# Best HOA set up



## Guch710 (Mar 9, 2016)

Hi guys, I'm new to plow site. Been a member over on lawnsite for some time and just finally made it over here. A little background about my business... We are a full service landscape/hardscape installation company. We also provide maintenance to HOAs and small commercial businesses.

Until this past year we haven't done too much plowing (not that 15/16 season had a lot of snow but in terms of accounts). We've mainly plowed small commercials under 1.5 acre. And we have subbed out the plowing at our HOAs. I am looking to do the snow at the HOAs next season because quite frankly the guy we have used is getting complacent and the customer service towards the association has gone down hill and is now causing me more stress than it's worth in dealing with a sub.

What is the best set up for an HOA complex? One complex has 60 drives the other has 85. I have skidsteers and compact tractors so my thought was dedicating one machine per site. I was thinking of equipping the compact tractor with a back blade and a front plow. Essentially back up the drive, pull away from the door and then place/stack with the front plow. We would then need to go around the a truck and salt. Does anyone have any suggestions on a more efficient way of going about this? Really don't want to backdrag all the driveways with a truck. Looking forward to other suggestions

Thanks for the help and sorry for the long post


----------



## newhere (Oct 13, 2009)

My tractor has a 8.5' wide back box and a DXT on the front and kills it. Fast as can be.


----------



## excav8ter (Oct 7, 2009)

What are the driveways like? Length? Width? As someone who USED to plow driveways, i am going to suggest a tractor with an inverted blower.


----------



## snowplower1 (Jan 15, 2014)

I'd have some sort of setup with a plow and another with a blower if possible. I am not much into anything more than pickup truck plowing but if you plowed the road with a truck and then took care of all the drivers with your tractor and a blower that could be a good setup.


----------



## newhere (Oct 13, 2009)

We don't even know what state the guy is in or the size of drive ways but we are all ready telling him to drink the blower kool aid. 

Just say no to blowers.


----------



## leolkfrm (Mar 11, 2010)

tractors with cabs and heat, plow on front, blower on back...helps to keep piles manageable


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

newhere;2128770 said:


> We don't even know what state the guy is in or the size of drive ways but we are all ready telling him to drink the blower kool aid.
> 
> Just say no to blowers.


:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Yup, all those guys in Quebec that are doing thousands upon thousands of driveways are all morons.

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

I've been plowing for 30 years, there is no faster way of doing drives than with a tractor\blower combo. Whether there's 2" or 10".


----------



## LapeerLandscape (Dec 29, 2012)

Not to mention its a HOA and there is nothing cleaner looking then a driveway done with a blower. No sod tore up, sprinkler heads hit and so on.


----------



## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

Mark Oomkes;2128787 said:


> :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:
> 
> Yup, all those guys in Quebec that are doing thousands upon thousands of driveways are all morons.
> 
> ...


Isn't Michican part of Canada?


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

leigh;2128802 said:


> Isn't Michican part of Canada?


Yes, but not the French part of Kannada. Thumbs Up:laughing:


----------



## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

...So like the whale eating desolate part.???


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Is there any other part other than that and the French part?


----------



## LapeerLandscape (Dec 29, 2012)

I thought Canada was part of Michigan, you know like the U.P.


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Lmao.......


----------



## Freshwater (Feb 28, 2014)

Mark Oomkes;2128787 said:


> :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:
> 
> Yup, all those guys in Quebec that are doing thousands upon thousands of driveways are all morons.
> 
> ...


Even as somebody who has all trucks. Just watching videos, tractors/blowers are the clear winner. My reasons for not having one, funds, not enough work for one. If given the choice it would be a no brainer, EH!


----------



## newhere (Oct 13, 2009)

I have the funds and the work. I bought one, used it and sold it because it wasn't fast enough. Box and blade are faster. 

If we regularly got snow storms over 12" I would consider it to aviod massive piles.


----------



## excav8ter (Oct 7, 2009)

newhere;2128848 said:


> I have the funds and the work. I bought one, used it and sold it because it wasn't fast enough. Box and blade are faster.
> 
> If we regularly got snow storms over 12" I would consider it to aviod massive piles.


To each his own....

But i wonder how many guys have made the switch to tractor/blowers and feel that the plow is still faster on residential, HOA and condo drives?

@newhere.... did you sell the blower yet? It wasn't a 92-280 Normand, was it?


----------



## Guch710 (Mar 9, 2016)

The driveways are roughly 16'W by 30'L. Now there are a few longer ones but not any shorter. My concern with the snow blower is where do I put the snow? These units are very tight, some only have 3' between driveways.

The residential road in front of the units is actually maintained by the township but I guess my plan would be to clear the drives onto the street then tidy up the street and stack the snow where possible


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Where are you going to put it if you use a plow?


----------



## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

Guch710;2128899 said:


> The driveways are roughly 16'W by 30'L. Now there are a few longer ones but not any shorter. My concern with the snow blower is where do I put the snow? These units are very tight, some only have 3' between driveways.
> 
> The residential road in front of the units is actually maintained by the township but I guess my plan would be to clear the drives onto the street then tidy up the street and stack the snow where possible


Couldn't you put the snow on the front lawn of each house? One house you blow to the right and the adjacent house you blow to the left.


----------



## Guch710 (Mar 9, 2016)

I was thinking you could stack the snow with a plow in the front lawns but not with a blower. There are middle driveways that only have a couple feet between them so no real place to blow snow.


----------



## LapeerLandscape (Dec 29, 2012)

Guch710;2129510 said:


> I was thinking you could stack the snow with a plow in the front lawns but not with a blower. There are middle driveways that only have a couple feet between them so no real place to blow snow.


If there is no place to blow it where are you going to push it.


