# Never Bid A Road Before...



## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

Got this private road with some driveways on it to bid...this is new territory for me. I am going out tomorrow to get some EXACT measurements. It would be a 3" trigger, no salting, just plowing. Its a package deal they want one price for the whole thing all the driveways included. How do I look at this one? Price the driveways individually and then figure the road is worth X number of driveways and price it like that? I dont even know where to start with it. Thanks in advance!


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

You using that 7-6 blade for the road?


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

grandview;1310138 said:


> You using that 7-6 blade for the road?


If I get the road, one of the 2 trucks is getting a larger V-blade, I just havent decided which yet. The width of that road looks deceiving, its actually not much wider than a 2 car driveway. When I was a member of the firehall, we were told that NO fire apparatus, including the F-550 band-aid wagon, was allowed down that street because it wouldnt fit, if that tells u anything.


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

Road plowing is not like driveway plowing. I have one that we do, with a nice circle turn around at the end - like yours.

Check for things on it that you might hit if its uneven.

No backing up, hammer down - plan on 3 swipes (in, out, in) then start your driveways (unless you got a tonne of snow fall. (We use a 8.5 or a 9 plow with buyers wings - depends who gets thier first).

Any big storms come back after the event is over and wing it back.

I would plow roads all day and night over parking lots.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Only problem you have is ,that you may not be able to throw the snow back far enough off the road. So have a plan for a snowblower or skid steer to push it back.


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## Spucel (Feb 6, 2011)

goel;1310158 said:


> No backing up, hammer down - plan on 3 swipes (in, out, in)


Sounds like my sex life......:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

ROFLMAO


and never had the problem in the great white north with not being able to wing it back enough. Had to run the plow a couple inches off the ground and drive on the edge of the grass/pavement - but with the wings most of my plows are 11 ft wide


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

Theres enough open room off the sides to really throw it back, so that shouldnt be an issue. Also, the open area inside the circle at the end has plenty of room for snow too. Did I mention theres no curbs? Thanks for the info guys, anyone have any insight on pricing? or at least where to stat with it?


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## goel (Nov 23, 2010)

Pricing always starts from your costs. 

What are they?
Whats your average snow fall and plowable events?
How long do you expect to be at the site?
What profit margin do you aim for?

It is convienient, road and multi driveways together. The only mess from the road to clean up is whatever you created.


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

Ok, I looked at the place more closely tonight. The main road leading in is no wider than a 2.2 car driveway. When I was pulling in there was a Suburban parked on the one side of the road and getting my truck by was a tight fit. When the road makes that sharp turn, from there around the whole circle, its only about as wide as a 1-car driveway. From the main road to the bend is .1 mile, and the circle is a little less than .1 mile.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Figure out the bid in 2 parts,one how much for each driveway, then the price for the road.


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## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

With a 3" trigger and no salting you could have some fun with packed snow. If there is a 2" snowfall and a couple of days later another 2" snowfall do you get to plow? If not all that snow packed to the road could make for some tough scraping?


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## Spucel (Feb 6, 2011)

cet;1310855 said:


> With a 3" trigger and no salting you could have some fun with packed snow. If there is a 2" snowfall and a couple of days later another 2" snowfall do you get to plow? If not all that snow packed to the road could make for some tough scraping?


Yea that could easily get interesting real quick. See if you can get some kind of language in there for situations like this. We have a 3" trigger at our townhouse and we had multiple 2" snows that were packed down with a 4" on top of it that they came out for so they were definaty struggling.

Posts like "CET's" make plowsite invaluable!


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

I think I might do something like a 2" road trigger, 3" driveway trigger. Does that sound reasonable? If theres only 2" I could plow that road with just the 1 truck in prob 20 min. it wouldnt be much, and it would save me the headache.


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## Landgreen (Sep 8, 2007)

I would try to talk them into a 2" trigger. 3" is high and like mentioned will lead to difficult scrapes especially on a warm day peeling up gobs of hardpack. 

As far as estimating what to charge, I would drive up and down as if you were plowing it and track the time. I even go through the motions of pushing the piles etc. I can normally nail my time dead on then multiply by hourly rate. You might be suprised how quick you could plow that road. 20 minutes is plenty IMO.


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## wnwniner (Nov 16, 2010)

I got my start plowing roads first and would do them in a heartbeat over parking lots any day. Just like the other post-plow to the right, down and hammer it. Easy as cake. One thing to consider is if they would let people park on the road during a snow event-getting around cars would slow you down. Cant tell you how to bid the drives, but consider this-if you had to bid the drive at the back, you'd have to drive back there to do it, so all you do now is leave the plow down as you drive back into the neighborhood. Not much more work, right?


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

Road plowing is fun! Until you hit the drain with your v plow and it bends the a frame. (unless it trips)


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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)

I would probably charge 300-350 to plow the entire thing.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

THEGOLDPRO;1316761 said:


> I would probably charge 300-350 to plow the entire thing.


Little low for a seasonal price.


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

Why in the world would you put a 7.5 foot plow on a 2500? if you angle it, you're not clearing the width of your truck...


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

BossPlow2010;1316768 said:


> Why in the world would you put a 7.5 foot plow on a 2500? if you angle it, you're not clearing the width of your truck...


Because thats what was on it when I bought it. I'd like to upgrade my '06 to a Boss V and then put the straight blade on the '99 for the time being until I had the money to upgrade that to a V as well.

I did put a bid in, 3" trigger for $6500 for the year. Figure $100/hour per truck, and I think we'd be looking at 45 min with both trucks. Some of those driveways are a lot more involved than that overhead map depicts. As in a lot of tight spaces and stuff to go around. We plowed 32 times last year, and 30 the year before. This winter is supposed to be REALLY bad so I upped the number of plows a little, and I also figured in bringing a skid steer on-site once to push piles and re-locate some snow at least once. Maybe I'm way off, over or under I dunno its a shot in the dark if nothing else it will be a learning experience and its not like my whole season is riding on this one bid.


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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)

So if you average 30 events per year your only going to get $216.00 per push?, Not including the money spent on the skid to move snow around, Which is likely a few hundred more. So sub tract say 200 bucks.


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## Landgreen (Sep 8, 2007)

THEGOLDPRO;1320733 said:


> So if you average 30 events per year your only going to get $216.00 per push?, Not including the money spent on the skid to move snow around, Which is likely a few hundred more. So sub tract say 200 bucks.


Remember its a 3" trigger so closer to 25 pushes would be my guess.


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

THEGOLDPRO;1320733 said:


> So if you average 30 events per year your only going to get $216.00 per push?, Not including the money spent on the skid to move snow around, Which is likely a few hundred more. So sub tract say 200 bucks.


The Skid is actually only a couple hundred bucks for a half day and thats delivered and picked up. Like I said, that works out to $100 per truck per hour, and I figure its about a 45 min job. $100/hour for a pickup is actually pretty high around here. $70 seems to be the going rate for commercial. Now, me personally I wouldnt even start the truck up and brush the snow off for $70 an hour. at $100 and hour, by the time I'm done with my costs I'm lucky to be bringing home $70/hour.


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## blowerman (Dec 24, 2007)

I'd plow the road with my L8000 11ft. straight and 9ft. wing. Road would take 10 min. total if that. Then I'd send in a tractor with blower for the house drives. 15 min. at the most.
This project wouldn't even be a $200-300 per time place. 
Is your 45 min. time a 3" snow or a 8" wet snow? With small trucks roads can have big time differences.


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