# First year guy here. Talking driveways.



## HuskerSnow (Aug 21, 2010)

This will be my first year plowing and right now I'm gonna be plowing the family business lot and gonna be helping out a friend of the family with his accounts when he needs it. (probably be helping him out if theres 5" or more) I've had a couple people see the plow mount and light bar on the truck and ask me how much I would charge to do a driveway....
So what do you guys charge to do residential driveways? and how much extra would you charge to blow the front walk and the sidewalks?
THANKS guys!


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## HuskerSnow (Aug 21, 2010)

So almost 100 views and I guess NOBODY has EVER done driveways and could possibly help me with some info..... Thanks...


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## Rc2505 (Feb 5, 2007)

You have to figure out your costs. I know being new it's going to be a little difficult. Here is how you start. Figure out how much time it's going to take to plow each driveway, and plug in your hourly rate. Your hourly rate will be made of your equipment costs, your expected life of your equipment, your fuel, your insurance, your business cost, your labor, and so forth. If you do a search on here you will find more info on how to set your hourly rates, and how to bid.


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## Neige (Jan 29, 2008)

HuskerSnow;1093188 said:


> So almost 100 views and I guess NOBODY has EVER done driveways and could possibly help me with some info..... Thanks...


How could we possible help you with that. You are from Nebraska, I am from Montreal Canada. What are the going rates in your area? What will your market bare? What are your costs? How much snow do you get? In how many events? Are you charging per push? Seasonal? Hourly? What is your trigger? etc. I have towns next door that charge 30% less than I m charging, pricing is a very personal thing. It takes some hard work to figure out how much you should charge. Do your homework and you will get the answer you seek, that is right for you. Good luck


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

If you're doing the drive+walks I would guess you should be in the $30-$50 range. Of course it depends on the size of the account and ease of plowing it. Lots of variables as has been said. At least that gives you some reference point.


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## Luther (Oct 31, 2007)

HuskerSnow;1090580 said:


> This will be my first year plowing *and right now I'm gonna be plowing the family business lot and gonna be helping out a friend of the family with his accounts when he needs it.* I've had a couple people see the plow mount and light bar on the truck and ask me how much I would charge to do a driveway....
> So what do you guys charge to do residential driveways?


Did it occur to you to ask the friend of the family you are going to plow for this question?

If not, ask him ~ he may be your best source of info.....


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## toby4492 (Dec 28, 2005)

TCLA;1093277 said:


> Did it occur to you to ask the friend of the family you are going to plow for this question?
> 
> If not, ask him ~ he may be your best source of info.....


 I was thinking the same thing. :waving:


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## gtstang462002 (Dec 23, 2009)

WIPensFan;1093269 said:


> If you're doing the drive+walks I would guess you should be in the $30-$50 range. Of course it depends on the size of the account and ease of plowing it. Lots of variables as has been said. At least that gives you some reference point.


I don't typically see as much snow as the guys up north, but I get $150 for short driveways(less than 1/4 mile) and go up from there. That is per push. Salt is of course extra and the driveways are for the beer money after plowing for the county.


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

gtstang462002;1093925 said:


> I don't typically see as much snow as the guys up north, but I get $150 for short driveways(less than 1/4 mile) and go up from there. That is per push. Salt is of course extra and the driveways are for the beer money after plowing for the county.


Your driveways and my driveways are different. I don't consider a 1/4 mile or less long drive short!


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## gtstang462002 (Dec 23, 2009)

WIPensFan;1093928 said:


> Your driveways and my driveways are different. I don't consider a 1/4 mile or less long drive short!


lol I grew up on a driveway that was over a mile long...


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

$1,000 a trip. You may not get many driveways, but you'd only need one or two.


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## HuskerSnow (Aug 21, 2010)

THANKS GUYS! just the info I was looking for.


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## lawnlandscape (Oct 8, 2009)

Keep in mind the cost of fixing all the damage you do to the lawn, and everything else thats around the driveways with your plow. We don't plow driveways. In my opinion plows are not made for driveways. To risky. I suggest snow blowing them. But there are many people on here that disagree with me. Neige is one of them.


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095022 said:


> Keep in mind the cost of fixing all the damage you do to the lawn, and everything else thats around the driveways with your plow. We don't plow driveways. In my opinion plows are not made for driveways. To risky. I suggest snow blowing them. But there are many people on here that disagree with me. Neige is one of them.


I would be another guy that disagrees with you. You keep mentioning damage to the lawn. I pull everything out then push onto the median in front of the property. I haven't damaged a lawn in forever, seriously! There are different ways to do them but not all involve damaging the lawn. We used to do it like you with big blowers, for many years. I'm not saying you can't do it your way, but there are other viable alternatives( easier and 10x faster ) to your method.


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095022 said:


> Keep in mind the cost of fixing all the damage you do to the lawn, and everything else thats around the driveways with your plow. We don't plow driveways. In my opinion plows are not made for driveways. To risky. I suggest snow blowing them. But there are many people on here that disagree with me. Neige is one of them.