----------



## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

newhere;2128770 said:


> We don't even know what state the guy is in or the size of drive ways but we are all ready telling him to drink the blower kool aid.
> 
> Just say no to blowers.


lol.

It would be nice to know the region hes in. If its something like TN or KY for example, then Id agree the investment of an inverted blower probably won't make sense.



Guch710;2128612 said:


> Hi guys, I'm new to plow site. Been a member over on lawnsite for some time and just finally made it over here. A little background about my business... We are a full service landscape/hardscape installation company. We also provide maintenance to HOAs and small commercial businesses.
> 
> Until this past year we haven't done too much plowing (not that 15/16 season had a lot of snow but in terms of accounts). We've mainly plowed small commercials under 1.5 acre. And we have subbed out the plowing at our HOAs. I am looking to do the snow at the HOAs next season because quite frankly the guy we have used is getting complacent and the customer service towards the association has gone down hill and is now causing me more stress than it's worth in dealing with a sub.
> 
> ...


Considering you already own compact tractors & skid steers your in a great position to take over the work. How about trying a blade on a skid & an inverted blower on a compact tractor. See what works best for you after a winter, then adjust for the following.

We do a couple HOA's with a skid steer and adjustable plow setup. Works much better & faster than any truck setup would. I have no personal experience with tractors and inverted blowers, but would like to.


----------



## fireside (Mar 1, 2008)

I'm not really sure what the question or problem is. If you are using subs now how do they plow it? What are they doing wrong to get complaints or better doing right. Go during the event and watch! See what they are using and use your judgement to improve. By no meAns will what works on place a work in place b or even for the different company's doing the work..

Tractor blowers do work great so does a skidsteer. Three driveways next to each other is not a problem to me. Blow out the center drive at first that the left and right. All snow on the front lawn done!


----------



## Guch710 (Mar 9, 2016)

fireside;2129604 said:


> I'm not really sure what the question or problem is. If you are using subs now how do they plow it? What are they doing wrong to get complaints or better doing right. Go during the event and watch! See what they are using and use your judgement to improve. By no meAns will what works on place a work in place b or even for the different company's doing the work..
> 
> Tractor blowers do work great so does a skidsteer. Three driveways next to each other is not a problem to me. Blow out the center drive at first that the left and right. All snow on the front lawn done!


The guys that we subbed it out to are only using pick up trucks and back dragging each driveway then stacking near the road and salting the driveways. The main complaint is with the cleanliness of the finished project, obviously with back dragging they are not cleaning up good enough.

I've watched some videos on a ventrac with rear pull plow and front v-plow (or straight) and they seem to do a great job but my concern with that is size of machine and speed. We are talking about a maximum of 6' blade. Anyone have any thoughts on this style?

I also thought of skid steer and plow but was unsure if a small tractor with front and rear plow would be more efficient.


----------



## terrain1 (Nov 27, 2011)

I have a tractor with rear blade and front blade that I use for some HOA's it works really well for me. Much faster than a truck and back dragging. That being said I would rather have an inverted blower but can't really because that machine also has to do some gravel drives and one gravel parking lot and the rear blade helps me there as well.


----------



## serafii (Nov 29, 2009)

guch710

im assuming this set up is something youre looking for. its what ive been using for 8 years now for residential drives. i wouldnt do it any other way. 2007 new holland tn95da with front and rear SSTA expandable plows


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

serafii;2131073 said:


> guch710
> 
> im assuming this set up is something youre looking for. its what ive been using for 8 years now for residential drives. i wouldnt do it any other way. 2007 new holland tn95da with front and rear SSTA expandable plows


92" blower is faster................


----------



## serafii (Nov 29, 2009)

Mark Oomkes;2131102 said:


> 92" blower is faster................


It's not always what's faster. It's also what's practical. To use a blower you also have to make sure you have room to blow the snow.

In some cases each task needs its own price of equipment


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

serafii;2131109 said:


> It's not always what's faster. It's also what's practical. To use a blower you also have to make sure you have room to blow the snow.
> 
> In some cases each task needs its own price of equipment


If there isn't room to blow snow, there isn't room to push it...........


----------



## serafii (Nov 29, 2009)

Mark Oomkes;2131135 said:


> If there isn't room to blow snow, there isn't room to push it...........


Not necessarily. Sometimes the lawn on the sides of the driveway are small and you can't blow all the snow.

In my area for example, you can have a 100' long by 12' wide driveway and a 5'x10' lawn up front. No way you can blow all the snow o to that lawn. Hence why we back blade it to the front and pile it on the street.


----------



## xtreem3d (Nov 26, 2005)

Guch710;2128612 said:


> Hi guys, I'm new to plow site. Been a member over on lawnsite for some time and just finally made it over here. A little background about my business... We are a full service landscape/hardscape installation company. We also provide maintenance to HOAs and small commercial businesses.
> 
> Until this past year we haven't done too much plowing (not that 15/16 season had a lot of snow but in terms of accounts). We've mainly plowed small commercials under 1.5 acre. And we have subbed out the plowing at our HOAs. I am looking to do the snow at the HOAs next season because quite frankly the guy we have used is getting complacent and the customer service towards the association has gone down hill and is now causing me more stress than it's worth in dealing with a sub.
> 
> ...












not sure any blower can do 90 degree turn and clean flush to garage....type of equip probably depends on what complex is like ......


----------



## V_Scapes (Jan 1, 2011)

I have a small condo complex also and a blower probably wouldnt work either. We have a S130 down there when it snows to back drag all the driveways, theyre short so it works well. Everything gets pulled into the road and when hes ready he calls a truck and we come and plow it away. It works well and the skid steer is fast and can easily get curb to curb and can stack as we goes along.


----------

