How to run a Snowplow Business: Red flags, pricing systems and what not to do...
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- After 33 years of snow plowing I've learned WHAT NOT TO DO! We discuss contracts, safe pricing structures, and how to avoid Pitfalls! Heres the best prices on Some of my favorite Amazon tools:
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Hey Stanley, here in southeast Missouri we havent had a real snow since 2008.But it never fails,every year in November you see people driving around with snow plows.I told them to leave the plows off the trucks so we can get some snow.Whenever we need rain,I just take the top off my Jeep.Never fails...lol
This will be my 3rd year residential plowing and you have helped me better understand my pricing and how I can improve. You are an excellent teacher I appreciate this!
Stan, I've been watching your videos for a few years now. Of all the contractors I've watched, you seem to know the most;for precision, quality, and depth of knowledge, you are the best. I figured that out while watching a video you posted about building retaining walls. It was how you kept pushing the point about using the drainage grid and NOT using weed barrier fabric that sold me. After that video, I saw tons of failed retaining walls, where guys had used the fabric. Thank you for all you do!!!
Aw that's awesome to hear!! Thanks so much Jeff, appreciate you 😀
3 year old video. Just started to run a snow plowing business here in MN. This basically helped me understand how and to go forward for next years planning. This year is basically learning how to use and start small. Nothing big yet but it is definitely a learning process. Thanks for making such an informative video and I’ll be checking out the courses you have made as well. God bless you sir! 🇺🇸🎄 Merry Christmas.
Im debating of doing the same here in MN this might be the year
@@Bumble_Bill do it! Just make sure you evaluate the property you're cleaning and make them sign a contracts /wavier. I got 20 confirmed contracts this year. Im bless to have this done. Helps me pays my bills upcoming months for sure
I watched this whole video and I live in Florida. My life is sad 😂
I'm glad you watched , thank you !!
What's funny is they use snow plows in Florida, they are great for cleaning the streets after hurricanes.
I had to laugh at your comment ! I live in the NW, North of Seattle snow's a couple times a year .not anything substantial ...I probably get more snow on my private drive then 2 miles away from being at 500 ft. helped clear a section of it for free as to help neighbors out get up hill nothing special just a small 1025 John Deere with bucket.. can't justify buying snow plow .......but ya never know thought of maybe clearing driveways and such when I retire.... always interesting to watch videos in different fields to see how they operate.....oh my occupation transport fuel.... year round job
Lol
I live in the Mohave desert! Lol🤣
This channel reminds me of spending time helping my stepfather maintain the plows when he ran the street department for our village. Was an unpaid chore for me. LOL Too young to drive the plows and have any fun.
Do a credit for next year's plowing instead of just writing a check to them at the end of the season. That way they stay with you for another year
That’s pretty cool of you to include your learning moments or “mistakes” on the job, throughout life as well as recording. Says a lot about you as a person. I also applaud you for taking the effort to offer real world business tools that my past professors forgot to touch upon and could easily destroy a business. Looks like you have a clever and hard working crew as well. That being said, gas monkey garage sucks, so uhh that’s sucks.
Thanks for the great comments!
I kind of like your pricing formulas. When I did it in central New York, Lake Effect sometime. Mostly residential, along with a couple of small commercial. I charged a flat rate, plowed at my discretion. Every couple of events I would stop by the house and collect. Or in the event they were not available I would call ahead and they would leave me an envelope. I had some really great customers when I finally had to dropout some that were uncollected all of'em chased me down to pay me. The reason for going by to collect, if there was a problem or any issue you heard about it and it got resolved before it got out of hand.
When I was doing it I always wanted a Fisher but settled for Myers as I could buy them best. I plowed with a scout and then with a power wagon.
Enjoy your videos as I'm able to catch them. Thank you. Keep on... 😜🇺🇸
Merry Christmas!
Good to hear Barry, thanks !
My favorite videos by you are snowplowing I can't get enough
Glad you like them and thanks for watching !
