This will be my 3rd year residential plowing and you have helped me better understand my pricing and how I can improve. You are an excellent teacher I appreciate this!

Stan, I've been watching your videos for a few years now. Of all the contractors I've watched, you seem to know the most;for precision, quality, and depth of knowledge, you are the best. I figured that out while watching a video you posted about building retaining walls. It was how you kept pushing the point about using the drainage grid and NOT using weed barrier fabric that sold me. After that video, I saw tons of failed retaining walls, where guys had used the fabric. Thank you for all you do!!!

Hey Stanley, here in southeast Missouri we havent had a real snow since 2008.But it never fails,every year in November you see people driving around with snow plows.I told them to leave the plows off the trucks so we can get some snow.Whenever we need rain,I just take the top off my Jeep.Never fails...lol

3 year old video. Just started to run a snow plowing business here in MN. This basically helped me understand how and to go forward for next years planning. This year is basically learning how to use and start small. Nothing big yet but it is definitely a learning process. Thanks for making such an informative video and I’ll be checking out the courses you have made as well. God bless you sir! 🇺🇸🎄 Merry Christmas.

This channel reminds me of spending time helping my stepfather maintain the plows when he ran the street department for our village. Was an unpaid chore for me. LOL Too young to drive the plows and have any fun.

That’s pretty cool of you to include your learning moments or “mistakes” on the job, throughout life as well as recording. Says a lot about you as a person. I also applaud you for taking the effort to offer real world business tools that my past professors forgot to touch upon and could easily destroy a business. Looks like you have a clever and hard working crew as well. That being said, gas monkey garage sucks, so uhh that’s sucks.

I kind of like your pricing formulas. When I did it in central New York, Lake Effect sometime. Mostly residential, along with a couple of small commercial. I charged a flat rate, plowed at my discretion. Every couple of events I would stop by the house and collect. Or in the event they were not available I would call ahead and they would leave me an envelope. I had some really great customers when I finally had to dropout some that were uncollected all of'em chased me down to pay me. The reason for going by to collect, if there was a problem or any issue you heard about it and it got resolved before it got out of hand. When I was doing it I always wanted a Fisher but settled for Myers as I could buy them best. I plowed with a scout and then with a power wagon. Enjoy your videos as I'm able to catch them. Thank you. Keep on... 😜🇺🇸 Merry Christmas!

This is my first year plowing ive been shoveling roofs and walkways, plowing is a whole other ball game. Youve been really helpful. Thanks

Thank you so much! First year plowing this year for me. This helped some much. Been following for couples years now thanls for all the great information!

My favorite videos by you are snowplowing I can't get enough

when i used to do snowplowing up in new york. Our boss had a set way to price stuff. Residential were priced at certain length of the driveway. a 10 foot long drive for starter was $10.00 20 foot long driveway you guessed it $20. so on and so on. Commercial was different and we got lot of Commercial business as way Boss priced it was Per Parking Space. which started at 2.00 for like normal width parking spaces and for Semi truck parking spaces it was 2.50. Granted we were ALWAYS busy in the winter. more then a few times Boss would have to call in extra Help from other companies friends he knew to come help. Boss was kind too, there was 2 senior citizen complexes in town. We would do for Free. but again pretty much all other companies around the area did the same thing. a way to give back to the Seniors

Do a credit for next year's plowing instead of just writing a check to them at the end of the season. That way they stay with you for another year

