This Year was a.....

[BC Handyman]

Now winter is over, overall how did everybody do? Did you learn anything? Any Regrets? Were you successful?

[MIDTOWNPC]

Success in every way

Seasonal contracts. Locked in for next year also
Tried out a tractor on some sites and increased the production
Good to see what it can and can't do. tractor plowed some places that were done with a skid before

Broke some stuff too

[weekendwrench]

Seasonal here, Plowed 8 times not more them 4” in a push. Last year 34 times and seasonal, Many times 6” or more in a push. I consider it a wash. It’s the game we play!

[grandview]

Would of been perfect if I didn't lose a lot month before the season started!

[merrimacmill]

Seasonal here, I'm a happy guy. Employees might not be, but the tables were turned last year as others have said..

Since we did not plow more than 4-5 times, each event seemed much more stressful and a big deal than any other year has been. We never got much practice, never got used to it, and had very little chances to prove ourselves to new customers. Each event was key for next years contracts..

[FordFisherman]

This season sucked donkey balls

[M & MD Lawn]

This was my FIRST season and it SUCKED. I only plowed once and on that event I busted a hydro line...course my inexperience, I didn't have a backup...I do know tho!.........unlike a lot of others, I paid cash for my plow, so it wasn't to bad..just hasn't made its money back, needs to earn its keep per se

[Chineau]

I spent 15 hours pushing snow yesterday and calls to do today. My 943 was acting up and did not perform so only my 250 working. Overall winter has been great converting winter folks to summer and year round packages. Learned a couple lesson and only got one screwing, yeah in the big picture there are many worse and hard ways to make a dollar.

[My bowtie]

I voted "money maker"...Not because of plowing, I NEVER droped the plow once...But with the mild winter, I did a few fence jobs and other stuff that normaly wouldnt have been possible. No I didnt make tons of cash, but I did put money in the bank....

[BC Handyman]

Originally Posted by merrimacmill

Seasonal here, I'm a happy guy. Employees might not be, but the tables were turned last year as others have said..

Since we did not plow more than 4-5 times, each event seemed much more stressful and a big deal than any other year has been. We never got much practice, never got used to it, and had very little chances to prove ourselves to new customers. Each event was key for next years contracts..

I got no seasonals & got out alot more then 5 times but I totally agree, I feel the same way. I had alot new guys and nobody got into a groove.

Originally Posted by My bowtie

I voted "money maker"...Not because of plowing, I NEVER droped the plow once...But with the mild winter, I did a few fence jobs and other stuff that normaly wouldnt have been possible. No I didnt make tons of cash, but I did put money in the bank....

Again I can relate as in Dec it was 15c here so I got to do unseasonal work

I would say I came out ahead this winter, not because of plowing but overall it was a success. I gained a few new customers & managed to stay busy in the snowless periods.
I did learn to operate my skid steer alot better & gained time saving knowledge. I even learned how to fix some things on the skid, I had a great mechanic from Bobcat teaching me things. I have no regrets!
The few accounts I didn't get were all PITA so prob for better I didnt get them. I didnt take on everybody that asked, just the ones that hopefully will be good customers & are willing to pay a fair wage for the requested work.
I even got to plow one of the biggest lots in the city one time because the reg. guy had to go to court. I tried to sign them up for the year but they wouldn't switch.

Summery for me: Successful year all around, even with below average snow(except in march). Made money, learned a few things, gained business & more of a good rep(I think) No regrets.

[blk90s13]

you should have *(%^&&$*#*@@** as one of the choices


complete disaster

[DellDoug]

I had a good year this year one of the best ever. It was a light year snow wise and we did not get any snow removal however our savings on the salt and fuel made up the difference our acquisition of the of the new sidewalk machines helped us cut the cost of doing our sidewalk work overall I had a great year.

[buckwheat_la]

Was a good year with the seasonals paying out well, however I made a lot more money last year off my per push and hourly contracts then I did this year from the seasonal ones.

[wizardsr]

This year offset last year nicely, but it was far from a success due to employee problems. I've never had as many issues with employees years past as this year, the old saying good help is hard to find certainly slapped me in the face numerous times. Made me realize though how lucky I was last year to have good help with the record year we had.

[mkwl]

Learning Experience.... learned that mother nature can be a real b***h! Only got to plow once the whole winter.... GRRRR!

[94gt331]

I learned alot from this past season. I only plowed 1 time this year. With 4 plow trucks and a skidloader sitting all year with charging per push only, I was real depressed and sort of angry being in this buisiness. Putting my finances on the line for my customers well being all 4 nothing. So I learned from this past year and decided to do some reworking with my snow buisiness for next year to keep it profitable and less stressful. I decided on getting rid of my resedential route and stick to a small commercial route that 2 guys can do and Im going to get a winter job also.

[Landcare - Mont]

Well, we're all seasonal so it was a good year for a steady income. We picked up a couple of new big contracts this year to we won't get the same money for next year. We were only out 16 times on our commercial stuff and about 20 times on our municipal road contracts, probably about 60-70 percent of an "average" year. A couple of the problems with a year like this are: Our commercial contracts have a 5-centimetre minimum, but we ended up going out for almost anything - they'll expect that service next year. There was very little in the way of extras - salting, hauling, stacking, blowing, etc.

But, overall, definitely a "money-maker". Our fiscal year ended April 30th - hopefully, the accountant's going to come up with some way to defer or otherwise "move" some of the profit; the federal and provincial governments are going to get a pile of corporate income tax this year. Sigh.

[mpriester]

it was a learning experience for me and i was able to regain the money i spent on the plow as i bought it used and paid cash for it as well as the spreader. i have no complaints.