@@Dirtmonkey you should check out the -- Fair Snocrete Blower-- thing will eat snow /trees /cars / anything u can think of we had one on a farm I use to work at thing was amazing lol
"Theres no way to just pull in and hook up to this plow!" Exzactly. Makes them go look somewhere else for a easier plow to steal.
when i used to do snowplowing up in new york. Our boss had a set way to price stuff. Residential were priced at certain length of the driveway. a 10 foot long drive for starter was $10.00 20 foot long driveway you guessed it $20. so on and so on. Commercial was different and we got lot of Commercial business as way Boss priced it was Per Parking Space. which started at 2.00 for like normal width parking spaces and for Semi truck parking spaces it was 2.50. Granted we were ALWAYS busy in the winter. more then a few times Boss would have to call in extra Help from other companies friends he knew to come help. Boss was kind too, there was 2 senior citizen complexes in town. We would do for Free. but again pretty much all other companies around the area did the same thing. a way to give back to the Seniors
Thanks for the comments and thank you for watching !
This is my first year plowing ive been shoveling roofs and walkways, plowing is a whole other ball game. Youve been really helpful. Thanks
This is my 1st year too and this helped my anxiety. Lots of information
This is a very good intro video for those just starting out and like you said, there is a lot more involved and this is just the basic information.
I pretty much do the same exact bidding and pricing, I give each client a option for per storm or seasonal for plowing and the only hourly I do is with my machines.
Per storm is invoiced after each storm and seasonal is broke down for monthly payments.
One thing I add in my contracts is I reserve the right to suspend service if payment has not been received.
I also have one page in my contracts that covers additional services that might occur;
I left the prices blank as they would be different depending on what state and area a person is in and would charge.
Additional Costs that may occur for Seasonal Service or Per Storm Service
State Taxes will be added in the invoices for any service calls rendered
Additional Cost for Major Blizzards
Any one storm over 12.1 inches there will be additional costs:
For over 12.1 inches there will be additional cost of $000.00 every 1 inch for plowing
Extra Plowing - (service call)
If you ask us to come back the following day after we have been there and cleaned up the roadways and parking spots, there will be an additional charge for this; it will be a cost of $000.00 an hour, minimum 1 hour.
Extra Sanding for Roadways and Parking Lots - (service call)
In the event that additional sanding is needed on non-storm days for melt off from roofs, drains, etc...
Said application will cost $000.00 per application
Melt Off, Icy Conditions for sidewalks - (service call)
Salting for icy conditions on non-storm days for melt off from roofs, drains, etc...
It will be at a cost of $00.00 an hour, minimum 1 hour
Skid steer usage for clearing and relocating snow outside of normal operations- (service call)
It will be at a cost of $000.00 an hour, minimum time 2 hours. - (this is for the machine, plow trucks and spotters)
Sweeping service to clean up sand at end of season, roads and parking lots - (service call)
It will be at the cost of $000.00 dollars sand dumped on site / $000.00 if dumped off site
Any of these service calls would only be completed upon verbal orders from you or your site manager.
One thing I would add is don't underbid, if your not making a profit then what's the sense, plus it lowers the market price for everyone.
Have a great 2019 and let it snow.
Thanks for the input and have a great 2019 also!
Yes, this is a great starter video and also great to compare and see what I may or may not be doing wrong in bidding. I’m curious however why the “per push” bidding wasn’t included?
The majority of my contracts are billed each time I visit and per how much snow I push at that particular time.
I will bill them X for 0-3”, then Y from 3-6”, Z from 6-9”...then if it goes over 9” I charge per inch over 9 plus Z. Both commercial and residential customers seem to like that method and haven’t had any disputes. The way the customer sees it, with little to no snow they get their service and not paying out the nose for it and it’s easy to push an inch or two so it’s still worth my time. But if we get dumped on like in April, customers understand when they get that bill and you’re still making money.
Just a suggestion.👍
@@the-bob-fatherhe does cover that at 8:59 and he states to increase it based on inches.
And if your are referring to me, I call it per storm which is based on inches.
I don't call it per push because a client can misunderstand that to think they are only charged for each time I plow. I charge based on the amount of snowfall not the amount of times I plow/push snow.
2"-3.9"
4"-6.9"
7"-9.9"
10"-12"
I have heard of other people calling it per push and they base their price on how many times they plow/push snow at a place.
Never charge a client based on how many times you plowed, charge based on inches.
The reason is blizzards that drop more than 12 inches of snow or even larger storms that drop 8-12 inches of snow quickly -(had one storm blew in dropped 9 inches of snow in about 3 hours and was done, we couldn't go out because it had high winds and visibly was terrible, you couldn't see more than 5 to 10 feet in front you)
No way your keeping up with a storm that is dropping 2-4 inches of snow per half hour to hour unless you just have one client and you stay there and plow with the storm.
