# Why Would You Constantly Plow A Town Road?



## Thor78 (Jan 4, 2011)

So I was woken up yet again the other night by my favorite neighbor plowing the road @ 3am. :realmad: First let me paint a picture. Our neighborhood is a horseshoe shape with only one 300ft. dead end road off of it, which my and his driveways are on, facing each other. My question is this, why the h*ll would you plow this town road constantly? (key word town) Is that even legal? Maybe I could see doing it if it had snowed enough to be deemed un-passable (by the way they do have 2 4x4 vehicles) and absolutely had to get out. Wouldn't't you only have to do 1 pass tho if that were the case? Well it turns out IMO this was never the case. In fact I swear he's out there some days plowing asphalt :laughing: When it actually does snow enough to be plowed, our town does a pretty damn good job. Not only that but they do it in a fraction of the time too. This guy is out there for 1/2 an hour going back & forth, back & forth (300ft. mind you) over & over again every couple inches. Not to mention pushes it in every direction and across the intersecting road into the neighbors yard (town pushes it toward the dead end). Then to top it all off they almost always leave a car or two in the road and the town plows have to go around them. Personally I think I would spare the wear & tear on my truck & plow, get my damn cars out of the road, and let the town do it's job. Maybe that's just me tho.


----------



## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

practice makes perfect.....wish you lived closer i could drop by and get some laps in myself.


----------



## Thor78 (Jan 4, 2011)

Dissociative;1224476 said:


> practice makes perfect.....wish you lived closer i could drop by and get some laps in myself.


Really, at 3am, on a sometimes dry road??? I doubt "practice" has anything to do with it.
But I guess you never know


----------



## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

call the town barn and ask them what there rules/laws are for private person plowing the public roads. 

thay might have a big legal problem if someone got in a acident and found the road was not correctly taken care of with salt/melting products to control ice as he might be plowing this off. 

and if your legaly not alowed to plow acrros or threw a street with private snow removal what makes him think he can plow the whole road ? 

and lots of towns and citys now have no parking on public road laws during snow removal season . 

i bet that he will have a visit from the local code or public works person. then if that dont work call the cops for noise distubance . most all places its after 10pm. and since its a public road and he is not legaly responcable to plow it as he is not a public road dept worker then thay will prob get a talking to.


----------



## Andy96XLT (Jan 1, 2009)

I bet what he is doing is illegal. In my county (it could be the state im not sure) you could get a HUGE fine for plowing a public street/road. What is weird is you are allowed to push snow across the street here, but if you are plowing the road and the local PD catch you you better get out your checkbook, its going to cost you, a lot. I believe it is a liability reason.


----------



## acornish (Dec 21, 2003)

wow i would #1 go ask him why--- #2 tell him u like to sleep at 3am --- #3 ask him if he has a roadway permit-- if you plow a roadway (other then municipal) in Rhode Island you need a permit, a buddy of mine got a 3000 dollar fine for not having one up there , they used to leave his dead end till last so he started doing it so he and the neighbor could get out , boy he was sorry when he got the fine in court after being caught


----------



## JB1 (Dec 29, 2006)

gee, around here if you plowed a road, they would pat you on the back and give you a big thanks.


----------



## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

acornish;1225411 said:


> wow i would #1 go ask him why--- #2 tell him u like to sleep at 3am --- #3 ask him if he has a roadway permit-- if you plow a roadway (other then municipal) in Rhode Island you need a permit, a buddy of mine got a 3000 dollar fine for not having one up there , they used to leave his dead end till last so he started doing it so he and the neighbor could get out , boy he was sorry when he got the fine in court after being caught


if he is suck a stupid d!ck to plow a road and at 3am why would you wana go talk with him. just let the cops handle it.


----------



## Thor78 (Jan 4, 2011)

JB1;1225430 said:


> gee, around here if you plowed a road, they would pat you on the back and give you a big thanks.


Well it's funny, at first the thought had crossed my mind. Maybe he is just trying to be nice. But now I don't know. I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk here, but my OP was a little venting I guess. I'm new to plowing as I have never owned my own yet, but am not a stranger to using one, and use heavy equipment on a somewhat regular basis. I'm also not trying to get anyone in trouble, that is not my goal, I do however strongly believe in common sense & courtesy and this guy doesn't seem to have much of either. I just basically wanted to get peoples thoughts on this, if I was in the wrong for thinking this way, sometimes more heads are better than one. Also if anyone else would do this, and if so, a logical reason for doing so. Other than "practice" of course and "hey look at me, I have a plow and blinky lights". Don't get me wrong tho, I am a huge fan of blinky lights.


