I know of you guys plow snow in the winter when work slows down. I was just wondering that you charge an hour for a pickup truck with a plow? What do you charge an hour for hand shoveling? Things are going to be tight this winter for dirt work so everyone need to be creative to help subsidize their imemployment. If you respond pleace put down price with area of the country. Jake
Plowing snow is a desperate mans work. We let the concrete guys and landscapers cut each others throats just to keep their guys busy. Now saying that we do some snow removal, but it's large scale. Like digging out stuck trains, cleaning blocked sidings and stuff like that with dozers and excavators and loader cats. Usually charge 20% over the machines hourly rate just because it's usually pretty brutal conditions, and to give the operators a little bonus.
Desperate???? I think not!! I'm not going to publish the rates I earn with my equipment, including the trucks, but it's well over double the rate I make during the construction season. I typically earn more money during our 3 months of winter than I do the remaining 9 months of construction.
Yea you can make decent money with a truck and a plow in the winter, it takes 2-3 minutes to plow a city driveway.
plowing is blood money. that being said, i love it. 35 foot big blades at ohare or a grader at the rail yard, it is all good.
snow is where the money is, you can clean a yard and then it snow again and you do it again. in the great white north, we work more in the winter then in the summer thansk to snow. also in the summer we don't work when it gets to +34C, it is way too hot, but we work at -34C no problem because that is where the money is. also in the summer we work on the equipment and get ready for snow, we love snow and can't wait for snow. thansk KoO Published Author
I took care of 2-5 shopping centers a year for about twelve years. All of them were no more than fifteen minutes from the yard which was great if you needed another piece or had to fix something. I found some of the best $$$ was in the salting and sanding part of the storm. If it took us six to ten hours with four or five trucks to clean the lots, it would only take two hours to sand and salt them with one or two trucks for about the same amount of money. Plus we would sand lots for other people on a regular basis to add to that revenue. Loved those icy nights!! ......Gave those lots all up when I was having trouble getting drivers for snow work, especially at night. PLUS..Going on vacation was never an option. Now we put the loaders out for hire if needed and sell salt and sand to contractors during storms. It barley snows anymore down here anyway it seems. :beatsme Jake, Around here it seems alot of guys will charge a minimum per push for lets say 6" or less, than another price for 6-9, 9-12 etc. Then, sand and or salt by the application and loaders by the hour. The other method around here, mostly for condo complexes, is get paid one figure if it snows or not. Sometimes you win, other times you lose. I know some guys that got killed some years because you'd have to low bid to get the job in the first place. ointhead
I just wonder if these Co's & retails will pay for snow removal ? with the economy in the crapper, fuel so high I wonder if they'll pony up the $$$$$ ?
They will. The savings that they would get would be negated by the lawyers suing for a slip and fall accident. The hardest part may be finding salt depending on your location. By the time you figure in insurance, your fuel costs, you driver, and your wear and tear on truck/equipment, I dont think its worth it to pull out of the driveway for less than $60. I know of several guys in my area that were getting $70 an hour for trucks last year, and around $100 an hour for a backhoe with a snow pusher.
yea they have to do something with the snow.
I don't know about a desperate mans work but here in Va. with a tandem or greater size dump truck to plow and drop sand we get 115.00 a hour from the State Dept of Transportation. I have been plowing for 10 years for them. I love it getting paid around the clock as long as you are on call suits me just fine for myself and my 3 trucks. I will say this there is alot involved with snow plowing though you have to account for breakdowns equipment repairs as well as do you have someone to take over your customers if you cant complete the work. If anyone has questions on plowing shoot me a PM if you like I have a wealth of knowledge on it.
I try not to bid on Locations such as business by the hour I try to get them to give me a flat rate for some many inches of snow each time i come out to remove it but this is also due to my experience with it and knowing how long it takes and having the equipment to do so but I am listing my general prices below. Pickup $70.00 an hour used for banks and other small businesses Tractor/bobcat/backhoe $100.00 an hour Dumptrucks whatever the state is paying now $115.00 an hour
I know the town I live in contracts alot of its work out, and its not good money, but its enough to pay the bills int he winter.
Montana Department of Transportation snow plows: Well I did take my camera. Gps read out of my shift. A grader.... We have five plow trucks... 2 Internationals... Ford LT 8000, I think... A Sterling... and guess what? LOL... an Autocar. The A-Car has an 855 cummins... with a 13 speed under drive ... Any one ever seen that type tranny?? It's a rather odd configuration IMO. When I first started with the state, 15 years ago... , that's the the truck I drove most of the time... mainly because it was one of the only 2 tandems they had. The other tandem was a GMC Top Kick, ( I think that's what it was called, anyway ) about like an over size pickup.... It was not... LOL But I digress... I thought some body had fooled with the splitter button, and hooked the air lines up backwards... I was about ready to switch the lines, until I read the placard.... Yup, 15 speed under drive .... They're actually some what akward...IMO And now, I have to go in to the State Shop... right now. OCR...
I used to plow snow when I'd get laid off in the winter. I dont worry about it to much anymore!