More than one client and someone is going to have more than 2 or 3 inches.
You might manage to plow everyone at least once maybe twice before it gets too bad and you have to shut down till it's over or at least slowed down enough so you can safely drive and plow.
At that point you might be plowing out a place that has say 18 inches of snow or more -(big blizzards)
If you charge for per push -(only each time you plow) then you are plowing a lot more snow for a lot less money.
That's why you charge by the inches regardless of how many times you plow.
@@the-bob-father I won't push more than 2 to 4 inches at a time and price it that way. For a 1 foot storm, they will get billed for 3 or 4 visits, all at the same rate.
So how much are you charging to do a parking lot? Didn't learn anything here. What do you charge a client based on 17-19 visits throughout the season ?? Dollars wise is what we want to know.
Hi is he responding to the question?
If you are running a plowing business this helps completely. It is up to you based off the size of the lot and how long it takes you. Most likely you will like to figure how long it takes you and figure out how much you need to get paid for that. Multiply that for 15x and you have your seasonal price.
Thank you so much! First year plowing this year for me. This helped some much. Been following for couples years now thanls for all the great information!
Thanks Jake, glad it was helpful
My uncle ran those titanium plow blocks the one year. They held up pretty well.
Liking that Western plow, Im leaning Boss over here in Ohio. Love the cabin as well.
ICE management is a whole different game brother..
Have you ever thought about using fisher snow plows? It’s 90 % of what we use up here in Maine but also it’s made completely here in Rockland Maine
Love these videos because it's all new to me. Never see snow in Sydney and the only salt we have is in the Sea. :)
Thanks Emmet, we see plenty of both here!!
Excellent video! I appreciate the information that you're sharing with us.
Thank you!
Of course! Thanks for being here & making it happen 👍
Being a municapal snow plow driver is the best scenario no bidding just drive
I agree.
Bro u got to let your workers now how u need the plows set or whatever u need done. Most people can't comprehend that type of thing haha. Good channel my guy keep up the good work.
Thank you !
We just got one of these wedge type plows for our factory truck made by Boss and I love it. Our old one was just a fixed blade, only up and down, it would not even angle side to side. But this one is infinitely adjustable. It makes plowing an entire factory parking lot and access roads enjoyable.
There are called v plows
love watching these videos in my spare time. been watching for about 2 years. and what i think most of the time is,.. when i get to the point i can just make videos all the time of crew and equipment. 20 years and i still dont have time to just film. ill never have a successful channel like you stan!. Really cool what you do. very entertaining. throw it up on my second monitor while doing work on primary monitor. I love it. Grand Rapids Michigan. West michigan! Home of the expandable and swing wing rear plows!!!!!
Thanks so much for watching Morgan !!
This is an excellent video Stanly, thank you. You didn't touch on push and pile vs load and haul, im guessing that would be covered in another video? I am also guessing some is on every event, and some would be an extra on a as needed basis?
Your guy stored your plows backwards to prevent theft.
PA Wedding Tent and Duffy Events LLC. I know fisher has electronic theft system meaning once you plug “your” truck in it will not work on another truck
Cody brown, it's so easy to get around that. I also store mine backwards and I run all fisher
If meth heads are cutting it up with a torch for scrap it doesnt matter..lol
Cody Brown, you have to setup the anti theft system. It doesn't do anything by itself. Western has the same system. They're basically the same plows, different color.
Bidding plow job
That bird is really throwing him off in the beginning 😂
When I had my plow truck I use to charge 10 in town and 15 outside of town. Of course I was only plowing for friends. That was the first year I had the plow. 2nd I had to raise to 15 in town and 20 outside of town. I wasn't getting rich but I love plowing snow so it was a hobby for me. Everyone loved the way I plowed. I didn't leave anything the driveway was always clear. I even cleaned by their mailbox and for the old folks I would shovel their steps and sidewalks. I believe in taking care of your costumers even though I was doing it as a hobby. Just made enough to put gas in my truck and a little extra. I had 2 elderly people I plowed for and if I could of afford it I would of plowed them for free. They took some time to pay me but they always paid never had a problem.
Thanks for sharing Eric, its awesome when you get to something you love. Thanks for watching!
@@Dirtmonkey you are welcome and thank you.
