® equipment and talented employees — is a remarkable example of his entrepreneurialism.  

“It just never ended,” Cody says with a laugh, thinking about his childhood summer job. He now owns CLK Lawn Care and Landscaping, a business with 18 employees and a fleet of Bobcat machines, including five compact track loaders, two mini track loaders, and most recently, two stand-on zero-turn mowers. It is an impressive lineup for a 22-year-old business owner. 

Standout Service 

“One of the things about walking into a dealership to buy a loader at 20 years old is a lot of people won’t take you seriously,” Cody says. But the local Bobcat dealership in Des Moines, Iowa, was an exception and earned his loyalty from the start. “Capital City Equipment put me with a sales rep right away, and he gave me the time of day, showed me the specs and let me demo the machines.” 

He continues to call the same sales representative for every new purchase. 

Mow Town 

CLK Lawn Care and Landscaping focuses on commercial clients, offering new construction installations and lawn care to maintain those properties going forward. The need for new equipment continues to grow as the operation expands. In early 2024, Cody decided to invest in mowers to match the rest of his Bobcat machines. He bought two ZS4000 zero-turn stand-on mowers. 

“They’re quick. They’re efficient. The stand-on mower design is very useful for what we do,” Cody says. “The way the motor sits over the deck disperses the weight really well.”  

A few months into their first season with the new machines, his employees noticed the difference. “They’re great machines, and they’re safe,” says Alex Galan, a CLK employee. “That really shows up in places with inclines and places that are difficult to access.”   

Mowers are among the latest equipment offerings at Bobcat, but they stand on the legacy of machines that customers have trusted for generations. “Bobcat makes a great machine, and it’s the customer service that keeps me buying from Capital City Equipment,” Cody says. 

Learning Experience 

Hard work, curiosity and a willingness to learn have been the foundation of Cody’s success. It goes beyond projects and equipment to include the people he works with every day. 

On a gravel road in rural Iowa, a few customized flags hang from the shop wall. They depict the United States flag on one half, and the other half represents the home country of his employees. “We’re a very multicultural company,” Cody says. “We’ve got guys from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Colombia. We spread a lot of culture around here!” 

Cody learned to speak Spanish not only to communicate with his employees but to embrace who they are as people. They spend evenings and some weekends together, sharing each other’s cultures and food. 

Learning to operate a push mower as an 11-year-old boy led much more than a summer job. It became the training ground for Cody to learn about hard work, starting a business and building relationships by embracing different cultures. And to think, this world of experiences all began by mowing a neighbor’s backyard.