This is a very good intro video for those just starting out and like you said, there is a lot more involved and this is just the basic information. I pretty much do the same exact bidding and pricing, I give each client a option for per storm or seasonal for plowing and the only hourly I do is with my machines. Per storm is invoiced after each storm and seasonal is broke down for monthly payments. One thing I add in my contracts is I reserve the right to suspend service if payment has not been received. I also have one page in my contracts that covers additional services that might occur; I left the prices blank as they would be different depending on what state and area a person is in and would charge. Additional Costs that may occur for Seasonal Service or Per Storm Service State Taxes will be added in the invoices for any service calls rendered Additional Cost for Major Blizzards Any one storm over 12.1 inches there will be additional costs: For over 12.1 inches there will be additional cost of $000.00 every 1 inch for plowing Extra Plowing - (service call) If you ask us to come back the following day after we have been there and cleaned up the roadways and parking spots, there will be an additional charge for this; it will be a cost of $000.00 an hour, minimum 1 hour. Extra Sanding for Roadways and Parking Lots - (service call) In the event that additional sanding is needed on non-storm days for melt off from roofs, drains, etc... Said application will cost $000.00 per application Melt Off, Icy Conditions for sidewalks - (service call) Salting for icy conditions on non-storm days for melt off from roofs, drains, etc... It will be at a cost of $00.00 an hour, minimum 1 hour Skid steer usage for clearing and relocating snow outside of normal operations- (service call) It will be at a cost of $000.00 an hour, minimum time 2 hours. - (this is for the machine, plow trucks and spotters) Sweeping service to clean up sand at end of season, roads and parking lots - (service call) It will be at the cost of $000.00 dollars sand dumped on site / $000.00 if dumped off site Any of these service calls would only be completed upon verbal orders from you or your site manager. One thing I would add is don't underbid, if your not making a profit then what's the sense, plus it lowers the market price for everyone. Have a great 2019 and let it snow.

I watched this whole video and I live in Florida. My life is sad 😂

"Theres no way to just pull in and hook up to this plow!" Exzactly. Makes them go look somewhere else for a easier plow to steal.

Love the informative videos. It doesnt matter if it's just talking or showing.

Liking that Western plow, Im leaning Boss over here in Ohio. Love the cabin as well.

Love these videos because it's all new to me. Never see snow in Sydney and the only salt we have is in the Sea. :)

My uncle ran those titanium plow blocks the one year. They held up pretty well.

love watching these videos in my spare time. been watching for about 2 years. and what i think most of the time is,.. when i get to the point i can just make videos all the time of crew and equipment. 20 years and i still dont have time to just film. ill never have a successful channel like you stan!. Really cool what you do. very entertaining. throw it up on my second monitor while doing work on primary monitor. I love it. Grand Rapids Michigan. West michigan! Home of the expandable and swing wing rear plows!!!!!

Bro u got to let your workers now how u need the plows set or whatever u need done. Most people can't comprehend that type of thing haha. Good channel my guy keep up the good work.

The talking is cool your like the teacher everyone wish they had.Also u got great teaching skills on the work field.👍keep it up brother.

So how much are you charging to do a parking lot? Didn't learn anything here. What do you charge a client based on 17-19 visits throughout the season ?? Dollars wise is what we want to know.

We just got one of these wedge type plows for our factory truck made by Boss and I love it. Our old one was just a fixed blade, only up and down, it would not even angle side to side. But this one is infinitely adjustable. It makes plowing an entire factory parking lot and access roads enjoyable.

Excellent video! I appreciate the information that you're sharing with us. Thank you!

Thx for the videos and advice man :) I’m setting up a land clearing, selling firewood and snow removal business in northern Canada 😎

The only good thing about putting plows in backwards during the summer is loss prevention. I feel your pain and thanks for another great video Stan

I have no idea how I ran across your channel about plows and etc, but I must say your videos are very entertaining and informative! I love this videos structure about how you wove the story about bidding plans into other shots of your equipment and plows and etc. I have no real need to learn about plows and plowing, but I just really like your videos so +1 subscriber from me!

ICE management is a whole different game brother..

Here in Michigan we allocate 25 trips go November 1st - March 31st. If we hit 25 trips before March 31 then there is a rider on the contract that we will call continue to plow on a per trip bases and we will bill for those trips

Have you ever thought about using fisher snow plows? It’s 90 % of what we use up here in Maine but also it’s made completely here in Rockland Maine

LOL I’m going to admit I know nothing about plowing snow and no desire to do so ,but I watch all of your videos they’re at least if not more interesting ,than anything the networks are running ,LOL and I learned something ! I’m betting 1/3 of your audience is me LOL thumbs up 👍

Polar Flex blades are the best thing ever. At work at a state dot yard we get 5 to 6 years out of polar flex blade. Also we use hydraulic system called a blade saver. We get that from Monroe Truck Equipment. Also another blade that is good is Kenimetal dowel carbide blades. Winter blades suck no life at all.