This is one of your better videos, IMO. I NEVER clear snow by the hour or monthly, but I do clear on a per-event basis as well as yearly. On a yearly basis, I offer both a Basic Contract and a Premium Contract. I make sure that the yearly accounts are 80% or more and the per-event accounts amount to 20% or less. (The potential customers like it - as do children - when they have more than one choice. ) When I first started ten-plus years ago, I did it only on a per-event basis, but I soon learned that I was WRONG in doing so. Again, good video. (As an aside, I do ONLY residential snow clearing, so it is slightly different than commercial.)
Thanks for the feedback Brad!
Here in Michigan we allocate 25 trips go November 1st - March 31st. If we hit 25 trips before March 31 then there is a rider on the contract that we will call continue to plow on a per trip bases and we will bill for those trips
yep. grand rapids here does. i do 22 events. dont include follow up clean up though. so unpredictable. gotta cover. Some clients dont wanna hear that. they want unlimited. and Then i question their concern and compassion for my success. No refunds for a mild winter. that just means we made out well and... you know. Ive never had a client pay for the season and pray for tons of snow so they felt like they got their monies worth. i have restaurants that pay me in full and hope it never snows. It would hurt their business. I pitch it as an insurance policy. Just because you pay for vehicle insurance monthly doesnt mean you feel you should wreck you automobile to get your monies worth...
The only good thing about putting plows in backwards during the summer is loss prevention.
I feel your pain and thanks for another great video Stan
Thx for the videos and advice man :) I’m setting up a land clearing, selling firewood and snow removal business in northern Canada 😎
That's great! Best of luck in your new business !
Love the informative videos. It doesnt matter if it's just talking or showing.
Appreciate it Jeremie, thanks !
LOL I’m going to admit I know nothing about plowing snow and no desire to do so ,but I watch all of your videos they’re at least if not more interesting ,than anything the networks are running ,LOL and I learned something ! I’m betting 1/3 of your audience is me LOL thumbs up 👍
All I have is a 12 horse wheel horse with a plow you should make a video on driveway pricing
Polar Flex blades are the best thing ever. At work at a state dot yard we get 5 to 6 years out of polar flex blade. Also we use hydraulic system called a blade saver. We get that from Monroe Truck Equipment.
Also another blade that is good is Kenimetal dowel carbide blades.
Winter blades suck no life at all.
I will add my 2 cents to this video also. I do residential snow removal. I have the same customers that I have for my mowing season. I give a rate for snow removal. What ever that rate is that rate is good for up to 6" of snow. Meaning if it is 1" or 6" it is the price I quoted. If it is more than 6" I might have to come out twice to clear the snow. I use a snow blower. No plow. But before I go out for snow removal I am watching the weather, radar and timing of the snow for anywhere from 3-5 hrs before I go out. Then I go out and start clearing the snow. When I use salt I usually double the price of the bag. It also depends on the temperature. If the temp is in the 20's I can use regular cheap salt but if the temp is lower I have to switch to a rock salt that works at a lower temp. Then if I am dealing with ice I will have to use deicer rock salt. during the winter it is not uncommon to see 20-30 bags of salt in the back of my truck and they are not the same. I don't use salt on everyone's property. Only when requested and only when needed. I clear the snow with the snow blower then I go back over the property with the shovel. Then salt if needed. This way the property is completely clear and nothing is on the ground. As you can tell I am reviewing my snow removal operations tonight. I have already been out 4 times this year. I was up all night last night for only about 1/2" but it was icing up and turning into a ice rink.
Thanks for sharing Bill and for viewing, hope you have a great season!
Thank you for your videos I do the same here in Idaho work wise and have learned alot from you. Keep vids coming
Happy to here the Chris, thank you!
A Cat 2 3-point version of the pull plow would be fantastic!
Cheaper too, use tractor hydraulics.
The talking is cool your like the teacher everyone wish they had.Also u got great teaching skills on the work field.👍keep it up brother.
Thanks so much, appreciate it !
I had contracts and cash on delivery arrangements in the 1980s when I did this for a living. Contracts were paid either full in advance or 50 percent down and balance in the spring so long as we had 12 inches or more snow that year.
always apreciate everything you have to teach us , thank you .
Thank you Michelle and thanks for watching
I am a lifelong Florida resident and watching a snow plowing video. This was very interesting and you made good points.
Paint contractor busy all year except DEC & Jan alway hungry thanks for Videos help & entertaining👍 makes watching these Videos painless ,some just to painful to watch...lmao.
