# Home depot bid



## brfootball45

How you doing guys? I have a question in the spring im going to be bidding on a contract to plow a local home depot for the next upcoming season. I have done many parking lots before but for other companies. Right now i plow for the state and plan on keeping two trucks with them. However im looking to purchase a backhoe with a pusher on it if i can get the bid. My question is how do you approach something like this? How would you go about figuring all the prices and all that fun stuff? Any help would be great thanks


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## ajslands

well how much are you gonna spend on gas, how long do you think it will take you and how much salt you gonna use? if it were me, i would wanna make about 90 an hour and depending on the pusher you get, the longer its gonna take


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## Brant'sLawnCare

How big is it? Do you know how many acres? If you do, I can help you figure out a ballpark price.


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## Superior L & L

Let me know the address and we can mapquest it to get some lot dimensions


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## murray83

One option I may bring up is subbing to whoever does it now.

Might not be the answer you want to hear but this way you can learn about how much salt on a given storm you would lay down,how much fuel you would use and length of time to plow the lot.

And during this time take notes,do some math to come up with rates you believe will make you money and invest in a good v box and pusher and when it comes time to bid the same lot in the future you'll have an advantage over others and be comfortable knowing your not leaving any money on the table when you put in a bid.

Also remember maintaince contractors who look after these properties want things done for the bare minimum and someone else out there might do it for much less then you can even afford to do.


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## vamootsman

brfootball45;939400 said:


> How you doing guys? I have a question in the spring im going to be bidding on a contract to plow a local home depot for the next upcoming season. I have done many parking lots before but for other companies. Right now i plow for the state and plan on keeping two trucks with them. However im looking to purchase a backhoe with a pusher on it if i can get the bid. My question is how do you approach something like this? How would you go about figuring all the prices and all that fun stuff? Any help would be great thanks


How many acres is the lot? The plowable area.


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## Herm Witte

There is a learning curve with quoting snow removal. It is important to know your numbers and those are best learned by starting out small and moving up from there. Make a mistake bidding on some small projects - not so bad. Same mistake on that large complex - could be a big time ouch. We can all help with production numbers but you need to arrive at your operating cost first and that cost is not a cookie cutter cost. Work with an accountant or someone to establish YOUR operating cost and then use that information along with production numbers in preparing a quote. It seems to me that you are attempting to jump into the frying pan, taking the advice given in a previous post is not a bad idea - sub for a firm on similar type properties to help you get a real feel for things.

Herm Witte

Witte Lawn Maintenance, Inc.

Serving West Michigan since 1957


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## Superior L & L

murray83;940547 said:


> One option I may bring up is subbing to whoever does it now.
> 
> Might not be the answer you want to hear but this way you can learn about how much salt on a given storm you would lay down,how much fuel you would use and length of time to plow the lot.
> 
> And during this time take notes,do some math to come up with rates you believe will make you money and invest in a good v box and pusher and when it comes time to bid the same lot in the future you'll have an advantage over others and be comfortable knowing your not leaving any money on the table when you put in a bid.
> 
> Also remember maintaince contractors who look after these properties want things done for the bare minimum and someone else out there might do it for much less then you can even afford to do.


+

Not the worst idea by any means. But if he subs to the guy that does it he will sign a non-compete. Probably saying he cannot plow any of the sites the guy plows for two years


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## JohnnyRoyale

Herm Witte;940831 said:


> There is a learning curve with quoting snow removal. It is important to know your numbers and those are best learned by starting out small and moving up from there. Make a mistake bidding on some small projects - not so bad. Same mistake on that large complex - could be a big time ouch. We can all help with production numbers but you need to arrive at your operating cost first and that cost is not a cookie cutter cost. Work with an accountant or someone to establish YOUR operating cost and then use that information along with production numbers in preparing a quote. It seems to me that you are attempting to jump into the frying pan, taking the advice given in a previous post is not a bad idea - sub for a firm on similar type properties to help you get a real feel for things.
> 
> Herm Witte
> 
> Witte Lawn Maintenance, Inc.
> 
> Serving West Michigan since 1957


Thank you Herm.


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## vamootsman

ajslands;940013 said:


> well how much are you gonna spend on gas, how long do you think it will take you and how much salt you gonna use? if it were me, i would wanna make about 90 an hour and depending on the pusher you get, the longer its gonna take





Brant'sLawnCare;940051 said:


> How big is it? Do you know how many acres? If you do, I can help you figure out a ballpark price.





Superior L & L;940386 said:


> Let me know the address and we can mapquest it to get some lot dimensions


How about some info for the people who are trying to help?


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## getoffroad

Maybe he doent want to give out the exact home depot. Go with the one near me, I think they are all pretty close to the same ( to get an idea anyway) 85 Main St. Tewksbury Ma. I google mapped it, but cant figure out how to get that over to here.


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## vamootsman

I don't need the location. Get Google Earth, use the ruler function, and get the area of the lot, divide it by 43,560, and that gets you the rough plowable acres. Don't include the building itself. Just the lot and any lanes, and loading areas.


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## getoffroad

I'm usually in the range of $90- $100 an acre for 1-3 inches, depending on islands, loading docks etc. Thats plowing only, no sand/salt.


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## vamootsman

Yep that's where we're at too.


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## TKLAWN

I was under the impresion that all the Home Depots had a national contractor all the ones around here have john deere tractors that sit in the lot, that being said their lots always look tough to do with lots of islands.


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## lilweeds

Did Home cheapo stop using USM? Cause last time I checked USM has all the NE Home Cheapo's.


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## MarkG

brfootball45;939998 said:


> I can handle all the plowing, sanding, snow removal if needed.. this is just my first time bidding on something this big, i can handle the work load


 I will never post a question based on what i have read so far. But seeing that you guys are all plow operators, the perception that people have of us all (plow etc guys) have been proven with some of the answers provided to this question... I have learned that meeting face to face and showing what you have, applying your skills at quoting from what you have already done will show more effort than the answers in this forum. Realizing how late I am, I just had to post this to wake some of you old school guys up and get out of the mind set of 'I've been doing this for years' BS. A place that large to be efficient would for sure require a loader... But thats just one guys opinion.


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## mullis56

Did anyone figure out if Home Depot went out to USM or what?


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## elite1msmith

funny, again i never delt with usm .  but i ran into a guy that has been . he seems like a bigger contractor, and said basicly, if his own brother worked for usm, he woudl run the other dirrection. they havnet paid his sweeping invoives all summer long, and he stopped servicing them.


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## Brant'sLawnCare

I guess the OP disappeared.


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