The Good and the Bad-your opinions

[thelawnguy]

Just wondering what everyone likes the best and worst about the snow business.

My opinion on the best-REAL good money for what generally amounts to part-time work, and having what amounts to several hours of quiet time in the truck.

My opinion on the WORST-tight deadlines which afford little or no margin for downtime, and the prospect of working thru holidays like Thanxgiving Xmas etc-I have little kids and that means a lot to me.

[DYNA PLOW]

i like being out there fighting the elements, man against
nature.realy like it when my equipment that i've maintained
works flawlessly. also like the fact that i am helping people start their day safely. (roads plowed,salted sidewalks) although when things go bad they go bad. last year during a storm plow broke,threewheeler that i use for plowing sidewalks would not start,broke shovel handle.(had to shovel cause threewheeler did'nt start)and ujoint went out on front drive shaft,all before 6.30am.
had to take half day off of work just to repair all my stuff.
dan

[GeoffDiamond]

Good things:

1. Lots of Extra Revenues
2. Keeps a lot of my equipment at work year round.
3. Keeps Gives me another way to keep employees busy, when its slow.

Bad Things:

1. Possiblities of work on weekends (weekends aren't a big deal) and holidays.
2. Not much room for errors or breakdowns.

Geoff

[BRL]

:)
I love snow & winter. Might as well make some good money while "playing" in it. And all of the other stuff already mentioned.

:(
I love snow & winter. Can't schedule my snowboarding trips in advance anymore, usually go on a whim now & ususally can't get friends to drop everything & join me, and I always seem to miss the pow pow cause I have to plow plow at home.

[CCSwanson]

LIKES: Just love pushing Snow


DISLIKES: Not able to push enough, Not fulltime yet

[ADMServices]

All of the above goes for me too.

I really love salting. You have an outlined route with x amount of stops, and x amount of loading stops. It is quiet, and the pace is fast.

Plowing gets really crazy. Phone ringing, radio making noise, guys not here yet, walks not done yet, etc... It can get pretty nutty sometimes.

Andy

[OBRYANMAINT]

good
the money , the serene mornings that you are actually ahead of schedule and you can take your time

bad
knees and back
almost able to sleep better in truck than in bed

[diggerman]

I love when Im driving to the shop to get everyone going and its snowing and quiet and I'm the first to make tracks in the snow on the road.

I hate laying under a plow truck in the snow,with cold water dripping down my neck, wondering why a trucks 4x4 quit working.

[iowastorm]

I love winter and snowfall more than anything, but since I live in a refridgerator box, the moisture rots the cardboard and then I have to find a new home. . .

[plowking35]

The bad
I get real hungry at 3 am, and we have no 24hr restuarants.
Anytime something breaks
When customers are less than willing to understand that you have no control over mother nature

The good has all been documented by others. I love the way the snow rolls the moldboard at full left angle. That is sweeeeeeeeeeeeet
Dino

[John Allin]

Good....
When it starts snowing.

Bad...
When it stops snowing.

Best...
Shoveling the front walk at our office at midnight on New Years Eve after a 12", 4 hour storm that quits just before midnight - I'm all alone, it's quiet and I watch the fireworks knowing that in a few hours we'll all be out in it, having at it.....

Life is good.

[jaclawn]

Good-
Good money for the time spent.
Generally out in the middle of the night, no customers around to bother you.
Feeds the desire of the inner child in ALL of us to drive a bulldozer.
I Decide who gets in to their parking lots on time.
When there is a major power outage, and the only lights you see for miles are plow trucks. REally neat.



Bad-
On call 24-7 all winter.
Out in the worst of weather conditions.
Getting up at 2 a.m.
Hard on your truck.
Loading salt by bag.
Laying under the truck.
During an unexpected snowstorm, having to hook up a plow that some genious parked in the full angle position.
People that don't think that they have to pay.
Residential driveways that call after they have 12+ inches on them.
Not one rock of salt in the tri state area.
Can't really make any plans during the winter, don't know when it is going to snow.
Am I going to have everyone done on time?

[finnegan]

You guys forgot to mention laying in wet snow getting electrocuted by your lincoln arc while stick welding one of your so called friends plow trucks because he's to stupid to watch out for telephone poles.....

[DaveO]

The GOOD:
The feeling of being out in the fresh snow late night/early am before traffic.
Out during a BAD storm, knowing that all your maintenance and preparation is paying off.
That cup of hot coffee on your way to 1st account.
Like Dino said...Watching the powder roll off your snofoil @ 25mph.
Watching it drop 6"+ of powder outside, While the weatherman is telling you 0-2" tops!!


