to plow or not too plow, that is the question?

I own a small landscaping business, of which I feel I could get 20 residential driveways to plow in the winter by just making a few phone calls. WHile massachusetts winters seem to be sporadic, is it really worth getting into the plow business? I figure i need a 4 wheel drive truck with a plow, anything else? How much should I expect to pay for something "entry level"?

 

Ok, this is what ya have to have.

4X4 truck, for most applications 3/4 ton or larger.
Insurance
Time for paper work ( sounds like you have that)

Ok New 3/4 ton with a plow, anywhere from $ 24,000 on up.

Now used cost, very from location to location. I don't know if you want to trade your current truck (which sounds like it can't plow) for one that can, thats up to you.

You can make money plowing, however your first year won't be your most sucessfull, it will take time to learn the whole business and way to plow. If you could get 30 or 40 driveways, then i think you could do allright, i would stay away from commercial the first year.

Then you have to decide if you want to charge per push, how many times you plow, which is decided by the number of snow storm ( you will get more customers this way). If you get very little snow, per push may not make you much money However it is easier to manage less customers. So if you charge XXX.XX per season to keep the drive clear, you know how much you will make from the start of the season. However it is harder to sell a yearly contract to a residential customer. Only if you have lets say 25 residential customers at lets say 6K a year ( these numbers are just hyp ). It is easier to manage 25 accounts, than to manage 40. If you can make 6K with 40 accounts per push, or make 6K with 25 accounts per season, which way would you go?

Other than that go back as far as ya can in the forum, and read the old post. To help you decide if you want to plow or not. Just remember if you start plow, you will be stuck in mass all winter, no trips to away (at least long distance, 2 week trips)

Geoff

 

And, after the first year you will either love it, or hate it. No in between.

You can make money at it, and Geoff's assessment of what it will take is accurate.

 

dmk,I also live in MA. Check out the want ad or truck trader and spend what you can afford. It is worth it in MA, but like John Allin say's you gotta like it to do it and plowing on holiday's is a must if it snows on them. I have plowed on Thanksgiving three times, no x-mas' yet but who knows it would suck but the money would be a nice present to me and my wife. 20 residentials is a good start. I always on a big snow storm you get people pulling you over to plow them out. We still get to go away in the winter but always a chance of being cancelled or coming home early. Has not happened so far, but we don't go away too often or for too long. If you are going to give it a try, you want to get your truck and accounts as soon as possible. Good Luck.

 

We often plow on Christmas and New Years day.... it's tough on family. And if you're doing residentials, Christmas morning is a must. People treat you nice on Christmas morning when you're plowing, but it isn't as nice as being home with the wife and kids......

 

Just to add to what has been said so far,if plowing is not something that you have been doing it is hard to understand that snow is something people allow no excuses for.They want their snow done, even if you have to push your truck,teach a homeless peson to drive,run around licking flakes out of the air, they want their snow gone.If you like to ski,go and see outlaws for christmas in far off places,or even just RELAX on a snowy night, don't even get started,snow WILL become a hassle.I told a guy today that snow is something you do all the way or not at all.But if you are willing to make those sacrifices it can be profitable and even,yes,fun,that right "it not just a job its an adventure."

 

dmk395: Here's something you might want to consider. The other guys might think I'm nuts, but for your first year, if you do get 20 drives, consider buying a couple of good two stage snowblowers and hire a second person to help you. Most homeowners prefer snow removal by a snowblower because they do a much cleaner job and there are no snow piles or damage to the grass from a plow. I know some companies here that do residential snow removal with nothing but snowblowers. In fact, a couple of good two stage snowblowers will knock down a driveway in less time that you'd think. This route will get you going and with much less investment. Here's a very rough estimate:

Two 2 stage snowblowers: $1,800.00

Used truck: $10,000.00 or more
Boss V plow: $4,300.00 plus tax
or
used truck w/ plow: $6,000 or much more

Think about it this way: if you spent the first year w/ snowblowers, as you expand into larger jobs or commercial work,you'll always need them for doing sidewalks in future. Oh well, just a different perspective.

 

Well.... when I first started reading iowastorm's message, the word 'nuts' did come to mind. But... when you think about it - it might not be so far fetched Capital outlay is low, productivity might not be as great, but the return on investment would be much higher than the truck route. When I started out (on my own) doing residentials with a brand new Ford Bronco and a brand new Valk plow (yeah... a Valk - don't think they make them any more)I fell in love with the work. If I had not loved it, I'd have been a bit put out by the expenditure I made to get into it.

The snowblower idea isn't as far fetched as most of us on this forum might be inclined to think right away.

Might invest in a good snowsuit though.....

 

my friend actually sells valk, and they do a lot of parts contracts for blades and stuff for the Connecticut Dot.

i think their site is<a href="http://www.valkmfg.com"> valkplows</a> or something.

bryan

[Edited by snow on 10-04-2000 at 01:39 AM]

 

That Valk plow was really a good plow for what I was doing. Well built, rugged. I liked it. At one point I owned 6 of them. Then the local dealer stopped handling them and that was that.