# Contracts



## Davelawnman (Dec 14, 2005)

Hi ,I new to this site & it is great. My question I have a private road to plow for rest of the year ,It is .8of a mile . How would i charge?It is two cars wide.


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## norrod (Nov 3, 2004)

Hi Dave & Welcome,

How about a little more info about the road.

what is it constructed of?
is is straight?
is it level?
are there ditchs or sholders to hold the spoils?

What are the client requirements?
Is de-icing involved, or do you just plow?
trigger depth?


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## Davelawnman (Dec 14, 2005)

The road is paved ,has curbs catch basins, it has two small curves a small grade allso it has water tower so the fire dept has to get to.price buy the storm or buy the season Yes i have to salt when needed deiceing also.


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## ALEX516 (May 24, 2003)

*road*

I'm not that proficient on road pricing, but I can tell you two things from my knowledge.
1) A friend did a private road for a homeowners assn., he got the road job from landscaping the houses on the street, and plowing the driveways in the winter. I don't recall the amount, nor do I recall the amount of road (never measured) but I would say it's like 2 city blocks maybe 2.5 and he got something like $300 for it. In my opinion that's not worth his time, since it was being done with an f250 gasser. Now, had he been in the area and done it with a 6 wheeler, $300 might be a good deal for 10 minutes of work with a larger blade & large truck, but with a 3/4 ton, anything over 3' became a beatin on his truck.
Not trying to say anything negative about the job you're looking into bidding on, just want to make you aware.

2) Make SURE you're insured for the kind of plowing you're doing, Remember Newton's 4th Law. For every action there is an equal and opposite lawsuit.  
Most likely you won't need to utilize any services from your insurance co. BUT IF something happens and your policy precludes you from roads, (As mine does), and you have an incident which causes a claim, the co. WILL deny the claim and you'll be left holding the nuts if you know what I mean.

I'm sure others will chime in on your actual request, but I wanted to point these things out. I've been doing snow with my corp. for 3 years now, completely on my own. Have a pertner that goes on on big jobs together with me under my corp name... I carry commercial auto for my diesels, all registered under teh corp., and I also run a 1 million/2 million General Liab. policy for my corp. with coverage for landscaping, property maintenance, and snowplowing rider, but am NOT allowed to do public roadways. I asked about private roads and was told by my agent that I'm chancing it because if the general public can access it, the ins. co WILL deny teh claim...
Have a few guys who sub for me, and I learned by mistakes and such... Be safe, Don't skimp on insurance, You never need it until it's too late and if you don't have it when "it" happens, you'll NEVER forgive yourself.
If you are insured, please dis-regard the above.

I'd go with seasonal pricing if you've had the kind of winter we've had here in NY on LI


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## Grunt0311 (Dec 28, 2005)

Good luck on this one! I'm sure you will get lots of info!


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## Macomb-Lawn (Jan 20, 2006)

What kind of truck are you running? At the minimum, I'd use atleast a 9.2 or 10 foot blade, and a VBox salter. Recommended would be a 12 foot blade, underbody scraper, with 8 to 16 yard salt. A 1 ton truck would do it no problem in a light snow, but heavy snow could get you in trouble. Either way, if you have to salt that much road, you need a VBox at the minimum. 

Time = Money. 

Figure it out like this:

1. Will my equipment I have now do it in 2" of snow?
2. Will my equipment do it in 12" of snow?


If you can't answer yes to both, you could be putting yourself in a position to lose money. Your talking almost a mile of snow. Sure, in a light snow, won't be a problem. But, a bunch of snow and you'll be there all night.

If you can get away with it, charge by the inch.. LOL


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

Dave, I've got a private road that I've done for several years. It's gravel/hard pack 12' wide and 7/10 of a mile. Couple of fairly steep hills and one sharp curve (sharper than 90°). Using a one ton with 9' plow and Vbox, I could plow and sand a 6" snow in about 15-20 minutes. You'll obviously be using salt rather than sand, but the principle is the same.

I generally base my charge on $100 per mile (not including sanding) and adjust for anything that's not straight and flat. 

Just as a "heads up". You want to pay attention to how this road is maintained. You note that it has catch basins, but is the road itself well graded so snow is pushed completely off the road and can't melt and run back onto the road? Are there "ruts" where cars travel which will lead to the same problem? Or is it completely crowned so water runs directly of the road into the ditch and along the road rather than back onto it? You say it's two car wide, but is it two LANES wide or do all cars run in the same track? Two lane roads are more likely to be better graded (because each lane gets only half the traffic).

And, yes, make sure your insurance company knows what you're doing.


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## mike33 (Feb 15, 2006)

*Bobcatservice*

Mick, 
That was a very nice reply on that road job. Not your first rodeo!

mike


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

mike33 said:


> Mick,
> That was a very nice reply on that road job. Not your first rodeo!
> 
> mike


Thanks, Mike. You're right there. Those roads are a whole different animal than plowing driveways.


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## Jay brown (Dec 26, 2005)

that would cost about $50 here, take about 15-20 min with 0-6 inches of snow.


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## SnowMatt13 (Jan 8, 2003)

I do a private road for a homeowners association. Road is +/- 1/4 mile. 10 ft. wide. A "loop" turnaround at the end. Truck always moves forward except when I'm plowing the mouth of the road. Takes 15 min. No salt/sand. Road is flat, two small curves. Base price $75.00 for two inches, and an increase per inch after that. They only wanted it plowed when they called, so I made sure my prices were adequate when they called and wanted 9" of wet snow plowed all at once.


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