The BAD:
Anything that breaks!
Laying in the snow fixing it....
Customers that didn't need you, until 12" falls.
Customers that are never happy.
Chasing people to get paid.
Waiting for that big forecasted storm...that doesn't happen!!


I have always enjoyed playing in the snow. The plow is just another toy to play with.
I'd probably plow for FREE, BUT DON'T TELL MY CUSTOMERS!!!

Dave

[cutntrim]

I Like...The solitude of being out at 1:00am listening to the radio LOUD while rocketting through 6" of light, dry powder on a lot I know like the back of my hand.

When the snow stops by midnite, and our route is done in time to have breakfast at Harveys (Canadian Restaurant), while the "civilians" are on their way to slave 9-5 working for "da man".

Getting good money for using as little physical exertion as possible...click,click with my index finger and thumb.

I Don't Like...When the weather guy screws up and we get way less, or way more accumulation than expected.

Equipment breakdowns...plows are meant to do one thing, and one thing only - push snow - why is it so difficult to manufacture ones that won't break?

When the snow stops at 1:00am, we start our route, then it starts snowing again at 4:00am, and you can't even tell we touched an account we were just at an hour ago. Re-doing your route sucks.

Having to listen to (erase, more like it) a dozen messages from moron customers who don't understand why there is snow on their lot at 8:00am even though it didn't stop snowing 'till 5:00am.

[diggerman]

I shed a little tear when reading these posts that there are other people who love snow as much as I do, but more important that when I'm out cussing some piece of crap truck or plow or wanting to strangle a stupid customer that there is a plower some where else in this great country cussing at his plow and wanting to go postal on one of their customers.Wow what bonding,do I hear an Amen.

[John Allin]

Amen to that.......

[Aspen Snow]

The good is that when I see snow I see $$$$.

The bad is when it 90 degrees in the summer. I hate to sweat.

We all are a little crazy for snow.

[finnegan]

I just like getting out of the house during a good storm, It's cool being out fighting mother nature and getting paid for it...

[slplow]

The good,of course the money. Making a big snow bank in front of your truck. Noone is out during the wee hours in the a.m. exept idiots and plowers. Not to be confused between the two, ha ha.

The bad, people passing behind you when you are backing up out of someone's driveway. Not being able to cuddle with the wife. And you can't snowmobile and plow at the same time. Customers denying that you were there to plow their driveway, when you did (obviously trying to get out of paying for three inches cleared off their driveway). One guy even went so far as to saying that it melted. Stiffed me!!! When 50 other people had no complaints and paid. He was actually a neighbor!!

[n y snow pros]

The fun, watching kids flyin around our parking lots with moms caddy and ending up slammin into a light pole.I laugh so hard i have actually wet my pants.The good,getting all our accounts done on time(i think this happened once but im not sure).The bad sanders not showing up when you really really need them desperately and they still dont show up.It is nice to know as mentioned earlier in this post that i am not the only guy cursing plows that dont work or dumb customers that want to show me how to plow.Or best yet the customer that tells me i never plowed his lot and we did but its all covered again and he doesnt want to pay.

[John Allin]

Ain't it comforting to know that we all are in the same boat, rowing like hell, enjoying most of it, cursing some of it, and continuing to plug along because deep down.... really deep down.... we all really do love the snow business.

They say we are a different breed. Just a "little off" because we love what we do. Crazy hours, nutso conditions, problems that others wouldn't dare try to solve.

I can't say that I would want it any other way.

There is a comaradarie amongst us that I wouldn't be able to describe to someone who has "a real day job", nor would I try. They are not able to comprehend what "we" have inside us that forces us to do what we do. A drive to be 'out there' in the storm. "They" cannot fathom that knot in the gut waiting for the snow to start... watching the radar and the window.... waiting for it to start, knowing that it WILL come and we WILL get out there and we WILL beat the storm at its own game, no matter what the customer perceives when he/she comes into work.

They will never know the unparalleled joy of watching the storm clouds move out and the stars take over the heavens. Rolling down the window and looking out and up to the starlit sky and 'smelling' the recent snow.

Oh yes, and we CAN smell the snow. Most cannot. But WE do. We walk outside at mid afternoon and we can literally smell it coming. We can "feel" it working it's way towards us. Doesn't matter what the weatherman says. We know.

Anyone who trys to convince others that "we" are not different from 'them' is fighting a losing battle. We know.

