Plowing Roads

[GeoffD]

Ok Bryan and some other's have brought up the subject of plowing roads. Ok 20% of my business is plowing private roads, 99% of them are paved. <p>Posistive Aspects of plowing roads.<p>It is easier on the truck and plow.<br>You never plow more than 3&quot; in a visit.<br>You always sand/salt.<br>There isn't much turining around or backing up.<br>You only need a regular plow. Because you are just casting the snow to the side. No V-Plow needed. <br>It is easy and quick to plow.<br>You often can pick up 20+ driveways on the road. <br>Negative Aspects <p>You have to plow every 3&quot; only it doesn't take long.<br>You have to plow off the sholder the first few storms to keep the road wide.<br>A wing would make everything better.<br>A snow delfector is a must, unless you want go 5 MPH when you can go 20 or 25.<br>You need a plow with a deep curve ( ie Diamond)<br>You will burn up a cutting edge fast. 1 or 2 perseason depending on your location and amount of snowfall.<p>Ok private roads have worked well for me. I have plowed them for years with just an F 350 then in 99 A F 550. Now i use a F 650 with a 10' blade, which is a real time saver. One trip up the road one trip down the road. With a 9' it is often 2 times up 2 times down. On some roads we plow every driveway that comes off the road. We don't plow the driveways with the road truck, the F 650 does 12 private roads a storm, plus some parking lots. Then a pick up plows the driveways. Anyways it's is easier on the truck and plow. It does require some special equipment, but is a great business to be in.<p>Geoff<p>

 

[John DiMartino]

Thanks for the info,Goeff.I used to plow a Developement road system with my Dodge,only about 2 miles and I bought the snowfoil for my Fisher and it really worked great for that job.It is only a 7 1/2 FT blade so I has to go 3 trips each way to do the shoulder too,it sure wears on a blade fast,and ouch! those speed bumps really hurt when you forget about them.That'll wake you up at 3 am when your feeling all numb and sleepy.The heavy front end of my truck with Cummins and EXcab made it stay put on the road and I didn't mind doing them ex for the wear on edge and like you said,you're done to fast and looking for more work. John D<p>----------<br>John D<br>

 

[Doug406]

Who would you look up to bid on the private roads?

 

[n y snow pros]

i have the same question as doug406 who do you contact for road plowing a town,or individual i sure would like to look into this so any help or suggestions would be much appreciated thanks<p>----------<br>J PARKER<br>914-485-4200

 

[GeoffD]

Ok Guys<p>Getting private roads is harder then getting lots or driveways. Also depending on where you live may depend on how many private roads there are. We have 12 private roads to plow, only up here in maine there are a ton of them. I don't know about the other states. Also some towns plow private roads all 12 of ours are in a 3 town area. Only if you go another 2 towns over you will find the town will plow private roads at the low cost of free, and do a good job, so go figure.<p>How i got my roads. Ok getting the first one is proabably going to be the hardest one to get. Most of the time these private road people talk to each other, because they try to find out who is the best at road maintmance. So if ya get one and ya do a good job you will get more, or at least that is how it works around here. Also i did the utility work at some of these roads, so then i was able to get the plowing. The reason i got the 650 this year, is i took over the winter road maintmance (plow and sanding)for a country club ( 10 miles of road in this one complex in and out in 30 to 40 mins tops).<p>Hope this helps.<p>Geoff

 

[yardsmith]

<br>I have thought about this since your post earlier in the season, & are they private developments, or can you get cul-de-sac developments that the city considers a #3 or 4 priority?<br>Also how do you charge- by relative size to a commercial lot, etc. What's a ballpark on a 1/4 mile paved road with cul-de-sac at the end?<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

 

[GeoffD]

Ok in my area there are no avaible places to plow for the city.<p>Also when plowing private roads pricing is very difficult. For these reasons:<p>Look at the road material <br>Number or hills<br>Curves<br>Circles are the hardest part about plowing private roads ( hammerheads are great)<br>how wide is the road.<br>Are there ditches<p>The cost of plowing private roads can be very different in different areas. <p>For a 1/4 first figures out how many times ya have to drive up and down the road ( 4= 1 mile thats what you are really plowing). I would think anywhere from 500 to 1000 isn't out the question, depending on the quality of the neighborhood. <p>I bid 800 a storm on a private road that had 1 (the road was only around 1/4 the side road made it hard to do) mile of plowing (With the 650 one time in one time out, and a small side road that was 1 pass with the 650). It was gravel and a low end area, so not much money. They told me the paid 800 for the year last year. I told them they had a hell of a price and i couldn't touch it. There only complaint was the other guy left too much ice.<p>Geoff<br>