----------



## jjklongisland (Nov 13, 2006)

I always plow my street. The Town hires subs in my neighborhood to plow side streets and neighborhoods and they do a crappy job on my block. I live on a dead end with a caldesac that is about 1200 ft long with about 16 houses on it. Every neighbor thanks me cause they know how much wider I get the road. And yes sometimes its at 3am. The plows by me plow night and day, dont know why its an issue for you at 3am. The Town most likely welcomes it and says wow, thats one less road they have to plow. Dont know why it would be illegal. You are pushing snow and making a road passable. Personally I think you guys are being way to hard on a guy thats just trying to help out his neighbors... If he is making it worse than it is than I would have a friendly conversation with him give him your opinion but I dont see whats wrong with it???


----------



## Beachernaut (Sep 26, 2008)

The road in our subdivision is a county road, and way down the priority list, so they don't get to it with the county rig until late in the day (previous evening/night storm). That being said, I don't drop the plow unless it's for a drift that's threatening to block the road. The county has approached me about contracting with them to plow our subdivision, but my light duty rig and the fact that I have only 1 keeps me from accepting.

I will plow the road just to make it passable, but nothing more. There's no reason to beat up my rig more. The 10 long gravel driveways I have are bad enough.


----------



## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

jjklongisland;1225608 said:


> I always plow my street. The Town hires subs in my neighborhood to plow side streets and neighborhoods and they do a crappy job on my block. I live on a dead end with a caldesac that is about 1200 ft long with about 16 houses on it. Every neighbor thanks me cause they know how much wider I get the road. And yes sometimes its at 3am. The plows by me plow night and day, dont know why its an issue for you at 3am. The Town most likely welcomes it and says wow, thats one less road they have to plow. Dont know why it would be illegal. You are pushing snow and making a road passable. Personally I think you guys are being way to hard on a guy thats just trying to help out his neighbors... If he is making it worse than it is than I would have a friendly conversation with him give him your opinion but I dont see whats wrong with it???


i see your points. but did you even read the orignal post ? 

plowin at 3am basicly for nothing and taking 30 min to do it. then pushing snow all over and making a mess.

and if he is that stupid do you even want to talk with him ? i know i dont as it would be a waste of my time.


----------



## Mabepossibly (Dec 12, 2010)

Beachernaut;1225653 said:


> The road in our subdivision is a county road, and way down the priority list, so they don't get to it with the county rig until late in the day (previous evening/night storm). That being said, I don't drop the plow unless it's for a drift that's threatening to block the road. The county has approached me about contracting with them to plow our subdivision, but my light duty rig and the fact that I have only 1 keeps me from accepting.
> 
> I will plow the road just to make it passable, but nothing more. There's no reason to beat up my rig more. The 10 long gravel driveways I have are bad enough.


Im in a similar boat.

Long, dead end street that sees a lot of drifting. Out of 10 houses only 3 of us live here thru the winter and the village we are a part of only usually runs 1 plow (they have 3 including a sweet Oshkosh) at a time and does not like to pay overtime for night and weekend plowing. Thats fine with me, keep my taxes down. I will touch up my road from drifting on the weekends and I clear much of the circle that my driveway dumps into. The town here is small and we barely have police coverage. As long as you are not hurting anyone and not being reckless nobody bothers you. Plowing, bon fires (gotta invite the fire captains to drink a few beers), target shooting etc. Dont be an ass and you'll be left alone.


----------



## qualitycut (Jan 13, 2008)

Maybe he has a plow truck and no accounts so he wants to put it use lol. The only time I drop my plow in my road is when we have a lot of snow I will make a pass or 2 down the middle so the neighbors can get in and out.


----------



## john1066 (Jan 1, 2009)

On my street the town makes one pass down each side and doesn't clean right to the edge. so since i have been laid up all winter my dad comes by with the loader and pushes it back to the edges cleans up the intersection and cleans the place up.


----------



## jjklongisland (Nov 13, 2006)

sweetk30;1225730 said:


> i see your points. but did you even read the orignal post ?
> 
> plowin at 3am basicly for nothing and taking 30 min to do it. then pushing snow all over and making a mess.
> 
> and if he is that stupid do you even want to talk with him ? i know i dont as it would be a waste of my time.


Of course I read your post. Whether its your neighbor plowing the road at 3am or the Town, what is the difference. If I am out plowing and I get home at 3 am, if I am going to clean up my block I am going to do it then and not make a special trip...

