# Appropriate Hours



## Reliablesnow

What do you all consider appropriate hours for residential snow removal? I use blower and shovels, no truck. I am hesitant about working past 10pm and before 6am due to noise. What is your take on this? 

A storm ended tonight around 9 pm, so I was out from 8-10pm then will finish my route at 5:30am and go cleanup the ones I did tonight.


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## Spool it up

never heard of a snow removal business not being 24/7 . we started a pathmark one year at 1am with an army of equipmentand a foot on the ground .
the police came and told me we were violating peace ordinance in their town . I told him we were contracted to do so . He wrote up a violation to Pathmark , not me 

Pathmark cash registers were ringing at 6am . Enough said ?


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## jhall22guitar

I would say it depends on the customer and when they need to be out of the house for work. My dad used to have a guy who needed to be out by 5am to start his commute, but we had a plow. Even using a blower though there is no excuse to not have that drive open for the customer.

I would just work until 11pm and start at 5am is I could using a blower, if you start getting complaints from customers change the times, or ask them what time they want you to have their driveway cleared and go from there. But spool is right, get the job done according to contracts.

Also: the town where my dad lives will have 4 loaders and an army of men and trucks hauling every flake of snow off of their main street (where my Dad's apartment is) from 10PM until 6am the next morning. They are so loud that you hear them over the trains going through the mansfield train station at night.


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## Spool it up

get er dunnThumbs Up


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## SSS Inc.

Most of the cities in my area(minneapolis) have exceptions in their noise ordinance for snow removal equipment. Its just a way of life around here(usually).


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## jhall22guitar

im not sure if the towns here do, I dont see why they wouldn't, it does snow. (Sometimes)


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## ProLawn Outdoor

SSS Inc.;1548492 said:


> Most of the cities in my area(minneapolis) have exceptions in their noise ordinance for snow removal equipment. Its just a way of life around here(usually).


X2, check with the city, mine has an exception on the noise ordinance for snow removal operations, 24/7 is acceptable. And i live in a city where there is a damn ordinance for EVERYTHING!!


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## djagusch

One of my customers in conversation said something about hearing the snowblower at 2am. I said I could wait till morning next time (34 unit hoa). He said no, no, i'd rather not use a shovel and have dry feet over.


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## 2COR517

You should have set expectations with your customers when they need/want the drive cleared.


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## nnusskern

I also just use blowers and shovels. I try to have everyone cleared by 7am or 5pm depending on when snow begins/ends. I do not worry about what time it is and none of my customers care as long as driveway is cleared


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## OC&D

SSS Inc.;1548492 said:


> Most of the cities in my area(minneapolis) have exceptions in their noise ordinance for snow removal equipment. Its just a way of life around here(usually).


That's what I thought too. I've got a place in South that I've done for about 15 years. About 8 years ago I had some idiot come running out of a neighboring house in his bathrobe and slippers hollering at me because I woke him up at 1 AM. Apparently this guy was ticked off enough to get the city involved and it turns out that the zoning in that particular area is such that I can't plow between the hours of 10 PM and 7 AM now unless Minneapolis declares a snow emergency. Needless to say, I was more than a little pissed since that gives me a fairly small window of time to get it done considering they start filling that lot with cars by 7:30 AM, and they often have people there late into the evening as well.

For what it's worth, the crazy guy in his bathrobe had a Southern accent, and I may have told him to go back to wherever he was from, which probably didn't help matters.


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## theholycow

It's not unreasonable for people (especially those who didn't hire you) to get pissed off when you wake them at 1am with a snowblower or an aftermarket exhaust on your truck. A truck with a regular OEM exhaust will still wake people from the scraping plow/whining plow motor but the ruckus is much less and most people will be able to get back to sleep unless it takes you a half hour to plow their neighbor's driveway.

In residential areas it is polite to limit noise during the late night/early morning hours.


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## OC&D

No snowblower, no loud exhaust, and it's a large religious institution lot in a mostly residential neighborhood. 1 block away they haul snow all night off of a major thoroughfare.


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## Meezer

theholycow;1549181 said:


> It's not unreasonable for people (especially those who didn't hire you) to get pissed off when you wake them at 1am with a snowblower or an aftermarket exhaust on your truck
> In residential areas it is polite to limit noise during the late night/early morning hours.


I think it is unreasonable for them to get pissed. Are these same unreasonable idiots going to get pissed at the city or county trucks that are plowing/salting the roads at the same time?


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## theholycow

Meezer;1549417 said:


> I think it is unreasonable for them to get pissed. Are these same unreasonable idiots going to get pissed at the city or county trucks that are plowing/salting the roads at the same time?


Do those trucks stay in front of their house for a half hour with the noise of a Tecumseh 8HP?


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## 2COR517

theholycow;1549557 said:


> Do those trucks stay in front of their house for a half hour with the noise of a Tecumseh 8HP?


Get a Honda


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## theplowmeister

I plow resis, in an up scale neighborhood, I plow 24/7 Ive gotten 2 complaints both from my customers.
1)When I lowered the plow He was afraid my plow hitting the driveway was going to damage it.
2) it would wake him when I plowed could I plow quieter? I said I can plow you last. No no, get me done so I can get to work.


