To really get in to it you need to spend big bucks. We have 2 new ton trucks outfitted with sanders and 9.5 foot stainless V plows. The overhead is huge. With contracts or good paying accounts you need new stuff that is not broke down every time you turn around. You can make good money, but you spend all of it on truck payments, fuel, insurance. The best way to make money is to do a hand full of driveways real close to home and use a old ( paid for ) truck. Make a couple hundred a storm. ( I did not take that advise and have lots of accounts )

 

Not with chains, besides if you get it done before it ices up should be fine.
In deep snow trucks are worthless, just pushing snow against garage doors want make much money.

 

Last week we got almost 2 feet, first foot was heavy wet snow. I blew my shoulder out, so off work for the week. Met a guy at a gas station, said him and a few neighbors could use plow service. I told them $100 each, entire storm. 8 houses, then drove around and picked up 6 more driveways. I was out better part of the day, but still made almost $1200, never more than 10mi away from my house. Trucks are worthless in deep snow, I beg to differ! But it is true, if you have the time to dedicate to plowing you need to be committed, having a sander is always good. And repairs never end.


PS I try to get the snow away from the garage doors. Mailbox is another story.

 

That last big storm I pushed 18-20" of the wettest heaviest stuff you've ever seen. These trucks can do it, it's a matter of having the right setup.

I'm in the plowing business and it can be lucrative.

Richie is right on as always...The key is high in and low out.

Get yourself a mixture of residential and commercial accounts, set them up in a loop not far from home. Use old paid for equipment that is well kept.

And don't count on it to snow to pay the bills

"Snowstorms are like random paychecks that fall from the sky, sometimes they land in your mailbox, and sometimes they just blow away" -Timmy

 

We can get back to back storms that will drop from two feet to five feet, nine feet at higher elevations. All the removal guys here (my self included) have skid steers or some sort of loaders, the trucks end up with bent frames/broken plows. The berms are what does the most damage. Last year I was moving burms up to eight feet high and eight feet thick. Guess it depends on what your conditions are and what you consider "deep" snow.

 

This is the first year I'm plowing for myself. So far, it's worked out ok.

I have about a dozen accounts, but all residential. The insurance differs based upon type of plowing you're planning on doing. If you're going residential, the insurance cost is the least to purchase. Remember that if you decide to do residential, you have the choice of just plowing snow, or actually adding ice control (sanding or salting) as well. There are a few things you need to remember.

If you just plow snow, and tell your clients that you don't do deicing, which is the way I do it, you limit yourself to just the snow removal, when it comes to being sued. Granted you can get sued for anything, but according to my INS agent, if you add deicing to your repertoire or offerings to your customers, if you ever go to court you'll be held to a "higher standard" of responsibility for someone getting hurt. It has to do with "continual maintenance" of the deiced surfaces. You create a situation where you are expected, because of the nature of your business, to keep those surfaces clear at all times and free of hazards. Your insurance policy is also to be rated differently (higher premiums) if you deice for the reasons mentioned above.

I took the advice of my INS agent, and will forgo any deicing for anyone I work for... until I go commercial plowing.

Commercial is also different. A residential INS policy does not provide any coverage for commercial properties. You need an addendum to, or separate policy just for commercial properties. The INS rate is significantly higher than just residential properties because of the frequency of "others" entering and leaving the properties which increases the possibility that someone will come in and fall on the property.

Currently, I only do residential. I received a call yesterday to do a commercial building property and I've sent requests to my INS agent for quoting the change. I'll post the cost difference when I find out just how much, and if it's worth taking on the commercial realm. Right now, a residential snow removal policy in NJ is approximately $1200 a year give or take a hundred. You're required to pay it in FULL and it's not able to be canceled for refund.

 

I have a 2 million insurance policy. Some of my commercial accounts request a copy of the policy. I have one account that even wants a copy of all out equipment to prove we can handle things. What the trucks can't do the 4x4 Backhoe with chains on it can do. Sanding is a high expense as well. I haul, mix , put up and cover my own pile. Its still big bucks. I gave up on older trucks 3 years ago. Over the years if it could break, I have broken it.

 

For Commando

 

We do our plowing with 3 of these. Paid more for the plow than I did for the truck! all of our equipment is paid for, that goes a long ways towards making good money. If you let more than a foot accumulate before you get to plowing, the trucks struggle with it a bit. We tell our customers that anything over 12" is billed by the hour. Often times we will plow our customers 2 or 3 times during a big snow storm.



EDIT: That was weird. Photo didn't show up, tried to delete and post again and photo was already there!

 

well this is after i fixed a few bolts on the plow that were alittle loose......and i took those running boards off and put a set of 285 general grabbers at2 on

 

Looks great man I bet those Grabbers are really gonna dig in they're good tires, did you buy em' new or used?

 

Now you need a 1500# weight box over the rear axle.

 

i plowed this guys garage out two storms ago and got these tires for doin it they used but they were free.....and they are awesome and i really dont need weight in the bed.....i walk around in the snow anywhere i go around here....this thing is awesome

 

what a good plow worth? Manufactures name?

 

the set up i have is a meyers pump and a western blade.....if i had the money i would get a V plow by boss