Appreciate you watching, thanks !!
Love the truck bed pullplow
Yes it's a great machine
I do all residential so this would prob not work on commercial. But what we do is charge per storm per inch and expect payment before the next storm. (We only have 30 accounts but its never failed us)
so wat if you have a client that did not get pay tell the next day you had them for a while and it stomed one day let up and keep going the next they would have to pay befor the next storm
I love the see-through roof I bet it really keeps the snow out of there for you guys
I have no idea how I ran across your channel about plows and etc, but I must say your videos are very entertaining and informative! I love this videos structure about how you wove the story about bidding plans into other shots of your equipment and plows and etc. I have no real need to learn about plows and plowing, but I just really like your videos so +1 subscriber from me!
It seems I’m not getting a lot of snow removal contracts in Hawaii, don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Any advice would be great
Lol, thanks for watching anyway!
You need a better salesman
Plow the sand on the beach
Move to Alaska and you will get more than you can handle LOL
I really appreciate this video because it will be my first year in the snow removal game and I'm unsure how to bid .
Snow equipment is so much fun to work with
this is my first year in business. i'm not planning on doing contracts this winter. instead, i'm going to do on call and post storm cleanup. half tempted to go driving around after the county plows get the back roads and highways and when i see folks out shoveling, stop and offer to clear the berm left by the county. that aught to be easy money.
A quick calculation for the machinery costs of a new Ford 250 with snowplow assuming 100 hours per season including depreciation, interest, fuel, insurance, license plates, utilities, and maintenance is +/- $50 an hour which does not include driving between jobs.
Dude. I just finished plowing an event. And I totally was wearing my charger around my neck. Best way to keep tabs on it jumping in and out of trucks
Them back blades are slick but pushing in reverse is hard on the trans! Not sure about other trans but pushing in reverse will take reverse in a 4l80 out quick!
George Odbert Typically you would use a back blade to drag snow while going ahead, great for driveways & such, if you’ve also got a front blade like Stanley does you then use that to clean up the snow you’ve dragged out with the back blade. The best way to prevent trans failure is with a large external cooler, bypass the radiator completely & just run an external cooler. My trans runs 50 degrees cooler then my engine when I’m plowing.
and woudlent be like pulling a loade with your truck any way
People constantly under bid snow and ice control jobs because there is so many people at it but not everyone stays in business because of that exact problem.
Ive spent hours shoveling snow/running equipment for other past landscaping companies and trying to figure out the business end of it for myself is tricky.
Danger Will Robinson! Lost in Space was one of my favorite shows as a kid!
Brother love watching your videos especially about the snowplow "precheck"(from Naples fl in Dec) anyway one thing made me cringe when you were hooking the rear push plow. As the truck is backing up to the plow your guy is standing between the plow and a fence not a good place to be just my 2 cents. keep them coming
Thanks Eric, I appreciate the feedback!
Just recently found your channel. Its very informative and on par with a bunch of the stuff I’ve learned after 18 years in the business.
Two questions for you. What do you think of a boss htx v plow on a Jeep?
Also what kind of wheels are those on the challenger? They look awesome. Light bar on top? Sweet!
I have a bit of a formula, my rough estimate is $400/hr for how long I'd estimate to make one nice pass all inclusive, now the variable is 2" to 12" and under a 24 hr event, every extra foot or fraction is another charge. So a 15 min driveway would be 100, but that'd be a big driveway. Most of mine are all under 10 minutes and generally all what I'd call the black diamond driveways, scary to look at or have caused other contractors to loose a truck. Now being at a fixed event, if its going to be icy/slick, I don't feel bad hitting it twice or every few inches to keep the truck from bulldozing a foot of cement. Sometimes we get multiple feet of fluff or just a few inches to a foot of super heavy stuff. I'm thinking I'd not mind picking up a small parking lot just to have something flat to have fun with. Salt spreading is usually 1/2 regular price as salt is pretty expensive mid season.
Thanks for sharing and for watching !
Great video brother keep up the awesome work it will be snowing before to long brother have a great weekend
Thanks Thomas, you too !
This year we are getting lots of snow events here in Minnesota :P
I did driveways again in 2003/2004 with a Toro 117 Groundsmaster and a Warn 54” ATV blade I adapted to it. Nice customers,, average customers and then there’s the major PITA guy who is cheap, wants to be the first driveway plowed and wants it perfect. Plus he gets angry easily. I didn’t plow the next season and that PITA guy called back the next fall and it felt good to tell him NO i’m not plowing this winter.