I Really Disagree with you.....Good money to be made in the resi. Market..Its to bad you feel this way..As big as an operator you are or claim to be, it would not cost you very much to outfit a truck and go for it....If you sit down and do some basic figures on what you could do in an hour with a truck doing driveways i think it would peak your interest.....Did you see the webnar Neige did for SIMA????...If not..I suggest you take a look....


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

Matson Snow;1095071 said:


> I Really Disagree with you.....Good money to be made in the resi. Market..Its to bad you feel this way..As big as an operator you are or claim to be, it would not cost you very much to outfit a truck and go for it....If you sit down and do some basic figures on what you could do in an hour with a truck doing driveways i think it would peak your interest.....Did you see the webnar Neige did for SIMA????...If not..I suggest you take a look....


First, I love your new equipment lineup in your sig :laughing::laughing:

Second, I agree with the above statement. When properly setup, resi's can be just as profitable as comm. Personnaly I like a mixture of both though.


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## plowking15 (Jan 16, 2010)

Hi,Husker. How are you going to mange your time? What time does your family lot need to be plowed for business? If you pick up driveways besides helping your friend, new customers usually want to be plowed or opened up early to get to work,then you have to go back and replow when they are gone.You look like you have a older truck,like myself,so maintence and repairs are a consideration. I used to have thirty drives,now I run a plow for the highway dept. I spent 2300.00 last year for a transmission rebuild,previous years of plowing caught up to her. plowking


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## lawnlandscape (Oct 8, 2009)

WIPensFan;1095068 said:


> I would be another guy that disagrees with you. You keep mentioning damage to the lawn. I pull everything out then push onto the median in front of the property. I haven't damaged a lawn in forever, seriously! There are different ways to do them but not all involve damaging the lawn. We used to do it like you with big blowers, for many years. I'm not saying you can't do it your way, but there are other viable alternatives( easier and 10x faster ) to your method.


The way you do it is illegal.... at least in my county.


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095405 said:


> The way you do it is illegal.... at least in my county.


It's the way it's done here. As long as the snow doesn't end up on someone elses property it's all good.


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## lawnlandscape (Oct 8, 2009)

Matson Snow;1095071 said:


> I Really Disagree with you.....Good money to be made in the resi. Market..Its to bad you feel this way..As big as an operator you are or claim to be, it would not cost you very much to outfit a truck and go for it....If you sit down and do some basic figures on what you could do in an hour with a truck doing driveways i think it would peak your interest.....Did you see the webnar Neige did for SIMA????...If not..I suggest you take a look....


You talk as though I don't know my numbers.... lol...

1) Neige does not plow driveways.... he uses tractors with blowers.

2) You also seem to think I don't have any trucks with plows?!? I have a whole fleet of plow trucks... and here is something that is going to blow you mind.... 90% of the stops we make at homes are with a truck that has a plow on it... but... the plow sits in the street on the truck while we service the property.

3) I don't know of a single driveway that I can not blow as fast or faster then I would be able to plow it. Plus: We are out with blowers and shovels anyway because we offer FULL SERVICE show removal. Much more profitable


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## lawnlandscape (Oct 8, 2009)

WIPensFan;1095410 said:


> It's the way it's done here. As long as the snow doesn't end up on someone elses property it's all good.


Living in your area.. I would be extremely surprised if its not illegal in your county as it is in ours....

By median, your talking about the area between the sidewalk and the street right? That area normally fills completely up with snow anyway so every time a city plow passes it starts spilling over on the sidewalk. So basically what your doing for your customers later in the year, is pushing it there, so it can fall onto there side walk so they will have to clear it into their front yard. Nice...


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095413 said:


> You talk as though I don't know my numbers.... lol...
> 
> 1) Neige does not plow driveways.... he uses tractors with blowers.*so?...the webinar isnt for tractors with blowers only.*
> 
> ...


..............


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095414 said:


> Living in your area.. I would be extremely surprised if its not illegal in your county as it is in ours....
> 
> By median, your talking about the area between the sidewalk and the street right? That area normally fills completely up with snow anyway so every time a city plow passes it starts spilling over on the sidewalk. So basically what your doing for your customers later in the year, is pushing it there, so it can fall onto there side walk so they will have to clear it into their front yard. Nice...


No, we clear the walkways too. I don't know if it's "illegal" or not, what I do know is that it is accepted practice. I'm not trying to dismiss you're business practices, if it works for you fine, but to say driveways should not be plowed!? 99% of snow removal companies in this area plow driveways, it's a fact you can't argue.


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

Use a blower? No, thanks. Too slow, cold and takes WAY too long. Try blowing a two mile long private road. Or even my 500' driveway with 50' x 75' parking area.


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

Matson Snow;1095071 said:


> I Really Disagree with you.....Good money to be made in the resi. Market..Its to bad you feel this way..As big as an operator you are or claim to be, it would not cost you very much to outfit a truck and go for it....If you sit down and do some basic figures on what you could do in an hour with a truck doing driveways i think it would peak your interest.....Did you see the webnar Neige did for SIMA????...If not..I suggest you take a look....





lawnlandscape;1095413 said:


> You talk as though I don't know my numbers.... lol...
> 
> Your right...I dont know your numbers...I was just saying your such a big player with a FLEET(your Words) of Trucks it would cost nothing...
> 
> ...


