Hi everyone new to the forum, Im a grader operator in wichita kansas. I have ran just about all equipment batam hoe ,dozers,backhoes, skid steers, trenchers,dump truck , semis, scrapers and so on, 35 yrs experience. I also have a company "Leachrod" this is a tool that installs edges on heavy equipment graders, snow blades ,swing arms and v plows . I love the heavy equipment industry, and playing with the equipment daily. I have a 140m2 cat at present time, my main work is keeping county roads clear and graded. also rework ditches and culverts to provide proper drainage thru out our township. I am in central standard time zone. well thats enough about me. hope to talk to you soon
Welcome leachrod, glad to have you!
Thank you sir, I see your in Idaho. I would think you have plrnty of snow, none here in centrsl ks yet. Have all snow equipment ready but haven't had much in two years so might need to paint it to get rid of rust. Have a gret day
We have quite a bit in the mountains, but not much in the valleys as of yet. Snowpack = irrigation water, so nobody complains about lots of snow in the mountains here. I have looked into providing snow removal services for commercial properties here, but it is a tough game. A fair bit of expense is required to be prepared to do it properly and you may plow as little as three times all winter, ar as much as three times a week some winters. I think it would be hard to price as well. If you charge per occasion you will go in the hole bigtime if you only plow three times in the winter, and if you charge per month you will go in the hole if it ends up being three times a week. Perhaps a per occasion fee with a monthly minimum is fair to all.
Leachrod, since you are a blademan there is a thread on the forum under the Motor Grader section entitled Motor-Grading Techniques that you may find fascinating. The thread started in 2009 and has contributions from some very experienced operators, some of whom (Randy Krieg I think is the name) actually worked for Caterpillar for a while producing the operators handbook. Really good stuff in there, but don't start unless you have some time. I came upon it about 10:00 one night and spent all night reading it!
Yes thats a hard decision, most of the commercial properties here pay a yearly fee to have so . . On call and don't have to start calling to find an available company maybe that would be something you could do there. I believe. They sell on 1 st one on list and so on. Something to think about and helps offset time not needed but still have equipment
Thanks I will check it out.
Good idea. I haven't pursued it much as we sometimes end up with winter projects ( one starting mid January ) away from town. Makes commiting difficult.