When I had PITA customers in my lawn service I’d not renew for them the next season. Once in a while I’d drop them during the season but I’d give them notice.
Good video very informative. Great job on your videos they are well edited
Thank you Donald, appreciate it !
😆 😆 😆 ur wife face was just priceless as u was telling her what u was gonna do!
Fluid film and dielectric Grease are 2 must to keep a plow and plow eletric from rusting...
y2kxj I know dielectric grease, but what is fluid film?
use both before during and after the season... love em
Karl Armbrust
It's a spray on rust preventer. Undercoat traps moisture between it and your frame, then rots it out. Fluid film (www.fluid-film.com/) resists water, keeping away from the metal.
Spray it inside your frame rails too, to keep them from rotting from the inside. I worked in a weld shop in my 20's. I'm still friends with the owner. I just took my Jeep Wrangler in a couple weeks ago to have the front frame rails welded and he turned me onto this.
@@RobCalhounPGH Had my wifes vehicle done last fall, do you think needs done yearly or can get awat will it every few years? Lil over hundred bucks here. Obv if we hold on to vehicle 6 7 8 yrs??? Chunk of money.
@@michaelprentice9779 It's kind of a pay now or pay later. Yeah, you could save +/- $100 (I just paid $150) per year and just pay it in one lump sum when you get the frame repaired (I just paid $600 for that too). Or you can pay each year. It's up to you.
As far as getting it done every year? It depends a lot on how much you drive it and if it's still effectively shedding water. That and will what you have hold out through another season? Again, you're back to that pay now or later.
Appreciate the edumacation information!
Thank you John !
Great video with great info! Thanks Stan!
Thanks Matt!
Good one Stan. That's a lot of good info for the guys learning the bid process.
Thanks Troy!
Can’t wait for the plow videos
Winters coming! Thanks for watching
I own josh of all trades and work in massachusetts. I want to say thankyou for sharing your knowledge it has helped me as a micro small buisness owner. Thank you
Thank you, and thank you for viewing !
When I first started it as a kid on the side i had some want a contract and a set price but i talked her into prices biased on 2 inch groups and anything over 8 was time and equipment. It saved me because one storm was 12/13. Now as a busy that’s most of my accounts
Watching from Houston. Hoping to start my plowing business here
Thanks for watching and best of luck to you !
Hopefully you mean Houston, MN, and not Houston, TX lol
I liked it. I'm a Commissioner for a Town in Delaware. I'm in charge of telling our Plower when to plow. We don't get a lot of snow, but we get a lot of mixed events. What should I consider in my decision for our plower to plow even if it doesn't snow that much? The minimum is 3 inches. Yet, we get a lot of ice events, sleet, etc..
interesting video, i work in the motor grader industry and make blades of all sorts, so i know what your doing with them and equipment. the products we make are much larger and heavy duty, we produce for Caterpillar mainly
Thanks Bob, appreciate it
Just recently found your videos. Very good information, filming, content and some entertainment on the side. Thanks
Awesome! Glad you found us !
I like the talk! Attention span and patience are in short supply these days
Thanks James!
The first thing you need is snow here in Kansas City last four or five years the most we’ve had was to 3 inches at a time
hey stan . just courious do you help out some of the elderly when you see them shoveling and you have time? i guess i do when i have the time. ive done that for years since i was a kid. plowing with a 16 horse garden mark garden tractor that was made by simlicity in 1966.that was way back in my grade school days.
Don’t I wish we got 12-15 events on average. Without that storm last April, it would’ve been a crappy season. Even now, I haven’t plowed more than 4” for a customer and that was before it turned over to rain. Even now in MSP it’s too warm and our precip will stay rain. In January!!
Only thing that’s brought in good money so far is salting properties. Didn’t see any videos on that. If you’re knowledgeable on them, would definitely love to know more on bidding those, techniques and maintenance. 👍
Great idea, thanks for the suggestion !
I live in the MSP area....looks like last part of January, all of February and first weekend of March are making up for it.
I am a customer. I have my contractor plow my driveway no sooner than 24 hours and no later than 72 hours if there is 6" or more of snow and the weather forecast for the next few days will not melt the snow.
