# Plow and salt bid



## bluegrass84 (Nov 10, 2016)

New to the site, enjoy reading everyones experiences on here.

I have been in lawn maintenace and landscaping for a little while now and adding snow removal to my business. I have played around with it in the past, but now looking to pick up some commerical lots.
I have one to bid on the lot is approximately 1.75 acres
has 3 loading docks, 5 sets of steps no more than 15 steps on any set, around 500ft of sidewalks to be cleared and salted. the front drive has around 20 parking spaces and loops around the the entance/exit. the snow can be pushed to the corner of the small lot, then to one side in the rear where that lot is 1 acre. the rest is drive where Semis/cars enter the employee lot.
Whats a ballpark bid on this with salt and for salt events only?
Ill more than likely be using bagged salt in bulk until I get storage for some bulk.
Location is Ky

Also what trigger would you use per push
less than 1"
1.1-3"
3.1-5"
5.1-7" etc

or less than 2"
2.1-4"
4.1-6"
6.1-8"

Thanks in advance for your repsonses.


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## bluegrass84 (Nov 10, 2016)

I will be using a ton pickup with 9' Boss V and 1075 snow ex spreader


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

Someone this late in the season taking bids...Tells me all they're interested in is CHEAP!!


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## bluegrass84 (Nov 10, 2016)

Its early in the season here, most companies around where I am at dont start taking bids until late October or early November.
Our first recordable snowfall wasnt until january last year. 
Still in the 60-70s right now.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

Sounds like you got it figured out then. 

Add your cost per hour plus overhead per hour and your profit and there's your price.


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## Sawboy (Dec 18, 2005)

5 sets of steps? $29.66, a case of Schlitz, and a bag of pork rinds.


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## bluegrass84 (Nov 10, 2016)

whats the avg difference per trigger
IE 2" say $250 what would you charge for 2.1-4, 4.1-6 and so on


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Sawboy said:


> 5 sets of steps? $29.66, a case of Schlitz, and a bag of pork rinds.


Can't you read, he's in Kentucky, ya gets a bottle o shine, and the girl with the somer teeth! All kidding aside. How much snow do you get in a season? You will be there probably 2 hours the way you make it sound. Charge enough. Next trip, ya charge again. You have to cover your costs.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

I don't bid like that. 

Bids here are time/material, per push/application, or seasonal. 

You need to figure out what it costs you an hour to run your equipment or what you want to make each hour, and then figure out how long it takes you to plow each tier. Then it's simple math.


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## bluegrass84 (Nov 10, 2016)

I was figuring around 2 hours, was unsure of what the mark up was on salt, and what people charged with the increased snowfall. As in from trigger to trigger


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## bluegrass84 (Nov 10, 2016)

Talked to a couple of companies local that have 3-4 trucks and they said $125hr but for small lots such as gas stations they charge a minimum and not hourly, so really couldn't get a sufficient answer


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## Sawboy (Dec 18, 2005)

Start with your costs. What does you GL, and COI cost you?


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

bluegrass84 said:


> Talked to a couple of companies local that have 3-4 trucks and they said $125hr but for small lots such as gas stations they charge a minimum and not hourly, so really couldn't get a sufficient answer


In the end it doesn't matter what everyone else is charging. What matters is your internal numbers. The value of knowing what others are charging is to know if you can be competitive in your area. It lets you know if you if you need to make changes or not. Like figuring ways to be more efficient so your hourly costs go down, or if you can't do that, ways to be more efficient so that you can meet your numbers. You can only charge what the market will bear. If your hourly rate is higher than that then find ways to change. Ultimately you want your hourly number to be below the market threshold and then charge whatever that threshold is to make more profit. Now that isn't always possible but it should always be the goal.


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## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

ktfbgb said:


> In the end it doesn't matter what everyone else is charging. What matters is your internal numbers. The value of knowing what others are charging is to know if you can be competitive in your area. It lets you know if you if you need to make changes or not. Like figuring ways to be more efficient so your hourly costs go down, or if you can't do that, ways to be more efficient so that you can meet your numbers. You can only charge what the market will bear. If your hourly rate is higher than that then find ways to change. Ultimately you want your hourly number to be below the market threshold and then charge whatever that threshold is to make more profit. Now that isn't always possible but it should always be the goal.


Exactly , business 101.


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## Defcon 5 (Mar 20, 2014)

SnoFarmer said:


> Exactly , business 101.


Actually....Thats Business 102...Business 101 is going into business without knowing anything about business....:waving:


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## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

Did you graduate high school or go right in to the union after high school?

Actually, yes, it is what you would learn in business 101.
Thus what I said,
I know it's early on a weekend, but are you drunk allready?
Or is your long underwear cutting off your circulation?


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## Defcon 5 (Mar 20, 2014)

Never too early to drink...Graduated high school and college....Hard to believe isn't it...Went to the Union after owning a yard monkey operation for 14 years...Sold out for a tidy profit and went to work for big labor close to six figures and no headaches...

Still do snow as a hobby for a large operator in the area...


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## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

I was just asking if you were drunk, not passing judgement.


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## Greekguy (Jan 7, 2017)

bluegrass84 said:


> I will be using a ton pickup with 9' Boss V and 1075 snow ex spreader


I love my snowex 1075, better than anything. But recently, companies are starting to out gravel in their salt and it stops the auger up on my 1075. I baught an western 2500 as a back up for other truck... its fine too... just doesn't throw it near as far and my guys hate loading it from the bed of the truck because they have to bend over far. If snowex made a bigger diameter orifice for the salt to go through, that would be the best alltime tailgate spreader EVER!


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## Greekguy (Jan 7, 2017)

Sorry I cannot type tonight. I meant they're starting to put gravel in there salt. And I am aware of that boughtt is spelled
BOUGHT LOL


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