New at Plowing, Need help on bid

[jdjoe_97]

I have a 01' Dodge 2500 extcab 8' bed Diesel. I would like any suggestions that you guys have about the best plow for the money out there. I really like the v-boss, but I don't know if its worth the extra money. I was quoted 4K installed.

Next thing. I have been approched to bid on snow removal for a small appartment complex. It has six 8 unit buildings on it. Just to give you an idea of its size, the entire grounds is about 6 acres. The drives I am not worried about to much, but I don't know about all the side walks and carports. I live in North East Indiana so the weather is always unpredictable. I know last season we only had 4 snowfalls of more than 4". But we get a lot of lake affect snow so its hard to judge. Should I bid on contract and if so how many times should I figure and at what hourly rate. This is a new ballgame for me. I am a little nervous. I like bidding mowing jobs, I am a pro at that. Thanks for all the help. Joe P.S. what's the going rate for an 8' plow truck.

[plowking35]

Welcome jdJoe
Well the v plow is a must, with parking areas on one side and buildings or walks on the other it will pay for itself right away. We average well above 150.00 per hour for all trucks no matter blade size.
So take a number near that and x the amount of time each snow fall will take to plow the complex. Include walks and steps. Take that number and x the total number of occurances for the season. That will give a base line for the seasonal contract, Next add for deicers and applications and a fudge factor for something forgotten, or missed. Or just extra profit.
Dino

[John Allin]

Dino's got it about right. You just have to figure out what the base 'rate' should be for your market. I think you should bid it. We can help you get the number where it should be at, but you may end up emailing a bunch of us directly.

Good luck.

[Eric ELM]

I noticed on the lawn forum you have a JD 455. This could be set up for doing the sidewalks. A V plow or straight blade plow for it would be good for doing the side walks if they are wide enough for this set up. Using a snow blower in this area could be bad news if there are a lot of newspapers laying around, but a blower would be good if it gets too deep for a plow. If you will be spending much time on sidewalks, a cab would be nice. I built one for my JD 430 which was about $2700 cheaper than buying a cab from JD and is much more solid than the way they mount them. I have the Unitach system built in Wisconsin, a 54" power angle blade with down pressure and also the same brand 48" snow blower with a hydraulic motor to turn the angle of the chute. If you want to see JD with cab and blade, it's on my equipment page on my website. If you want more detail on building one, email me.

[GeoffDiamond]

If your a one truck opperation, a good solid v-plow is a must. However i would recomend western or fisher, to you. I believe full trip blades and v-plows don't mix.

Geoff

[diggerman]

If you deside to put a plow on your 455 and want a cab a cheaper way to go is get a cab off an old 322,318 317 they are not a perfect fit but it is easy to make them work.Also use bar tires and not chains and put a couple hundred pound on the back.Not to much weight or you might do what I did and shuck a trans axle and thats BAAAAd mucho dinero.I just traded my parts in,anyway other than that great sidewalk machine up to around 6inchs after that better have a blower for it.As for the V vs. the pusher like everyone already said, gotta have the V plow.I do alot of similar apts and snow storage is at a premium, any time you are able to drop a wing back and lose some snow helps to disperse some of the quanity,with the pusher you do not have that option.Also getting in to parking spaces is much easier when you can reduce the size of your plow.Apts like what you are talking about is the reason I bought my first V,now we have 9

[Snow Pro]

On another thread guys were saying the Boss V-plows don't trip. Is that true? You need to get yourself priced in the middle of the market right away. A couple ways to do that. 1) Have an in-law call your competitors for an estimate.
2) Ask the customer what he was paying last year.
3) Get a copy of their last contract, or other current bids.
4) Give him your price. Ask how does that compare with what you were paying last year. Listen closely. He'll tell you if it's higher, but if it's lower he'll probably hedge.
In Northwest Indiana we used to bill out between $65-$75 per hour. Now I don't do anything hourly and get more.

[diggerman]

Two things about the Boss plows and tripping,first they will trip in full V sometimes,as the v folds over the"a"frame raises and it will roll over.Second if it doesn't trip the wing will most likely release back then the blade trips like it would when it is angled.I realize many have not seen these work but for my money there is alot less risk of a failure which does not allow me continue plowing as there would be with a cutting edge trip.