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Hmmm, how does one get into snow plowing?

P

PlatinumGold

Lifer
do you just advertise in the Yellow pages? is there a service?

are there tests, certifications? or do you just have to buy the equipment.
 
1. Live in a place where it snows
2. Buy a truck and plow
3. Small ad in the newspaper
4. Flyers on every bullitain board in town
5. Pray for bad weather
 
Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
1. Live in a place where it snows
2. Buy a truck and plow
3. Small ad in the newspaper
4. Flyers on every bullitain board in town
5. Pray for bad weather
Click to expand...

actually, not looking to do it full time. just looking to use it as an excuse to buy myself a nice 4wd truck and plowing equipment. as long as the truck pays for itself over the 3 or 4 yrs i'll keep it, i'll be happy.
 
Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
1. Live in a place where it snows
2. Buy a truck and plow
3. Small ad in the newspaper
4. Flyers on every bullitain board in town
5. Pray for bad weather
Click to expand...

actually, not looking to do it full time. just looking to use it as an excuse to buy myself a nice 4wd truck and plowing equipment. as long as the truck pays for itself over the 3 or 4 yrs i'll keep it, i'll be happy.
Click to expand...



If that is the case, offer the service to a few local companies or organizations. Maybe churches.
 
Tests? Certifications? LMAO You're not in socialist Europe.

Buy a plow, put fliers on people's doors and signs at street corners, watch the business roll in.
 
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
1. Live in a place where it snows
2. Buy a truck and plow
3. Small ad in the newspaper
4. Flyers on every bullitain board in town
5. Pray for bad weather
Click to expand...

actually, not looking to do it full time. just looking to use it as an excuse to buy myself a nice 4wd truck and plowing equipment. as long as the truck pays for itself over the 3 or 4 yrs i'll keep it, i'll be happy.
Click to expand...



If that is the case, offer the service to a few local companies or organizations. Maybe churches.
Click to expand...

what do you think? $800.00 / day? 10 snow days a year = $8000.00 / year. 4 yrs would pretty much pay for the truck.

hmmm.
 
My brother plows, and told me don't even THINK about a truck that's less than 3/4 ton rating. The truck takes a terrible beating, and so does the plow. Have a friend with a welder, and backup plow if you have customers depending on you.
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
My brother plows, and told me don't even THINK about a truck that's less than 3/4 ton rating. The truck takes a terrible beating, and so does the plow. Have a friend with a welder, and backup plow if you have customers depending on you.
Click to expand...

ya, i was thinking about a 3/4 ton Avalanche. 😉 i know not a favorite among ATOTers, but i just really like the look of that truck.

 
Word of mouth is normally your best bet. And make sure you don't mind going to work in the wee hours of the morning...

Mark
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
I think my brother's going Ford next time, because of the trouble he's had with the front end parts on his old Chevy.
Click to expand...

hmmm. the front end parts of the avalanche are the same as his chevy right? unless his chevy is real old.
 
Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
Originally posted by: Ornery
My brother plows, and told me don't even THINK about a truck that's less than 3/4 ton rating. The truck takes a terrible beating, and so does the plow. Have a friend with a welder, and backup plow if you have customers depending on you.
Click to expand...

ya, i was thinking about a 3/4 ton Avalanche. 😉 i know not a favorite among ATOTers, but i just really like the look of that truck.
Click to expand...

i actually like the look of that truck. just remeber though that after the first big snow your truck is never going to run the same again 🙁
 
I think a lot of landscapers do it since they have trucks and don't have much work to do in the winter... so they probably mostly plow for their landscaping clients.

I'd look into whether you need any additional liability insurance.
 
Originally posted by: suse920
Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
Originally posted by: Ornery
My brother plows, and told me don't even THINK about a truck that's less than 3/4 ton rating. The truck takes a terrible beating, and so does the plow. Have a friend with a welder, and backup plow if you have customers depending on you.
Click to expand...

ya, i was thinking about a 3/4 ton Avalanche. 😉 i know not a favorite among ATOTers, but i just really like the look of that truck.
Click to expand...

i actually like the look of that truck. just remeber though that after the first big snow your truck is never going to run the same again 🙁
Click to expand...

hmmm, mb it's not such a good idea.

 
Don't snow plows usually do their work at the worst times of day? i.e., it'll snow overnight so you have to be on the streets before people head to work.
 
Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Don't snow plows usually do their work at the worst times of day? i.e., it'll snow overnight so you have to be on the streets before people head to work.
Click to expand...

why not?

i basically make my own schedule as i go. any day of snow i can cancel all my appointments with my clients and just do the snow plowing.

why not?

my thought was this would help me pay for the truck i want but really can't see myself spending the money for. 😉

but it also means that i will have to replace it more often, not sure if it's such a good idea.

it was just a spur of the moment thought, not a thought out business plan.
 
1) this will beat your truck to hell
2) if you hit a fire hydrant, mail box, another car or anything, you're fvcked... takes a lot of practice to get it right
3) definitley need insurance... a quarter inch is the difference between destroying the top of a driveway and just getting the snow

I'd say it's almost definitley not worth it. You certainly won't plow enough to recoup the cost of the truck for any multitude of reasons and all you'll have is a beat truck and a big hole in the head to show for it....


isn't the avalanche more of an SUV than a truck?

One of my neighbors tried to do this.... lets just say its a good thing he has money to piss away like that or he'd be pissed as hell right now.

Oh, and murphy's law says that once you depend on snow, it won't snow where you live enough to be worth plowing
 
Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Don't snow plows usually do their work at the worst times of day? i.e., it'll snow overnight so you have to be on the streets before people head to work.
Click to expand...

why not?

i basically make my own schedule as i go. any day of snow i can cancel all my appointments with my clients and just do the snow plowing.

why not?

my thought was this would help me pay for the truck i want but really can't see myself spending the money for. 😉

but it also means that i will have to replace it more often, not sure if it's such a good idea.

it was just a spur of the moment thought, not a thought out business plan.
Click to expand...

Well if you start plowing to early your clients will be pissed that your screwing them and trying to milk an inch of snow. If you plow to late your clients will be pissed that they had to walk thru an inch of snow.
 
Everyone and their mother plows...you need a good connection to get good paying contracts.

Plowing is not as easy as one thinks. We had 5 trucks going one season. Sometimes I wouldn't see my bed for 36 hrs...yeah the $ is good, but it's hell on the body and the truck.

Anyone can do driveways...they are a PIA IMO...
 
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