I dont see why he is stupid. He is helping out his neighbors.


----------



## timinnc (Dec 17, 2010)

There's truth in both perspectives.

First and foremost, he almost certainly is "trying" to do the right thing by plowing and I think he has good intentions.

That being said, he doesn't need to take it to the "extreme" of doing it at 3 AM. That is, unless a full-out blizzard is happening and he's just trying to stay ahead of the game.

I don't think it would be right to report him to the cops, etc., since he really is trying to help. It would be worth talking to him, though, but start the conversation with commenting on how much you appreciate his "efforts" to help keep the road clear, but plowing at that early morning hour is putting a strain on your sleep.

Now, if the polite approach doesn't do it, and he turns ***hole on you real quick, then you have free reign to call the authorities. I just think that initially dealing with as if he has good intentions at heart is the better way to go.


----------



## quigleysiding (Oct 3, 2009)

Maybe he is trying to make sure it doesn't freeze up. Town around here doesn't use much salt. Town does a ****** job on my road, Maybe you could send him to my street.:laughing:I am always out plowing anyway so he won't wake me up.


----------



## fruitcakesa (Jan 29, 2009)

*small town back roads*

My little town has over 60 miles of road to be plowed and most are twisty gravel that the town does a good job of plowing but as we are not on the school bus route our road is not a priority . My wife goes to work at 7 am, so some snowy mornings before the town has come by I will plow the road enough so she can at least get to the paved highway.
I don't make it a habit but sometimes it is necessary.
I don't think the town cares one way or another. I clean up my messes before I go home.


----------



## Thor78 (Jan 4, 2011)

jjklongisland;1225957 said:


> Of course I read your post. Whether its your neighbor plowing the road at 3am or the Town, what is the difference. If I am out plowing and I get home at 3 am, if I am going to clean up my block I am going to do it then and not make a special trip...
> 
> I dont see why he is stupid. He is helping out his neighbors.


Well first off I believe there is a difference between common courtesy/common sense and stupidity. I don't think he's stupid, I lean more toward he only cares about #1. I mean they can't care too much or they wouldn't leave their cars in the road all the time during a storm. It's not that difficult to park a car in your driveway. We are not off the beaten path either, less than 1/4mi to Rt.1. We are also the only other house on this small dead-end road and are not going anywhere that early in the morning. So again, help, I don't know. Besides, the road is almost always plowed by the time we wake up. If it's not, it is shortly there after. To be fair it's not always at 3am, but when it is the difference is this. It takes a town plow 3-5 passes and then he's gone. It takes the other guy countless passes between his driveway, the road, and whatever else he is doing out there. In this case all I'm saying is at 3am (give or take), unless it's the town, it can probably wait. I'm not only thinking of myself, I have 3 kids and a wife. Even if I am out plowing in the future at 3am, they won't be. I'm also willing to bet we're not the only house that can hear it.


----------



## Winter Land Man (Aug 9, 2005)

I plow my road, Hell, I even sand it. Ah, but it's a private road. I have in the past dropped the plow going up a hill if a car couldn't make it up it.


----------



## JTVLandscaping (Jan 1, 2010)

I plow houses on streets that the town gets to last. With everyone's economy like it is, they send them home at 3pm when its still snowing and they won't come back til morning. I like plowing at night, less a-holes out. If the road isn't done when I'm at a driveway, I plow enough of the road so the town doesn't push it back. Not the same, but it's still plowing the road. As far as this guy goes...he must like to plow, I think we all do. If he has nothing to plow let him do the road, it doesn't hurt anyone. If its snowing outside, I think we're all plowing too so he's not keeping you awake. After my post-storm recovery day I usually have to find some snow to push, that's when I plow at my own house. He's just bored.


----------



## BlueWing (Mar 12, 2011)

I live on a caldesac and plow it off. It takes the county 4 days after a storm before they come out to plow and a lot of the times they do not ever show up.
My two neighbors are very happy that I keep it plowed out.
As far as doing it at 3 AM. I have to do that several times every year. If I didn't do it then I wouldn't be able to get back to do it until late afternoon.
Lets see, do it in the middle of the night and you can get out first thing in the morning OR wait until late afternoon when is the next chance I have to clear the road off? OR, wait for 4 days if your lucky for the county to plow it off?
Kind of a no brainer for me and my neighbors.