Thank you for your videos I do the same here in Idaho work wise and have learned alot from you. Keep vids coming

I love the see-through roof I bet it really keeps the snow out of there for you guys

That bird is really throwing him off in the beginning 😂

I am a lifelong Florida resident and watching a snow plowing video. This was very interesting and you made good points.

This is one of your better videos, IMO. I NEVER clear snow by the hour or monthly, but I do clear on a per-event basis as well as yearly. On a yearly basis, I offer both a Basic Contract and a Premium Contract. I make sure that the yearly accounts are 80% or more and the per-event accounts amount to 20% or less. (The potential customers like it - as do children - when they have more than one choice. ) When I first started ten-plus years ago, I did it only on a per-event basis, but I soon learned that I was WRONG in doing so. Again, good video. (As an aside, I do ONLY residential snow clearing, so it is slightly different than commercial.)

This is an excellent video Stanly, thank you. You didn't touch on push and pile vs load and haul, im guessing that would be covered in another video? I am also guessing some is on every event, and some would be an extra on a as needed basis?

I really appreciate this video because it will be my first year in the snow removal game and I'm unsure how to bid .

always apreciate everything you have to teach us , thank you .

A Cat 2 3-point version of the pull plow would be fantastic! Cheaper too, use tractor hydraulics.

Love the truck bed pullplow

I will add my 2 cents to this video also. I do residential snow removal. I have the same customers that I have for my mowing season. I give a rate for snow removal. What ever that rate is that rate is good for up to 6" of snow. Meaning if it is 1" or 6" it is the price I quoted. If it is more than 6" I might have to come out twice to clear the snow. I use a snow blower. No plow. But before I go out for snow removal I am watching the weather, radar and timing of the snow for anywhere from 3-5 hrs before I go out. Then I go out and start clearing the snow. When I use salt I usually double the price of the bag. It also depends on the temperature. If the temp is in the 20's I can use regular cheap salt but if the temp is lower I have to switch to a rock salt that works at a lower temp. Then if I am dealing with ice I will have to use deicer rock salt. during the winter it is not uncommon to see 20-30 bags of salt in the back of my truck and they are not the same. I don't use salt on everyone's property. Only when requested and only when needed. I clear the snow with the snow blower then I go back over the property with the shovel. Then salt if needed. This way the property is completely clear and nothing is on the ground. As you can tell I am reviewing my snow removal operations tonight. I have already been out 4 times this year. I was up all night last night for only about 1/2" but it was icing up and turning into a ice rink.

I had contracts and cash on delivery arrangements in the 1980s when I did this for a living. Contracts were paid either full in advance or 50 percent down and balance in the spring so long as we had 12 inches or more snow that year.

I do all residential so this would prob not work on commercial. But what we do is charge per storm per inch and expect payment before the next storm. (We only have 30 accounts but its never failed us)

Snow equipment is so much fun to work with

Being a municapal snow plow driver is the best scenario no bidding just drive

All I have is a 12 horse wheel horse with a plow you should make a video on driveway pricing

When I had my plow truck I use to charge 10 in town and 15 outside of town. Of course I was only plowing for friends. That was the first year I had the plow. 2nd I had to raise to 15 in town and 20 outside of town. I wasn't getting rich but I love plowing snow so it was a hobby for me. Everyone loved the way I plowed. I didn't leave anything the driveway was always clear. I even cleaned by their mailbox and for the old folks I would shovel their steps and sidewalks. I believe in taking care of your costumers even though I was doing it as a hobby. Just made enough to put gas in my truck and a little extra. I had 2 elderly people I plowed for and if I could of afford it I would of plowed them for free. They took some time to pay me but they always paid never had a problem.

Good one Stan. That's a lot of good info for the guys learning the bid process.

Great video brother keep up the awesome work it will be snowing before to long brother have a great weekend

Paint contractor busy all year except DEC & Jan alway hungry thanks for Videos help & entertaining👍 makes watching these Videos painless ,some just to painful to watch...lmao.

I own josh of all trades and work in massachusetts. I want to say thankyou for sharing your knowledge it has helped me as a micro small buisness owner. Thank you

Them back blades are slick but pushing in reverse is hard on the trans! Not sure about other trans but pushing in reverse will take reverse in a 4l80 out quick!