Montana Department of Transportation snow plows: Well, thank you LowBoy. Couple corrections to my post: Ford LT 8000... should read, Ford L 8000. Should read 13 speed under drive. OCR...
Nice pictures OCR! Does the wing setup on the body work well? Ours are mounted up front. With the body mount I would think it would work really well with an underbody plow(underslung we call it). The wing would catch the snow/slush from the underbody plow. Have you tried both types of wing set up? If so which one do you prefer?
That's OK OCR...I figured it out way before the correction anyways.
I don't get it...what exactly is an under drive and how does it work?
Didn't think it would work...LOL "Rooster Tail"... off left side of plow... passing lane... I-90... About 45 MPH. Just held camera out drivers side window... And now to bed, so I can go again tonight... :waving OCR Didn't think it would work... and it didn't... not very well any way... I'll bet MDT just loves me doing something like that.... :nono... I had one hand on the steering wheel, though...
Cool pic
Send some of that stuff over this way will ya? Trails open on the 16th.:woohoo
stretch, in the "trucks" thread there's an explaination of what an underdrive is...
Better put the heavy Carhartts on!!! I'll keep the snow Lowboy... and you can have this... (pun)... actually not cool... down right cold... Weather Conditions for: WOLF MOUNTAIN, MT (WWMM8) Elev: 5217 ft; Latitude: 45.3131; Longitude: -107.1719 Time 14 Dec 1:18 am Temp. -20 (f) Wind Chill -47 (f) Here's the link, but I copied and pasted the time and low temps., because it updates about every hour... and they fall off the bottom of the page. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?wfo=byz&sid=wwmm8&num=24&table=1 It was a cold sucker, I'll tell you... especially when you just jump out to check something... with out your coat on... it doesn't take long to "check"... LOL I really doubt a guy could live even half an hour... if something happened, and all you had on was a shirt and pants... I shudder, even to think about it... ... Burrrrr. And no... I didn't stick my arm out the window to take any pictures... Well, happy sledding, LowBoy... and be safe... ya' hear.... OCR
My best contract for the past couple years never even called me back about my bids and they have not salted this yera & we have had 2 ice incidents. The best part is that these are gas stations & the reason people prefered thes over other sis that they were kept super clean during snow & now they are losing business. The store managers have called me wanting to know when we will be there to salt & I kindly explain I am not doing it this year.
Montana Department of Transportation snow plows: Well Grader4me... I just spent about an hour typing up a post about wings and belly plows... and then lost my connection... hence the entire post. I don't know what causes that... I must be too slow... But here's a picture from the other night... even though taken at night...this is exactly what it looked like through my windshield... I was parked at the Montana/Wyoming border... Had to stop on I-90 about 5 times and wait for a break in the blizzard... then it was about 5 miles an hour... nasty... Had my lights on too! OCR
Sometimes if I'm typing a long post it will time out on me. When I click submit a box will come up asking me to log in. After I log in again I hit the back arrow to my post, click submit then it will go through. When you're plowing in storms like that it sure gets the adrenalin flowing! We had to call our plows off the road a couple of weeks back. Couldn't see two feet in front of you. Be interested in reading your post that was lost..get busy on that keyboard! lol
Here is a new twist on snowplowing. I don't normally do alot of it, mostly just hate the wear and tear on the equipment, but this year, figured I should keep busy, who knows what next year will bring in the building business. So normally I have a couple small shopping centers, a church parking lot, some driveways. I don't advertise, these are just customers I never "fired". Well this year, I start getting phone calls about plowing. I know some guys have gone under, so ok. Finally I asked where the people got my name, and some dude broke up with his babe, and she has been giving me referrals when they call him. I don't know if she knows it or not, but I got business of his all the time in the building season, he has alot of jobs that I get to do-over. I know he doesn't care for us, we charge more and still get more jobs, but don't know if she knows that. I guess the guy is as much a jerk in his personal life as he is on the job. Anyways, work is work. Gotta love that woman, I want to fix her up with another competitor.
I have plowed snow for the last 9 years and find it to be a fun and exciting job. Enjoyed the pictures.
went to snow and ice training any of you guys pre wet you salt or roads we dont and the way they reacted when i said something was they didn't want to screw with even trying it
I've worked for the local county highway authority and we have prewet our salt for over 40 years. Initially with on-board tanks but that was in the days before poly pipe and tanks - bad news. We went to spraying the load after the truck was loaded. In the past few years we are adding on-board tanks again AND prewetting the load on the truck after it's loaded. "The wetter the better' for instant melting when the salt hits the road. We use liquid calcium chloride for prewetting material. IL DOT probably has the best program to imitate.
I was wondering what would be a decent cost average for a winter plowing job, the road I'm to plow is 8/10's of a mile pretty straight only one hill to worry about, I plow on average every 4" or so, I been burnt in the past and want to give an upfront price before My cutting edge hits the ground this year.
I'm looking to lease a loader near Cleveland for a snow account I have there. I don't want to buy; i'd rather lease. If anyone knows of rental companies around there or wants to try to work out a deal, PM me, or email me at [email protected] Thanks!