# Filling up after a storm



## Neige

Happiest gas station in town, I'm over $50,000 this winter so far.


----------



## mulcahy mowing

damn you have a fleet of machines! do they all do driveways?


----------



## Neige

Thanks, 70% are driveways 2700 of them, the other 30% commercials.


----------



## gardenkeeper88

Wow That's a lot of fuel. On the bright side if no major breakdowns or accidents then...payup. Nice looking fleet!


----------



## Superior L & L

Wow thats some serious equipment! How many are there and what do they and u do in the summer?


----------



## K20Fisher

Do you own the gas station


----------



## Neige

Maybe I should buy the gas station. As far as equipment goes

6 M9000 Kubota
2 M100 Kubota
1 M110 Kubota
1 M 95 Kubota
1 M95x Kubota
1 M8200 Kubota
1 AR520 Kubota
2 Fermec 660
1 Landini 95 Blizzard
6 TS 100 New Holland
2 TS 110 New Holland
2 JCB 214 backhoes
1 Volvo 90
1 Tencho snow blower 275HP that attaches on the Volvo
2 Bombardier sidewalk plows
1 Ford F350 with a v plow and salter
1 Inter SS with a salter
1 Inter 40S with 12' box plow

I think thats it, maybe missed something. And I landscape in the summer.


----------



## Camden

Paul Vanderzon;523857 said:


> 2700 of them


Are you serious? How long does it take you to do all of them? Keep the pics coming...


----------



## mulcahy mowing

2700 driveways

we need more pics that fleet is crazy


----------



## Snowman19

Did you buy the whole dealership? That is crazy! I like it, keep the pictures coming:waving:


----------



## TKLAWN

WOW that is this sweetest fleet I have ever seen are all of the tractor gas or diesel?


----------



## D&R Plowing

Wow, awesome fleet. Look at the price on the sign, 112.4. Is that for a gallon of fuel or an equivalent amount.


----------



## Neige

Thanks guys and Gals, i'm very proud of my business.
I wish that was for a gallon. No that is for a liter of gas. Diesel is 1.22 a liter, and there are 4 liters that go into a US gallon. Ouch. 
I took some videos the other day will try and post them soon.
Here,s a pic of doing some hourly for our town.


----------



## creativedesigns

Paul, you should be buying coloured diesel fuel & have it in bulk tanks at your shop or something!! Also, do you have a snow accumulation cap-off limit for resi's ? ( like if it snows over 250 cm, after you charge per visit ) Impressive fleet though!


----------



## Neige

No I don't run on colored fuel, was told it was illegal, very heavy fines. Every year, some equipment gets spot checked by Revenue Canada. They siphon out some fuel to check the color. We also do not have any limits on our contracts, will try next year but the market is pretty competitive.


----------



## dmontgomery

I hope you have a rewards credit card for all that fuel buying!!!!!!


----------



## AbsoluteH&L

$50,000 for 2700 accounts and 33 pieces of machinery really isn't all that bad. To bad you can't use the off road fuel.


----------



## Philbilly2

why can't you use off-road fuel (dyed) those tractors are not plated for road use are they?


----------



## mulcahy mowing

they have to be how do they got from account to account they use the roads. at least here they would have to be


----------



## Neige

They are plated for snow clearing. Which means they are allowed to go on the street for that purpose only. In the province of Quebec, I don't know about the rest of Canada. I could use heating oil or farm dyed fuel, but am told its tax evasion. It would save me at least 30% but I want to stay legal.


----------



## Philbilly2

Paul Vanderzon;524122 said:


> They are plated for snow clearing. Which means they are allowed to go on the street for that purpose only. In the province of Quebec, I don't know about the rest of Canada. I could use heating oil or farm dyed fuel, but am told its tax evasion. It would save me at least 30% but I want to stay legal.


so you guys have to plate a tractor... weird in Illinois, you stick a orange triangle on the back of somthing and it is now a farm vechile, run what ever fuel you want. That sucks


----------



## Neige

Wow I wish. I have to pay $35 a month for each plate.:crying:


----------



## AbsoluteH&L

Don't get us started on the hillbilly plate, used to drag what ever you want down the road on a trailer that is over loaded, under maintained, and usually has no brakes! Ups sorry I mean Farm plate.


----------



## creativedesigns

Paul Vanderzon;524063 said:


> No I don't run on colored fuel, was told it was illegal, very heavy fines. Every year, some equipment gets spot checked by Revenue Canada. They siphon out some fuel to check the color. We also do not have any limits on our contracts, will try next year but the market is pretty competitive.


