# At what point......????



## Fisher II (Sep 13, 2004)

How large of a route would you need to make sweeping worth it......seems these units are a large outlay of money and high maint. There must be some sort of rule of thumb from starting out with wb blowers, brooms and shovels....to buying your 1st unit. From what I hear of our local guys most co.'s have a 4 hr min. running at $75 per hr. Any input would be appreciated!


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## JRSlawn (Jan 15, 2004)

I am just getting started my self I have one truck I got for 500.00 it is going to take 1,000 to get it on the road. I am looking for another truck for about 10,000-15,000 for smaller stuff. I would never go to a lot with one of our walk behind blowers and start blowing the whole thing off. The parking lots that get most attention our large lots like wal mart home depot and lowes. Go out there with a blower and you would be there all day and night. Look for the right equipment. Work on a budget. There is only two companies in my area who provide these services. And they are billing out like 100-125.00 per hours for air sweeping. There is money to be made if you can get the company up and running


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## crashz (Jan 12, 2004)

The equipment availible is much like snowplows. You have everthing from a hand broom to a large self contained sweeper. The large machines are efficient for large areas, but small lots can be a waste of time. I've swept a medium sized lot (a bank) by hand in quicker time than with a machine due to the transport time, and clean up. Most machines can't get the corners, and also leave a small ridge. The clean up of that took only a little less time than sweeping by hand. 

There are sidewalk machines that make a good small lot sweeper. I have one that was made in upstate NY. Sold by Abele Tractor, I can't recall the manufacture's name right now. Its hydraulic powered unit that looks like an overgrown snowblower with a 5' wide rotating broom. Sweeps very well and is quite manuverable. Might be a good option before you jump to a big machine.


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