I love this business. And I know you guys do too.

We (as a group) truly are blessed.

[Edited by John Allin on 10-26-2000 at 01:39 AM]

[Aspen Snow]

Well Said!!

[BRL]

OK I feel vindicated now. I, and anybody that I told about it, thought I was a wacko for being able to "smell" snow on the way. Now I can tell those guys in the white suits that keep chasing me to put that big funny looking jacket away & leave me alone ;)
Well said John. There are 2 kinds of people in the world: those that hate the snow business, and actually groan if you mention it - and us at this forum.

[John Allin]

The only one I have told about 'smelling' the snow coming, is my wife. She's heard it so much, and I've been right so often - that she believes me. Only a real snowplower knows we are not nutso when we say it.... because they know it too.

[plowking35]

John I think you have your next article for "snow business". That about sums up the plower in all of us. One more thing to add, has anyone heard snow fall. I love the sound of a light snow hitting the fallen leaves, or just stacking on the ground. I also love the conditions when snow is falling 1-2 inches per hour, and yet our 0 tolerance customers are happy, cause you have a truck at their site, just driving in circles keeping the road open.
Also the few times here when we get real powder, and there is 6-8" in an empty lot(the church that we do that can wait till the end)and you get to play yourself in the fresh powder.
Being the hero, cause when that big one does come around, you finish your route, go home get some sleep, and the next day while driving around checking that all the drifts are cut back, some one is shoveling all that snow in their drive, and just for the heck of it, you pull in, and plow the drive in 2 passes, back out, and leave. Dont take a dime, and see the guy or gal with a tear in their eye.
The lone plower strikes again, yee haaaaaaaaa

[Snow Pro]

Plow King -
I forgot about that. Helping out others adds a lot to my day! It seems like everything else goes smooooooooooooooth the rest of the storm.

[Chuck Smith]

John, that "sermon" raised the hairs on the back of my neck, and left me speechless! I too thought I was nuts because I can smell snow coming. My girlfriend looks at me like I'm nuts when I say "it's gonna snow, I can smell it". I'm still dumbfounded at what you said and don't know what to add here.
I think the most beautiful thing I have ever seen was during the blizard of 96 here. It was snowing at a blinding rate, and in the midst of it, was thunder and lightening. I have never seen it before then, and have never seen it since.
There is a deep satisfaction from beating Mother Nature are her own game. I am truly too moved to type any more now. Sorry.

~Chuck

[Snow Pro]

Favorite things:
1) Finishing the route with absolutely no calls (to me that means complaints)from customers.
2) The "power" I feel pushing all that snow wherever I tell it to go.
3) Finishing a $50.00 lot in 5 minutes.

Least favorite things:
1) Guys that don't show up.
2) Break-downs.
3) Unreasonable and non-paying customers.

[diggerman]

The feeling you get when you look at your equipment and they feel a little like your children. Stepping out into the snow knowing that only one will get the honor of you taking them to the big game,being the one to accomplish the most snow moved in a night. The rest, their faces a little dirty or their exterior a little tattered are given a charge to take out into the storm and help them be the best they can be. You've spent alot of time preparing them for the big day,some will earn their strips other come back deserving of adoption yet you prepare them for another snow and then you send them back to do it all over again.

Thats as sappy as I could get without either crying or puking,I tried to find a Norman Rockwell painting to put above this but I think it maybe even to thick for that.

[DaveO]

Nice to know we all can relate to what drives us to play this game. You guys are great!!!

Dave

[iowastorm]

Digger; you must view your equipment like red headed step children, because they're all beat to hell!
(just kidding)

Man, do we need some snow or what? You guys are getting desperate! John, do you preach on Sunday mornings by chance?

[Chuck Smith]

See that? It would make a great Sunday sermon on that "SnowTV" Dino was talking about! ;)

~Chuck

[John Allin]

Can I have an "AMEN" !!!!

TALK to me, brothers !!

PLOW that snow.

Say Amen............

[plowking35]

John
You must have found relegion on that cruise.
Dino

[John Allin]

First Church of the Gooey Death, and Discount House of Worship.

St. Mattress.... every Sunday.

SAY amen.....

[Snow Pro]

Diggerman -

Do you kiss you blade before you go to bed at night?

[diggerman]

Not anymore I've got 20 now ,tried it once though, but my lips got numb, and if you do that when its cold you can form a real attachment,but its Ok my lips are growing some of the skin back.

[Snow Pro]

John -

Where is this discount house of worship? Can I join?