# A little Help on first really big commercial



## stanger86 (Oct 15, 2009)

I have done a lot of commercial lots, just not this big. I have a couple questions. The previous company use to drive his trucks on the sidewalks and plow the snow off of them, they are no less than 8' wide everywhere. The problem is his blade left rust marks all over and they owners hate it! what would you suggest I use, I was thinking possibly a powered broom on the front of a skidsteer? Second, what would be a ballpark cost and time figure to clear this lot. It needs to be cleared by 5:00 am. I was thinking of using about 4 1-ton trucks with 9-10' blades, a skidsteer, and a frontend loader (will have to rent or lease). Also, all snow will have to be stacked on the grass on the north end of the lot. He also wants a per push price, but a couple buddies in the field tried talking me into a per hour basis, which do you think is better on this lot?
Lot size - 410,000 sqft
sidewalks - 28,000 sqft

0-2" ~ 4550.00
2-4" ~5500.00
4-6" ~ 6550.00
Stacking snow price?
Sidewalk price ?
I figure about 6-8 ton of salt per event @140 per ton ~ 840.00-1120.00 for salt


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

I'll be the one to say it. That is a big lot for you, if you are asking people on the internet what your price should be for it. 


Figure your efficiency rates for your equipment, difficulty of your lot, how will that effect the efficiency rate of the equipment, and then of course using your overhead and numbers, calculate your hourly rates, and do the math. Don't forget to add in the time, and money it will take to manage a contract that size. You will need many site visits throughout the season, a lot of time in the office tracking data on the site, and putting out the cash for all the labor, fuel, and materials that you will use on the lot in between the 30-60 day billing cycles, or whatever this client might be.


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## ponyboy (Dec 19, 2006)

Never put all your eggs in one basket 
Can u still Handel your other work
Put a poly edge on one truck to do side walks


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## Luther (Oct 31, 2007)

I don't know what kind of market you have in Nebraska......

Around here your numbers would not work ~ you would be *WAY* high and never get the chance to do the work.

You don't really need as much equipment as you listed either, but would be nice to have all that on an over 6" accumulation. You've also overestimated your bulk salt usage....the going rate per ton is very regional so I don't know where you land there.

I'm concerned that you don't know how to price the sidewalks. Do you have any idea how much product you will need for those and how long they will take you? I don't know what snow stacking is....you stack snow every time you plow. Do you mean snow pile removal/relocation?

God bless you if you get what you're proposing.


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## nh785 (Oct 22, 2009)

9.4 acres? 6 pieces of equip? $4500 for under 2"? 1500# of salt per acre? good luck do a little more research and try again


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## Longae29 (Feb 15, 2008)

Everything is WAY WAY off, except your $ amt for the salt might be in the ballpark.....not the quantity but the charge.


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## stanger86 (Oct 15, 2009)

Yeah I had my figures out of whack! We are going for 3850.00 including sidewalks. the reason why it is so high is because after every snowfall or icing they want us to come back and clean up all of the sidewalks. Salt wise Im figuring 2 ton of ice slicer or 4 ton of rock salt. I just found out the last guy came in around 2800 plus walkways and did not include any cleanup, I think I should be pretty close with my numbers, or do ya think im still a little high?


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## Camden (Mar 10, 2007)

How many events do you average? I'm asking because of the fact you're going to bid this on a per push basis. If you need to lease a loader you need to make sure you're going to get enough use out of it to make your payments. Are you going to be okay if you have a light year and you only go out a few times? That's something you need to make sure you're thinking about.

As far as your numbers are concerned, our hospital is 9 acres and the guy who does it gets just over $2k per event and it includes salting and hauling. Our markets are very different though.


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## erkoehler (Sep 25, 2008)

Not sure where your located, but seems really high. And WAY WAY to much equipment.


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## dfd9 (Aug 18, 2010)

That amount of equipment is perfect, if every storm starts at 3:00 AM and stops at 4 AM. You could then get it done in an hour with all that equipment.


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## stanger86 (Oct 15, 2009)

We average about 8 snow falls a season and about 10-12 icings a season.


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## jgoetter1 (Feb 23, 2007)

stanger86;1311905 said:


> We average about 8 snow falls a season and about 10-12 icings a season.


What's the loader cost to rent for the season? Maybe sell couple 1 tons and buy the loader.


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## Wayne Volz (Mar 1, 2002)

*Getting good answers*

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