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## 32vld

I do mostly residential with two 2 stage blowers. My customers know I have a route and they have to wait their turn. I only have one customer where I need to have them cleared by a certain time. 10am, 12am, or does not matter depending on the day of the week.

So for me if it stops snowing at 11 pm they have no problem waiting till day light at 7am to start. Being I work mostly residential I try not to disturb neighbors.

Those that do malls, large shopping centers, there is usually enough buffer space to not disturb neighbors.

So use common sense.

I did one customer at the end of the season. Late afternoon to finish the clean up they started in the morning. They said the husband and wife had to leave to get the 5 am, and 5:30 am train. They said just had to get their driveway behind their cars open then you can come back when convenient to finish. I said OK. Well never any more storms that year.

Who knows if I would of had complaints.


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## theholycow

2COR517;1549724 said:


> Get a Honda


I'm a huge fan of Honda small engines (and otherwise no fan of Honda), but mine is no quieter than any other small engine...just trouble-free and incredibly easy to start.


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## grandview

Ever notice when your out plowing at 2 in the morning how many homeowners are out snow blowing their drive? Go do your job and don't worry about anything.


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## FordFisherman

2COR517;1549724 said:


> Get a Honda


Ever hear a Honda outboard motor? I had one pull up to the gas dock next to me and couldn't tell it was running. Incredibly quiet motors.


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## 2COR517

I had a Honda generator I could stand next to and talk on the phone.


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## theholycow

I wonder if my Honda can be quiet with a new muffler. Man, that'd be great. It is probably 25 years old, though.


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## mwalsh9152

I had a neighbor before I moved that had a Honda 2 stage blower. Man that thing was quiet, and would start on the first pull every time. My ears used to ring when I would be done blowing our driveway with our racket machine. My landlord and I would always tell him that we were gonna steal it from him if he went away and it snowed.


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## 89Heaver

If you are only doing rez's most people should let you know by what time they need want to be open by. around here i only get complaints from family and friends when on my way home i do them a favor and swing by at 4am and do a drive or curb line and (you woke up the kids and scared em) at which point i said "either stop *****ing or buy a shovel" i have no patience for idiots who decide to tell me how to do my job but im fine with people who ask me to do or not do things most times. ((im cranky i need more snow))


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## dfd9

2COR517;1550295 said:


> I had a Honda generator I could stand next to and talk on the phone.


Yeah, but was it actually running? :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## OC&D

grandview;1550038 said:


> Ever notice when your out plowing at 2 in the morning how many homeowners are out snow blowing their drive? Go do your job and don't worry about anything.


Yep.


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## andcon83

grandview;1550038 said:


> Go do your job and don't worry about anything.


That's right. I know a contractor who was working late one night on a foundation. About 9pm a guy next door came out and asked them to quiet down he wanted to go to bed. The contractor replied, "you'll go to bed when I go to bed"


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## beanz27

Thats one way to piss people off lol.


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## 2COR517

dfd9;1550866 said:


> Yeah, but was it actually running? :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:


I was wondering who would ask first.


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## thelettuceman

I tell my customers that depending on the time of the snow fall, I might be in their driveway in the middle of the night. I've had no complaints. I am running a stock exhaust .... and a big mouth


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## dfd9

2COR517;1551258 said:


> I was wondering who would ask first.


Glad I didn't let you down.


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## THEGOLDPRO

I could care less how much noise i make, Id imagine my Cummins with a 4 inch straight pipe exhaust is pretty loud while they are sleeping lol.


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## alldayrj

Got yelled at by a guy in a condo last night at 10pm, started in with who do i work for, who sent me etc(read the name Nd number on the door genius). He said he can't sleep with all the plowing, i said me either!! Then he said its down to blacktop and i can stop now. I said "thanks, i did a good job right?? Later!"

Sanded til 2 am and no one else said a peep. I would like to hear what he would have said today if he walked out and it was unplowed and he slipped.


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## grandview

Who sent me, The condo association that you belong too.


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## alldayrj

Its like talking to a wall. Half the people are section 8. It keeps it interesting though


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## grandview

alldayrj;1552021 said:


> Its like talking to a wall. Half the people are section 8. It keeps it interesting though


In that case,if you never want to see or hear from them again,offer them a job shoveling snow.


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## wilsonsground

Storms finished, plow and go do clean ups. Who cares wht time it is. They'll fall back asleep and your typical driveway isn't more than say 5-15 minutes they're back to sleep before they realize what's really going on. In Nh last night I started my route at 130am. 48 residentials, nne of which got a complaint. You're just doing the job you were hired to do.


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## peteo1

grandview;1552018 said:


> Who sent me, The condo association that you belong too.


That's definitely something I'd have said


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## STIHL GUY

For residential driveways I plow and snowblow all through the night...most times people say the didn't even hear me come. My customers dont mind either because they like having the driveway done ASAP by the time they wake up and need to get out for work


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## willshome

The same person that would get upset about you working at night would be mad if your plowing the next day and blocking traffic 

almost all my customer ask for fast service and would kill me if I did not get them cleared by morning


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## POWER STROKE

I used to only use snow blowers and shovels, I was out snow blowing my customers as soon as 
2" of snow fell, Didn't matter if it was 12 am or 12 pm, never had a single customer complain about the noise. If you get a good size snow blower you should be in and out between 5 -10 mins. if its 2" or less you could use a snow shovel.


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