😆 😆 😆 ur wife face was just priceless as u was telling her what u was gonna do!

this is my first year in business. i'm not planning on doing contracts this winter. instead, i'm going to do on call and post storm cleanup. half tempted to go driving around after the county plows get the back roads and highways and when i see folks out shoveling, stop and offer to clear the berm left by the county. that aught to be easy money.

A quick calculation for the machinery costs of a new Ford 250 with snowplow assuming 100 hours per season including depreciation, interest, fuel, insurance, license plates, utilities, and maintenance is +/- $50 an hour which does not include driving between jobs.

People constantly under bid snow and ice control jobs because there is so many people at it but not everyone stays in business because of that exact problem.

interesting video, i work in the motor grader industry and make blades of all sorts, so i know what your doing with them and equipment. the products we make are much larger and heavy duty, we produce for Caterpillar mainly

Good video very informative. Great job on your videos they are well edited

I have a bit of a formula, my rough estimate is $400/hr for how long I'd estimate to make one nice pass all inclusive, now the variable is 2" to 12" and under a 24 hr event, every extra foot or fraction is another charge. So a 15 min driveway would be 100, but that'd be a big driveway. Most of mine are all under 10 minutes and generally all what I'd call the black diamond driveways, scary to look at or have caused other contractors to loose a truck. Now being at a fixed event, if its going to be icy/slick, I don't feel bad hitting it twice or every few inches to keep the truck from bulldozing a foot of cement. Sometimes we get multiple feet of fluff or just a few inches to a foot of super heavy stuff. I'm thinking I'd not mind picking up a small parking lot just to have something flat to have fun with. Salt spreading is usually 1/2 regular price as salt is pretty expensive mid season.

I like the talk! Attention span and patience are in short supply these days

Danger Will Robinson! Lost in Space was one of my favorite shows as a kid!

Just recently found your channel. Its very informative and on par with a bunch of the stuff I’ve learned after 18 years in the business. Two questions for you. What do you think of a boss htx v plow on a Jeep? Also what kind of wheels are those on the challenger? They look awesome. Light bar on top? Sweet!

The first thing you need is snow here in Kansas City last four or five years the most we’ve had was to 3 inches at a time

Just recently found your videos. Very good information, filming, content and some entertainment on the side. Thanks

Brother love watching your videos especially about the snowplow "precheck"(from Naples fl in Dec) anyway one thing made me cringe when you were hooking the rear push plow. As the truck is backing up to the plow your guy is standing between the plow and a fence not a good place to be just my 2 cents. keep them coming

Fluid film and dielectric Grease are 2 must to keep a plow and plow eletric from rusting...

Awesome video! Also Minnesota native also.

Dude. I just finished plowing an event. And I totally was wearing my charger around my neck. Best way to keep tabs on it jumping in and out of trucks

This year we are getting lots of snow events here in Minnesota :P

Ive spent hours shoveling snow/running equipment for other past landscaping companies and trying to figure out the business end of it for myself is tricky.

Brother you helped so many people and it is a blessing that you are on KZfaq a man's Channel well and hard-working women as well I don't care if it is a marker all the way up to Big equipment you cover it all and everybody loves your snow plow videos can't wait to see that Dodge and action hell yeah I hope you like it we got to know and you rock on brother you and Momma and the family hey we would like to see some of that bird in the videos I don't want to say parrot or parakeet if it's not I don't really know birds that well but I know they're cool have a good with man thanks a ton for all the great videos👊👊👍👍👍🤙🤙

My per/plows are based on an hourly rate that includes drive time from the last or nearest account + a trip fee. The per/ plow is up to a certain time (depending on the account), with overages billed in 15 minute increments @ 25% of the hourly rate. I have considered asking for a non-refundable sum equal to 2 plows per month, Dec-March to cover "dry" spells. Then each of those months, the first 2 plows would be pre-paid (unless there is an overage). I came up with this system because of 3" wet and heavy that plows harder than 12" of champagne powder. The forecast vs actual measurable snow varies wildly in my coverage area, and I've watched too many guys being accused of using the "plow guy's ruler" where 1.5" is billed as 4+". Northern MI

Appreciate the edumacation information!

THANK YOU FOR THE INSIDE TIPS...

