# Snowblow vs Plow pricing



## Woodland (Sep 17, 2005)

Loooking for your opinions here. Should there be a price difference between snowblowing or plowing a drive? If I plow a drive now for $35/push, should I get more or less for snowblowing?


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## Oasis (Oct 28, 2007)

At least the same if not more for snow blowing..... it does a better job then plowing. JMO


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## Woodland (Sep 17, 2005)

That is the direction I was going, esp. since most of the driveways that I'd like to pick up as snowblowing accounts are too cramped to be plowed so this would be more of a premium product. My concern is, there are a few drives that I plow that really should be blown. It's only mid season and space is getting tight, but I'm not sure how to approach a price increase for next year.


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## iceyman (Mar 1, 2007)

if u have a plow y would u want to blow it.. takes alot longer and more work.. around here you get more to plow it than blow it... doesnt make sense but thats the market here...


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## MJM Landscaping (Mar 19, 2005)

I have been thinking the same thing. I have 3 condo associations within 1/2 mile of each other. I was thinking of approaching them for next year with the idea of snowblowing everthing. Obviously there would be an increase in price, but no large banks, no lawn damage, and just a cleaner job. BTW it would be done with a skid and blower.


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## LoneCowboy (Jan 2, 2007)

It is worth X amount of money to have your snow removed.
HOW it gets done isn't the customer's problem.

But you are only going to get X and you are just limiting your profit potential by doing something as slow as snowblowing. 

If you charge X + for snowblowing, someone is going to come along with a plow and charge X - and make more money than you and the customer is going to go with them.


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## MB3 (Oct 11, 2007)

*Price*

I plow all of my commerical acccounts, and snow blow ALL of my residentuals, because that is what THEY wanted. I get more customers willing to pay more for the service, because they are tired of lazy plow drivers messing up their yard, doing damage, and not getting a very clean driveway. When we use the snowblowers, it does not take too much longer, and there is a huge difference in the quality of the job.

I just know, I get horror stories about other people they had in to plow, not knowing how to plow, pushing snow into their garage door, hitting all the lights down the one side of their drive.

Now I know some of you are against this, and I know there are some that do great jobs with a plow, you are not the ones that they are talking about, but I just prefer to use the snowblowers on the smaller drives, just something that putes some distance between me and the competition.

Yes, I have 10 new accounts this year, just because I do snowblow. and YES there is money to be made from it too.


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## Brant'sLawnCare (Jun 29, 2007)

MB3;494843 said:


> I plow all of my commerical acccounts, and snow blow ALL of my residentuals, because that is what THEY wanted. I get more customers willing to pay more for the service, because they are tired of lazy plow drivers messing up their yard, doing damage, and not getting a very clean driveway. When we use the snowblowers, it does not take too much longer, and there is a huge difference in the quality of the job.
> 
> I just know, I get horror stories about other people they had in to plow, not knowing how to plow, pushing snow into their garage door, hitting all the lights down the one side of their drive.
> 
> ...


We plow and snowblow. The plow does the bulk of the work, and the snowblowers do a little bit of cleanup work. This leaves a nice clean finish for my customers. I do agree with you, some plow companies don't do a good job, and their workers are to lazy to get out of the truck to finish a job nice. Not all jobs require this, but some do.


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## treeman06 (Sep 26, 2006)

we prefer using a blower for are resi's does a better job and only takes maybe five min extra, I know this because we do a drive right next to someone that uses a truck, he will have hardpack left and snow up against garage doors. People see the difference and do not mind paying extra for a better job.


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## Oasis (Oct 28, 2007)

treeman06;495141 said:


> we prefer using a blower for are resi's does a better job and only takes maybe five min extra, I know this because we do a drive right next to someone that uses a truck, he will have hardpack left and snow up against garage doors. People see the difference and do not mind paying extra for a better job.


I agree that snow blowing leaves a cleaner surface but snow up against driveways and down curbs.... that shouldnt be left even with a plow thats what we pay shovelers for. Very unprofesional.


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## TNT Lawncare (Oct 23, 2006)

LoneCowboy;494691 said:


> It is worth X amount of money to have your snow removed.
> HOW it gets done isn't the customer's problem.
> 
> But you are only going to get X and you are just limiting your profit potential by doing something as slow as snowblowing.
> ...


I agree with this 100%


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## rredd13 (Nov 15, 2007)

What The Heck Are You Guys Blowing With A Walk Behind.....an 8 Ft Blower Will Be Done Fast Then Pushing The Snow With An 8 Ft Blade Hands Down.