Im not dogging you..Its your Business.....Everybody has there own way...:salute:


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## lawnlandscape (Oct 8, 2009)

*Snocrete* - Its not a waste of a plow truck, because we do snow removal in 4 different city's. In most of those city's we do our commercial properties, condos, and apartment complexes first then do our homes after. Sending a truck city by city to do the homes would be a waste. No, I'm not carried away when I say we can blow a driveway just as fast if not faster then plowing it. We use Grasshoppers with 48" or 60" blowers.

*WIPensFan *- Saying that 99% of snow removal company's in our area clear driveways with plows is obviously not a fact. To be honest with you I have NEVER seen ANY company clearing a driveway with a plow, but obviously I don't go driving through random neighborhoods looking for it because I'm very busy. In fact there is one home we service in particular where the house across the street is serviced by a different company and the house to the north is serviced by yet another different company. There have been many times when all 3 of us snow up at similar times to clear these homes. Everyone of our company's is blowing the driveway, so I would be curious as to where you get that 'fact' at 99% of company's plow driveways in our area.

*Mick* - I am obviously not talking about driveways that are 500' long with large parking areas. I am referring to average city driveways. We would plow a driveway like this. Good way to distort the conversation.

*Matson Snow* - I have seen his webnar, and also have been a member of SIMA for quite some time. And again, we are *not* using 'push blowers' on the driveways. Cleaner + faster or just as fast.


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095670 said:


> *Snocrete* - Its not a waste of a plow truck, because we do snow removal in 4 different city's. In most of those city's we do our commercial properties, condos, and apartment complexes first then do our homes after. Sending a truck city by city to do the homes would be a waste. No, I'm not carried away when I say we can blow a driveway just as fast if not faster then plowing it. We use Grasshoppers with 48" or 60" blowers.
> 
> *WIPensFan *- Saying that 99% of snow removal company's in our area clear driveways with plows is obviously not a fact. To be honest with you I have NEVER seen ANY company clearing a driveway with a plow, but obviously I don't go driving through random neighborhoods looking for it because I'm very busy. In fact there is one home we service in particular where the house across the street is serviced by a different company and the house to the north is serviced by yet another different company. There have been many times when all 3 of us snow up at similar times to clear these homes. Everyone of our company's is blowing the driveway, so I would be curious as to where you get that 'fact' at 99% of company's plow driveways in our area.
> 
> ...


I give up, I wonder what I'm seeing every time I go out then. Where in the Midwest are you? What 4 cities do you work in. I'm in the Madison, WI area. BTW, I can have the drive clear before you get that Grasshopper unloaded off the trailer.


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

WIPensFan;1095738 said:


> I give up, I wonder what I'm seeing every time I go out then. Where in the Midwest are you? What 4 cities do you work in. I'm in the Madison, WI area. BTW, I can have the drive clear before you get that Grasshopper unloaded off the trailer.


:laughing::laughing:...I think we have an Expert on our hands...Wheres Mark Oomkes when we need him....


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## lawnlandscape (Oct 8, 2009)

Matson Snow loves personal insults. When this happens, the constructive conversation is clearly over. Therefore, my posting on this thread is complete.

WIPensFan - I'm just north of you.


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095765 said:


> Matson Snow loves personal insults. When this happens, the constructive conversation is clearly over. Therefore, my posting on this thread is complete.
> 
> WIPensFan - I'm just north of you.


Im not the one that made the grasshopper comment...I was the one laughing at it....:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

lawnlandscape;1095765 said:


> Matson Snow loves personal insults. When this happens, the constructive conversation is clearly over. Therefore, my posting on this thread is complete.
> 
> WIPensFan - I'm just north of you.


lawnlandcape, I don't want trouble with you, I just know how I see things getting done. I respect you for doing it the way you see fit, I have no doubt it works for you.

On another note...Grasshopper sucks!!

 :laughing: Just kidding!! Laugh a little.


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

WIPensFan;1095738 said:


> BTW, I can have the drive clear before you get that Grasshopper unloaded off the trailer.


Funny, but true......my money would be on WIP clearing drives faster with his truck & 10ft wide plow, than the lawnmower w/4ft blower.....you should each select a similar size drive out of your own accounts, youtube it in real time, and we will see how it all plays out. I can play bookie if need be.

BTW, Matson I see you now have a 100,000 gal. liq setup.....would you be interested in making a low level pass over zip 61611, got few accounts I would pay you well to splash.payup


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

snocrete;1096029 said:


> Funny, but true......my money would be on WIP clearing drives faster with his truck & 10ft wide plow, than the lawnmower w/4ft blower.....you should each select a similar size drive out of your own accounts, youtube it in real time, and we will see how it all plays out. I can play bookie if need be.
> 
> BTW, Matson I see you now have a 100,000 gal. liq setup.....would you be interested in making a low level pass over zip 61611, got few accounts I would pay you well to splash.payup


I've always thought would be cool, set something up for snow removal equipment similar to those videos of the different skid steers competing. That would solve a lot of the "what would work better"? questions. Plowsite Olympics?


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