Watching from Houston. Hoping to start my plowing business here

It seems I’m not getting a lot of snow removal contracts in Hawaii, don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Any advice would be great

Glad I found your channel, we are an established construction company in western Canada which is expanding into property maintenance Signed a 4 year deal recently for a big institutional client, excited to check out your additional info on your webpage

Your guy stored your plows backwards to prevent theft.

Don’t I wish we got 12-15 events on average. Without that storm last April, it would’ve been a crappy season. Even now, I haven’t plowed more than 4” for a customer and that was before it turned over to rain. Even now in MSP it’s too warm and our precip will stay rain. In January!! Only thing that’s brought in good money so far is salting properties. Didn’t see any videos on that. If you’re knowledgeable on them, would definitely love to know more on bidding those, techniques and maintenance. 👍

When I first started it as a kid on the side i had some want a contract and a set price but i talked her into prices biased on 2 inch groups and anything over 8 was time and equipment. It saved me because one storm was 12/13. Now as a busy that’s most of my accounts

be smart and make dollies to move them around...I have one on my plow when Im not using it and I can move it as I please

Great video with great info! Thanks Stan!

Great job. Thanks for the tips.

Can’t wait for the plow videos

Here in Newfoundland the money is in salting/ice control and trucking snow off property’s. Plowing snow is only a small part of the profits!!

Block up those blades when working under neither, can create some serious damage when it comes down, but you probably wont know it if it happens.

I am a customer. I have my contractor plow my driveway no sooner than 24 hours and no later than 72 hours if there is 6" or more of snow and the weather forecast for the next few days will not melt the snow. Why? because I work at home and have a 4 wheel drive truck. If there is more than 6" of snow and it is not going to melt, I do not want to shovel it my 200' driveway and parking area. And as I do need it done right away, my guy puts me at the bottom of his list and he will get to me if/as needed. This way, my plow guy has a job when all his other jobs are done and I get a very good rate. My point is, not all of us need our areas plowed to operate our business. With a little bit of horse-trading, you can pick up extra jobs when the big jobs are done.

Mobile 1 white grease works great

I did driveways again in 2003/2004 with a Toro 117 Groundsmaster and a Warn 54” ATV blade I adapted to it. Nice customers,, average customers and then there’s the major PITA guy who is cheap, wants to be the first driveway plowed and wants it perfect. Plus he gets angry easily. I didn’t plow the next season and that PITA guy called back the next fall and it felt good to tell him NO i’m not plowing this winter. When I had PITA customers in my lawn service I’d not renew for them the next season. Once in a while I’d drop them during the season but I’d give them notice.

Good stuff, this is the hardest part of any business & exactly where most screw up. Is that a bird in the background lol?

Here's a HUGE one... how do you pay your employees? Can't do cash... and also most workers get pissed off if there is a 5-10 hour check coming in from 1 snow event and they lose out on their unemployment... what's the best way to pay your employees when there is no other side work to be done?

Where do you keep equioment when your not using it example in winter when you dont use the big excavator i think that you showing us that will be a good video give the people what they want and show us the boneyard but part by part, good videos anyway keep it up

I just watched this lol love it. Thank you. Love your channel

Quite informative thank you I will be following you and watching more of the videos

You're right if the plows are facing the other way ANYBODY can roll up and drive away with the plow in just a few moments, so yeah you're helping those thieves out. Your so awesome helping those thieves out and make it easier to get your stuff. \

Stanley first of all, I absolutely love your channel. I'm going to throw my hat in the snow removal ring next season in Northern Ohio and have found your videos to be incredibly valuable. The way you explain things is perfect in my opinion. I do have a couple questions. One, would you recommend your DMU courses for someone who isn't doing commercial right away? And two, could you do a video that is based around the residential side? I know it's probably been a while since any of your focus was on residential lol Again, thank you for your time in not only making the videos, but taking the time to respond to us as well.

Problem with snow plowing is that while the owner of the operation can make a bunch of cash, the workers are starving. Any business that can't put someone to work consistently day in and day out, expects people to be on call for 24/7 without paying them and has to rely on unemployment to keep employees is a pretty shitty business. If you rely on just snow to get you by during winter months what's the point? There is none unless you have a bunch of guys willing to wait around so maybe they will make a few bucks if and when it snows. No way are you giving anyone a living wage during the snow season unless you have some other cash flow coming in other than snow during the winter months.