----------



## Fourbycb (Feb 12, 2009)

I read thru some of these posting's and find some to be just outrageous, So let me tell my story. I live in a city of 175,000 and the city does a average job of cleaning off the streets in the winter. When we get a 3" snow fall and the City makes a pass or two down my street I will go behind them and push the windrows and piles from the parked car's to the curb and even open up the driveway enterence's if its wet and heavy or piled to deep. I do this for 1 city block and have 1 person who calls the local PD and *****es and complains that I plowing the street, he has done this for several years and the PD tells this person pretty much the same thing everytime No one else on the Block complains and that he should be so greatful that I do what I do and if he doesnt like it to move. I accually had 1 officer tell me to leave a pile 20 ft from his driveway enterence and when the city plow comes by they will bury his enterence again and he can dig it out again.
God I love this city


----------



## BlueWing (Mar 12, 2011)

Fourbycb;1279106 said:


> I read thru some of these posting's and find some to be just outrageous, So let me tell my story. I live in a city of 175,000 and the city does a average job of cleaning off the streets in the winter. When we get a 3" snow fall and the City makes a pass or two down my street I will go behind them and push the windrows and piles from the parked car's to the curb and even open up the driveway enterence's if its wet and heavy or piled to deep. I do this for 1 city block and have 1 person who calls the local PD and *****es and complains that I plowing the street, he has done this for several years and the PD tells this person pretty much the same thing everytime No one else on the Block complains and that he should be so greatful that I do what I do and if he doesnt like it to move. I accually had 1 officer tell me to leave a pile 20 ft from his driveway enterence and when the city plow comes by they will bury his enterence again and he can dig it out again.
> God I love this city


Now that is funny!!!


----------



## clydebusa (Jul 10, 2010)

JTVLandscaping;1230772 said:


> I plow houses on streets that the town gets to last. With everyone's economy like it is, they send them home at 3pm when its still snowing and they won't come back til morning. I like plowing at night, less a-holes out. If the road isn't done when I'm at a driveway, I plow enough of the road so the town doesn't push it back. Not the same, but it's still plowing the road. As far as this guy goes...he must like to plow, I think we all do. If he has nothing to plow let him do the road, it doesn't hurt anyone. If its snowing outside, I think we're all plowing too so he's not keeping you awake. After my post-storm recovery day I usually have to find some snow to push, that's when I plow at my own house. He's just bored.


I agree with you, "he is bored"


----------



## Dr Who (Dec 16, 2010)

Fourbycb;1279106 said:


> I read thru some of these posting's and find some to be just outrageous, So let me tell my story. I live in a city of 175,000 and the city does a average job of cleaning off the streets in the winter. When we get a 3" snow fall and the City makes a pass or two down my street I will go behind them and push the windrows and piles from the parked car's to the curb and even open up the driveway enterence's if its wet and heavy or piled to deep. I do this for 1 city block and have 1 person who calls the local PD and *****es and complains that I plowing the street, he has done this for several years and the PD tells this person pretty much the same thing everytime No one else on the Block complains and that he should be so greatful that I do what I do and if he doesnt like it to move. I accually had 1 officer tell me to leave a pile 20 ft from his driveway enterence and when the city plow comes by they will bury his enterence again and he can dig it out again.
> God I love this city


Thumbs UpThumbs UpThumbs UpThumbs Up


----------



## Dr Who (Dec 16, 2010)

Not sure about your neighbor, I agree the he is out playing in the snow, practicing or is really thinking he is helping out.

I live on a dead end street and there is about 50-70 houses on it, I have lived here for 13 years and my street has only been getting plowed for the last 3 years. Why the last 3 you ask? Because I bought a plow 3 years ago and keep it clean.

I hit my street with 2 quick passes when I head out in the mornings, usually waiting for my shovel guy to show up, It does not matter what time it is.

I hit it in the mornings like I said, then when I am done for the day I make a couple more passes on it to clean it up and push back the wind rows were people have moved there cars. This last year people actually started parking in there drive so I can clean the street better.

I have not once had anyone complain, I would just tell them to mind there own business or pizz off. I have had a couple neighbor's try to get a collection up to at least pay my fuel cost. So far the only one that has given my anything was the guy that works for the city and plows the schools, he give me 5 bucks.

I do have one older lady that gives me the stink eye when I roll the snow in here drive, but I assume she is glad that I plow the street so here 30 year old Corolla can get out.

If you really have a problem with the guy plowing that early, have a talk with him or just buy some ear plugs. Winter does not last that long..


----------



## Cmbrsum (Oct 2, 2008)

I Aways take passes as I leave the neighborhood. But don't finish the road till I get home. The town plows just a soon leave it up to me.


----------