Theres a huge company in Ottawa called Appleseed snowblowing, & they run something like 30 JD tractors, all 110 hp! They have around 4000 clients They have a 250cm limit, then they charge $15 per house after that! Still, thats cheap though. But they are allowed to run coloured fuel because its an Agricultural tractor. You can put a 16 yr old without a licence & put him to work and not get fined, cause its Agriculture equipment. But I'm certain in MTL you can run coloured fuel. In shawville Que my relatives run Dairy operations & use coloured! I'd look into it Paul V, its much cheaper. :waving:


----------



## ThePlowKing

Who makes those snow blowers on the back of the tractors and where can I buy one?


----------



## AbsoluteH&L

First you want a back blade, now you want a snow blower. Make up your mind!


----------



## ThePlowKing

You can never have too many toys


----------



## J&R Landscaping

Very Impressive fleet!


----------



## creativedesigns

ThePlowKing;524225 said:


> Who makes those snow blowers on the back of the tractors and where can I buy one?


Follow the link!

http://www.pronovost.qc.ca/indexa.html


----------



## G.M.Landscaping

I never seen a dump truck with the front wheels like that. Do they both steer? Seems like it would be hard to drive if they didn't.


----------



## Neige

Yes they both turn. As for the fuel, I will check things out and get back. I talked to a farmer just the other day telling him its unfair, and he told me he can't use colored when clearing snow outside of his own property.
Its really unfair that this guy in Ottawa runs colored. You have such a disadvantage competing against farmers. Its like they are being subsidized. Even their plates cost $30.00 for the year.:angry:


----------



## theonlybull

you'd need farm plates on the tractor's to get away with dyed fuel ( off road fuel)

we have our backhoe registered as GT (in nova scotia, general tractor, i think it stands for) $35 a year


nice lookin fleet ya got there


----------



## lawncare18

Can you get us any more pictures of the fleet or fueling up?? How much snow have you guys had this season?? ALso how long are you out per snow event with all those accounts


----------



## Neige

I am very new at all of this. Just started taking pictures this year. We have gotten over 12 feet so far. Any thing under 6 inches, takes 8 hours. You can add about 3hrs for every 2 inches over that. Of course those are the hours my employees do, you can multiply that by 3 for me.


----------



## JD Dave

Paul Vanderzon;524122 said:


> They are plated for snow clearing. Which means they are allowed to go on the street for that purpose only. In the province of Quebec, I don't know about the rest of Canada. I could use heating oil or farm dyed fuel, but am told its tax evasion. It would save me at least 30% but I want to stay legal.


Nice fleet. I'm surprised you can't run coloured, we do in all our tractors and never heard of needing plates for snow. Quebec has more farm tractors plowing snow, then any other place in the world. I couldn't beleive how many have wing and blade combos for plowing roads. Keep the pics coming, we all enjoy them. BTW, Quebec farmers are subsidized more then any other farmers in Canada!


----------



## Quality SR

Wow very nice fleet. That Gas bill is crazy.


----------



## Mike S

I Am Impressed!


----------



## deere615

Very nice equipment, man you have alot of accounts!


----------



## kcplowmata

Glad to see a normal guy making it and not some big paper pushing company. Nice set of tractors.


----------



## sno commander

nice fleet do you find its faster to use snowblower on the back rather than plows on the front? thats a bummer you can't use off road fuel in your sweet fleet


----------



## tman3007

Holy Crap That's a lot of driveways, love the pictures!


----------



## Philbilly2

AbsoluteH&L;524187 said:


> Don't get us started on the hillbilly plate, used to drag what ever you want down the road on a trailer that is over loaded, under maintained, and usually has no brakes! Ups sorry I mean Farm plate.


Wow, things are getting a little personal now! But on a lighter note, yeah your probley right, we do do that every now and then


----------



## Neige

sno commander;525554 said:


> nice fleet do you find its faster to use snowblower on the back rather than plows on the front? thats a bummer you can't use off road fuel in your sweet fleet


I know this will sound unbelievable, a good driver on a tractor with a blower can do 50 driveways 20' x 30' an hour. His run will consist of 150 drives in less than a sq mile. I will post a video later this week. As for the fuel it sucks, I will make calls tomorrow to make sure i'm not wrong.


----------



## tjlands

Paul Vanderzon;523848 said:


> Happiest gas station in town, I'm over $50,000 this winter so far.


Do you mean you spent 50K on fuel?


----------



## Neige

Yep, and counting.


----------



## dmontgomery

Ok so you spent $50K but what have you made???????


----------



## iceyman

dmontgomery;526059 said:


> Ok so you spent $50K but what have you made???????


i bet more than 50K......payuptymusicwesport


----------



## Neige

Im hoping for more, but all my contracts are seasonal, with no caps. With near double the average snow, the green is getting lean.


