Looking for some advice. You guys that do snow in the winter would be best. Dawn, are you out there. I am jumping into larger lots for plowing next year. These are parking lots that I will not be able to do with my pick up and trying to decide what to do. 1) Do I buy, rent or lease a back hoe or loader? 2) How much more do I have to pay workers per hour because it will be at night and very cold? 3) how big of a loader and how big of a pusher 4) How do you get all this done in the 8 hr window you have, bigger is better but cost more? 5) Once you are set up with the correct equipment getting the next big one will easy 6) Do you move the pushers or just move the loader and have pusher at each location. The work that I am quoting on is being done by one contractor and he also has a very large customer about (around 20 square miles of plowing) 30 miles away so he was not able to do these three that I am working on. I would say that total area is about 2.5 square miles. The parking lots include one factory, one grocery, and one Home Center all on the same street. These would all be my contracts, they are all getting a new company. Two of the locations I have a very good idea what the price was for this year. Any help on any of these questions or any help on anything else I should be thinking about. Thank you
One thing to keep in mind when people say bigger is better is that it is not always true. When it comes to large loaders and snow, the bigger loaders do not handle very well. I would say the biggest loader you could use would be a Cat 966 (or similer brand) any bigger and the loader will be a handfull to move around on a slick surface. If your worried about paying alot of money out on a fairly new loader, then take a look at a Cat 966C, they have a very good reputation and you can find one in good shape at a reasonable price. As far as the other questions you have I am sure someone here can help you, I my self just do driveways and appartment buildings and have yet to do anything really big yet. But soon I hope.
most guys here that i know of the they pay there guys the same rate as they normally get,as for 8hr day forget that you get done when its done ointhead i've been out for 4 hrs(MIN) for a dusting to 55hrs for 3ft:Banghead . if it was me seeing how u don't already have a loader or backhoe i'd rent one for the winter and maybe buy a pushbox,and just move the combo from lot to lot. it will be snowing anyway there wouldn't be much traffic to deal with when roading the machine. i'd say a loader the size of a cat 950 should be nice with a 12 or 15ft. at that last company i worked they used a 966 with a20ft box but that box stayed in that lot, when they got done with that lot they left the box and went to the next one:my2c