Plowing You Are Back Blading And Stuff To Get The Snow Away...were A Blower It Is Gone As You Go Up The Drive Or What Ever
Even A 6 Ft Blower On A Skidsteer Will Blow The Doors Of A Plow Truck..


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## lawnboy11 (Aug 22, 2000)

I only do snowblowing and only resi. I make $ every time it snows. I make $ when it snows 1" -or less even. I think I charge more than a plow guy would.


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## mnormington (Dec 18, 2007)

I have one customer with a spankin new concrete drive. I went to give him a price on it and I was higher than the other guys he had had over. When I explained that i would be using a snow blower so his new driveway wouldn't get messed up, he went with me for more money. Plus I don't want to be the first one to put marks on his new driveway. Too easy to blame me.


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## dunlaps lawncare (Sep 5, 2007)

all 10 of my residentuals are snow blowin and shoveld


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## Neige (Jan 29, 2008)

*snow blowing all the way*

Over here you would not survive with a plow on a residential lot. We use inversed snow blowers behind 90 hp tractors. A good driver can do 150 driveways in 3 hours. Our prices are fixed for the season, no matter how much it snow. " not so great this year" but lots more new clients.


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## justme- (Dec 28, 2004)

Unless you have an 8 foot blower on a truck or road legal tractor you should be charging more than a plow because you're spending a significant amount more time on that drive than a plow. in the time it takes you to blow a drive a plow can do several drives....I have the lowest customer count for my route I have had since my first year this season at 26.
No way a walk behind snowblower could do that number of customers in the same amount of time so to make the same money in the storm you need to charge more.

There are some people who have PITA drives that need to be blown instead of plowed, but a competent and professional plow driver if going to do as good as (basically as close to bare scraped as a plow can) a blower is significantly less time.


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## Ramairfreak98ss (Aug 17, 2005)

i have two rather large walkbehind Simplicity snow throwers. They move snow pretty darn fast for not plowing, it looks nice afterwards of course, doesnt leave the huge piles, i think it works great for residential driveways... I plow now too but i would probably still use these for doing the smaller driveways that have garages directly in front of where i want to push the snow.

and yeah you should get more for snow blowing, especially when it gets high like 12" 20" , 24" etc.


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## gardenkeeper88 (Dec 22, 2001)

MB3;494843 said:


> I plow all of my commerical acccounts, and snow blow ALL of my residentuals, because that is what THEY wanted. I get more customers willing to pay more for the service, because they are tired of lazy plow drivers messing up their yard, doing damage, and not getting a very clean driveway. When we use the snowblowers, it does not take too much longer, and there is a huge difference in the quality of the job.
> 
> I just know, I get horror stories about other people they had in to plow, not knowing how to plow, pushing snow into their garage door, hitting all the lights down the one side of their drive.
> 
> ...


I have a sbdivisions that I have down to 6 min. per drive ( I do 14) and that includes shoveling the front door walk. I would have to load / unload 3 times here because they are not all close to each other. We are on a 1 " trigger for 12 of them. So we keep them clean. so quality has not been a problem. But I can't see it being "not too much longer". I bet I would have 4 min each load, unload = 12 min. + 15 min. each drive = 210 min so thats 222 min. in this place alone. I only spend 85 min with the plow. I could double the houses you do. Pricing is everything. It might be ok if I could charge that much extra for the blowing but I know in my area prob. not.


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## ECS (Nov 11, 2005)

LoneCowboy;494691 said:


> It is worth X amount of money to have your snow removed.
> HOW it gets done isn't the customer's problem.


I agree, a $35 drive is a $35 drive no matter what. The cost of a blower vs truck & plow is going to be far less, as well as slower. Going to be slower and costs will be lower yet with a shovel, but it is still going to be a $35 drive.


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## Ramairfreak98ss (Aug 17, 2005)

ECS;506253 said:


> I agree, a $35 drive is a $35 drive no matter what. The cost of a blower vs truck & plow is going to be far less, as well as slower. Going to be slower and costs will be lower yet with a shovel, but it is still going to be a $35 drive.


your right, but some homes, like with the garages, double, right in front of the drive. backdragging is a pita, especially when there is a "lot" of snow and no where to put it. I have developments that i snow blow, and literally, i have to adjust the discharge chute a lot so i dont blow it from one driveway into the next... maximum throwing distance of 45' so you got an idea how close each drive is... Plowiing is literally NOT an option in places like these, theyre 300-400k homes too.


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