Why? because I work at home and have a 4 wheel drive truck. If there is more than 6" of snow and it is not going to melt, I do not want to shovel it my 200' driveway and parking area. And as I do need it done right away, my guy puts me at the bottom of his list and he will get to me if/as needed. This way, my plow guy has a job when all his other jobs are done and I get a very good rate.
My point is, not all of us need our areas plowed to operate our business. With a little bit of horse-trading, you can pick up extra jobs when the big jobs are done.
Good comments Frank, thanks !!
I would not have you as a customer. Everybody wants alacarte and it's a pain in the arse. I have a simple rule. Price the job for every two to four inches and if my town is plowing, I'm plowing. If I show up at your house and your house/lot, you get billed.
Larry Fine I agree with you, he can use his snow blower or shovel , I think it’s what some one would call he’s a cheapskate
Good stuff, this is the hardest part of any business & exactly where most screw up. Is that a bird in the background lol?
Where do you keep equioment when your not using it example in winter when you dont use the big excavator i think that you showing us that will be a good video give the people what they want and show us the boneyard but part by part, good videos anyway keep it up
Glad I found your channel, we are an established construction company in western Canada which is expanding into property maintenance
Signed a 4 year deal recently for a big institutional client, excited to check out your additional info on your webpage
My per/plows are based on an hourly rate that includes drive time from the last or nearest account + a trip fee. The per/ plow is up to a certain time (depending on the account), with overages billed in 15 minute increments @ 25% of the hourly rate. I have considered asking for a non-refundable sum equal to 2 plows per month, Dec-March to cover "dry" spells. Then each of those months, the first 2 plows would be pre-paid (unless there is an overage).
I came up with this system because of 3" wet and heavy that plows harder than 12" of champagne powder. The forecast vs actual measurable snow varies wildly in my coverage area, and I've watched too many guys being accused of using the "plow guy's ruler" where 1.5" is billed as 4+". Northern MI
Great job. Thanks for the tips.
Thanks Shane !
She loves being on video LOL
THANK YOU FOR THE INSIDE TIPS...
No problem, thanks !
be smart and make dollies to move them around...I have one on my plow when Im not using it and I can move it as I please
Brother you helped so many people and it is a blessing that you are on CZcams a man's Channel well and hard-working women as well I don't care if it is a marker all the way up to Big equipment you cover it all and everybody loves your snow plow videos can't wait to see that Dodge and action hell yeah I hope you like it we got to know and you rock on brother you and Momma and the family hey we would like to see some of that bird in the videos I don't want to say parrot or parakeet if it's not I don't really know birds that well but I know they're cool have a good with man thanks a ton for all the great videos👊👊👍👍👍🤙🤙
is that tree leaning @1:41 in your video going to fall over and smash your house when it gets loaded with snow.. how about cinching up a chain around the triple trunk tree 15 feet up to stop it from spreading outwards when it gets snow covered.
Awesome channel. I’m from the upper peninsula of mi I’ve been plowing commercially for 20+ years I usually estimated for a 6” drop , how long it will take for a 6” drop, and run one price for all events I make more money sence going to this system and the customers love one rate not trying to figure out different rates. I may loose money on 1 or 2 events but overall with the majority of 2-3” drops I make out many times over.
Great post, I charge if I return after the first time in a 12" snowfall on the same day and I have lost some money by not charging enough--- lesson learned
Thanks Steve and thanks for viewing.
I drank some beer with a guy in Calumet while I was UP there snowmobiling. He plowed and charged monthly. $125/mo. no limits on the snow. He also plowed for the county. This was in 2017'
I just watched this lol love it. Thank you. Love your channel
Block up those blades when working under neither, can create some serious damage when it comes down, but you probably wont know it if it happens.
Quite informative thank you I will be following you and watching more of the videos
Really appreciate it Derek, thank you !
Wow did you really just throw in a Lost in Space reference there Stanley?
You're right if the plows are facing the other way ANYBODY can roll up and drive away with the plow in just a few moments, so yeah you're helping those thieves out. Your so awesome helping those thieves out and make it easier to get your stuff. \
Gene R M at the place I used to work at, we would have the plows pointed so the trucks could just come up and hook onto them but in the off season we’d store all of our snow boxes creating a kind of layered boxlike formation around the plows so nobody could steal them. During the winter we never worried about it cause we just left them on the trucks.
Not sure that’s a valid concern for Western plows. Not much chance a thief would have a mount and control harness on his truck which matched the plow.