----------



## creativedesigns

I know a guy in Ottawa that charges $450 for the winter season per laneway & includes walkways in that price. And prices go up if the laneway is a bit larger. Some lanes he charges $550 too! The thing about residential is that you can never charge enough for the amount of work involved & the picky demand that people want. On top of that you neeed a cap-off limit to protect yourself! Otherwise its too hard to make any money..we all know the relative expenses that are associated with running mega companies. tymusic


----------



## JD Dave

creativedesigns;526284 said:


> I know a guy in Ottawa that charges $450 for the winter season per laneway & includes walkways in that price. And prices go up if the laneway is a bit larger. Some lanes he charges $550 too! The thing about residential is that you can never charge enough for the amount of work involved & the picky demand that people want. On top of that you neeed a cap-off limit to protect yourself! Otherwise its too hard to make any money..we all know the relative expenses that are associated with running mega companies. tymusic


I'm going to guess that Paul has things figured out fairly well.


----------



## Neige

I really like the idea of a cap. Don't think are area will accept one. I want to keep things simple, maybe give them a choice of a 5% increase with a cap, or a 15% increase no cap. Will poll some of my clients next month. As for walkways I don't touch them. Often the price is more for the walkway then their driveway.


----------



## NBI Lawn

Paul, I am glad my fuel bill isnt near $50,000 . Although, like someone already said that reflects how much you have made payup. 

You arent the one that was in the news a while back are you? The one who had all of his equipment go down at one time...


----------



## creativedesigns

NBI Lawn;527254 said:


> Paul, I am glad my fuel bill isnt near $50,000 . Although, like someone already said that reflects how much you have made payup.
> 
> You arent the one that was in the news a while back are you? The one who had all of his equipment go down at one time...


LOL, no that was Tonys ! Check the link :

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=54093&highlight=tonys


----------



## iceyman

paul does have a bro named tony...


----------



## NBI Lawn

creativedesigns;527294 said:


> LOL, no that was Tonys ! Check the link :
> 
> http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=54093&highlight=tonys


Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me.


----------



## Neige

Thanks Creative, never want to be associated with that guy.
Could be good for business in Ottawa, with 1 less low baller/sleazbag around. Hope he does'nt start under a new name.


----------



## creativedesigns

I heard thru the grape vine that Tony's making his way to Montreal! LOL   
....Just kidding!


----------



## riverwalkland

only 50,000? thats only 1500$ per machine or about 300 gallons each. I know it sounds like a lot but i've spent a lot more then 1500 a season for one truck...


----------



## plowman4life

you need to invest in your own tank. we have a 5000 gallon underground tank at the garage and it gets filled whenever we need it. (diesel only) we locked into our price at the beginning of last year for a 2 year deal we are paying $3.30 a gallon for diesel. next year it will probobly be lock at around $3.60 a gallon for 2 years.

ill tell you what. it costs a **** load to fill but you dont have to go to the gas stattion whenever you need fuel.


----------



## Neige

Looked into that, but the town won't allow it. They will allow a 500 gallon tank stored indoors. Its a long story, but we are very limited in what we can do because of zone-age.
Its amazing that with the extreme gas prize fluctuations, you can lock in for two years. Thats really good for you, thanks for the idea. I should be getting an answer on off road fuel later this week.


----------



## Mark Oomkes

Paul Vanderzon;525814 said:


> I know this will sound unbelievable, a good driver on a tractor with a blower can do 50 driveways 20' x 30' an hour. His run will consist of 150 drives in less than a sq mile. I will post a video later this week. As for the fuel it sucks, I will make calls tomorrow to make sure i'm not wrong.


Nice equipment Paul. Not unbelievable whatsoever. I've seen the vids and I keep getting tempted to get back into resi's here with a setup like that. It blows away even a truck with a back blade.

Strange that they would allow a fuel tank inside considering fire hazard and vapors, etc. Maybe you need to get around some more fellow countrymen.  You know, they kind that wear the funny shoes.


----------



## 01FordPlower

That's a lot of gas, you should drill for your own oil.


----------



## creativedesigns

01FordPlower;530221 said:


> That's a lot of gas, you should drill for your own oil.


Yup, started diggin'er by hand the other day!...got 11 feet done & 900 more ft to go!


----------



## yancy

AbsoluteH&L;524187 said:


> Don't get us started on the hillbilly plate, used to drag what ever you want down the road on a trailer that is over loaded, under maintained, and usually has no brakes! Ups sorry I mean Farm plate.


Be easy now I make sure at least 3 of the 4 tires are on the trailer j/k but I always carry one in the toolbox never know what I might find on a road trip and drag home on back roads!


----------



## DFLS

Paul Vanderzon;525814 said:


> I know this will sound unbelievable, a good driver on a tractor with a blower can do 50 driveways 20' x 30' an hour. His run will consist of 150 drives in less than a sq mile. I will post a video later this week. As for the fuel it sucks, I will make calls tomorrow to make sure i'm not wrong.


