So, I went and bought myself a big old 4x4 Explorer for a work vehicle yesterday. I’m thinking about maybe buying a cheap plow off CRaigslist to make a few extra bucks during the winter.
Does anyone else do this? Also… how would one go about scaring up some business in plowing… and how do you charge?
Do you mean a Ford Explorer SUV? If so I’d do some serious research before putting a plow on one of those. Plows wreak havoc on transmissions and front ends. Certainly an Explorers front end wasn’t built with a snow plow in mind.
Start with your existing window cleaning customer base. That’s what I did. Also plowing is stress city! I’m considering getting out or subbing it all this Winter.
A cheap plow can turn into a really expensive one very quickly. If it breaks your either stuck doing it all by hand or trying to get it fixed and playing catchup. If you are going to do it to make extra money over the winter I would try to cherry pick smaller driveways and try to keep them close to each other. We have had two routes for the last two seasons. One of them is more spread out with longer more difficult driveways. The other is closer together and more tightly grouped. I think the amount of money coming in on both is about the same, the tightly grouped one can be done twice usually in the amount of time the spread out one is done once. That is definetly a factor to consider in case you get a large amount of snow at one time. On the longer more spread route when you get a lot of snow each time you go by its like your doing it from scratch. You’ll definetly want to have a contract spelling out exactly when you will be coming and when you won’t. Be prepared to get calls at all hours, everyone wants to be done before 8 am so that they can get to work. You will want to make sure that the driveways are staked so your not replacing a bunch or grass, you can charge a staking fee or have the customer do it themselves. Stay away from circular drives unless you have a small plow or its not a very tight circle. Will you shovel stairs and walkways, does the sidewalk need to be done to meet town regulations? Sorry this is a little rambling but there is alot of things to think about when considering plowing.
Ain’t that the truth!
That is another add-on that the over head is crazy. Just too add, who will work on truck repairs, if you, you will need a heated garage and knowledge of the workings of a plow and truck. Two trucks is the way too go. Plow all night, repair and maintenance all day. I always wanted too myself but hate working with junk, so I would have new truck and plow with a payment each month for a few months of work. Next thing I no spring is here and glad I’m back washing windows. As I say, just my 2 cents.
I’ve been doing snow removal for 11 years, I live in Moscow… I mean Winnipeg. I wish I lived in Moscow, it’s warmer there. But I’ve always done residentials with snow blower and shovel and even back pack blower when it’s light.
But this year I want a plow and so does my brother. Here’s the thing where I live, might be, probably is, different where you are. But here in Winnipeg, you cannot exeed your front axle weight. If you move your ballast back you have to be careful not to exceed your rear axle wieght but once you get things balanced you cannot exceed your total viehicle load. The cops around here spot check people and take them to a scale. If you don’t pass you have to drop your plow.
But I’ve seen Americans that plow with jeeps and make good money, go to plowsite.com.
Good luck finding a cheap plow on Craigslist. I bought a truck thinking I could easily find a used plow, most used plows come with the junker truck. I needed the plow for my own driveway, I still think a massive snow blower truck/tractor is the best way to be in that business, as mentioned lots of headaches and obligations.
We stick to clearing roofs, its a niche that alot of people don’t want to do, low overhead, but big demand, and it also allows us to go riding on powder days because its not an urgency like a driveway!
Chris - Looks like I may be giving plowing a try this year. Offered to existing customers. I went to the snow and ice associations convention last month and learned a lot. I plan on taping BillWCR and Hunterst for information. At the very least Ill learn how to plow my own lot this year, and practice on friends and families driveways. Maybe launch it full bore the year after. We have had so much snow the past couple of winters… should be good.