How close to the garage can they get? Do your guys get as close to the garage as possible then shovel the rest or just leave the little that they can't reach with the machine. There must be some snow that pushes up in front of the blower against the doors.


----------



## DFLS

Paul Vanderzon;525814 said:


> I know this will sound unbelievable, a good driver on a tractor with a blower can do 50 driveways 20' x 30' an hour. His run will consist of 150 drives in less than a sq mile. I will post a video later this week. As for the fuel it sucks, I will make calls tomorrow to make sure i'm not wrong.


Takes me 6 to 8 hrs to do 50 with back blade and V plow, but I shovel against garages and do lots of walks / sidewalks too. Plus a little more driving distance between drives than you.

Ever consider putting the blower on the front of the tractor and a backblade on the back? Love to see those videos you mentioned.


----------



## Mark Oomkes

DFLS;534306 said:


> Takes me 6 to 8 hrs to do 50 with back blade and V plow, but I shovel against garages and do lots of walks / sidewalks too. Plus a little more driving distance between drives than you.
> 
> Ever consider putting the blower on the front of the tractor and a backblade on the back? Love to see those videos you mentioned.


Have you ever seen a video of these setups? A back blade will only slow it down, immensely.


----------



## D DeSantis

Hey what part of montreal you working in?? I'm in cote st luc montreal west area and i'm getting killed this year just running 1 pick up, the prices are so low here for driveway and walkway included because no one is raising the prices, all these old italians working for about 55 a month is terrible.
By the way nice setup!!

Dan


----------



## RdTeK

I can relate to the dyed diesel fuel. Here in P.E.I., dyed fuel is for farmers only because of the tax break they get. Up until two years ago, farmers were able to blow snow commercially without insurance and use the dyed diesel. It really put guys like myself at a disadvantage since I need plates, insurance, and clear diesel which is fully taxed. Today, famers must follow the same rules I do for snow removal, which puts us all on the same playing field. Hey Paul, how do you like those pullback blowers, made by pronovost are they??? I've always bought pronovost, currently have a TRC-860, gonna trade next year for TRC-920. My 125 driveways look pretty small next to your operation....most of my driveways average about 20X60-80 feet, usually takes me 3 hours for 10cm, and around 4.5 for say 30cm.....Gonna try and upload some videos from today.


----------



## DFLS

Mark Oomkes;534309 said:


> Have you ever seen a video of these setups? A back blade will only slow it down, immensely.


Can you point me to some videos?


----------



## Mark Oomkes

DFLS;534382 said:


> Can you point me to some videos?


http://www.pronovost.qc.ca/video.html

PS Google is an amazing thing.


----------



## Neige

DFLS;534299 said:


> How close to the garage can they get? Do your guys get as close to the garage as possible then shovel the rest or just leave the little that they can't reach with the machine. There must be some snow that pushes up in front of the blower against the doors.


We get to about 2 feet of the garage door. No we do not go out and shovel, our clients are used to it. There is no piles that get pushed up.



D DeSantis;534321 said:


> Hey what part of montreal you working in?? I'm in cote st luc montreal west area and i'm getting killed this year just running 1 pick up, the prices are so low here for driveway and walkway included because no one is raising the prices, all these old italians working for about 55 a month is terrible.
> By the way nice setup!!
> 
> Thanks, I'm from St-Bruno, would love to see the prices increase. Well see what happens next year, a lot of guys are sick and tired this year.
> Dan





RdTeK;534334 said:


> I can relate to the dyed diesel fuel. Here in P.E.I., dyed fuel is for farmers only because of the tax break they get. Up until two years ago, farmers were able to blow snow commercially without insurance and use the dyed diesel. It really put guys like myself at a disadvantage since I need plates, insurance, and clear diesel which is fully taxed. Today, famers must follow the same rules I do for snow removal, which puts us all on the same playing field. Hey Paul, how do you like those pullback blowers, made by pronovost are they??? I've always bought pronovost, currently have a TRC-860, gonna trade next year for TRC-920. My 125 driveways look pretty small next to your operation....most of my driveways average about 20X60-80 feet, usually takes me 3 hours for 10cm, and around 4.5 for say 30cm.....Gonna try and upload some videos from today.


Thats what I've been told about our fuel for here also. Did find out that my big snowblower can run on colored fuel because its an attachment with its own motor. No license plate needed.

Hopefully will have my videos up later this week.


----------



## jayman3

Hey Creative you have relatives up in Shawville I have a cottage in Ladysmith,I got checked last year with my backhoe and they said that you can't run coloured in anything that is plated on the streets in Quebec,it does suck though.


----------



## D DeSantis

Did you have fun in this last storm? I'm dead tired, thank god u dont do walkways i had 4 or 5 foot wind drifs in almost all of them hard snow too!!

Dan


----------

