[bcx400]

After 8 years of plowing driveways (hating all but the first 2 years) I have decided to stop plowing altogether- and enjoy the snow with my kids. Maybe I'll even take a winter vacation!

Do all of you who plow snow actually enjoy this chore? I think I would rather watch paint dry than plow snow!

[Nebraska]

Congratulations on the change!

No. I hate plowing snow. I'm with you on the watching paint dry!

I have plowed snow since the winter of 1997. I too did enjoy it for the first two or three years.

Last year I only went out and plowed two lots where I didn't have to get out of the truck (no walks) and acted as a backup to the crews. It was kind of strange to only go out 3 hours at a time versus 12-24 in years past.

This year I will simply be backup if something breaks down. Next year I will simply be the owner of the business.

[HRLand]

I can't stand plowing! Unfortunately I have bills to pay and still haven't found a way to make enough during the rest of the year. I have a couple of friends that make very good money but I just can't get motivated to go out and sell work that I hate doing.

[cutntrim]

Well, I enjoy plowing. I just don't enjoy being on-call 24/7 and having to be out 12-24hrs at all times day-and-night. I'll be happy when I can assume the same roll Nebraska is doing. Not quite there yet...

On a side note, have you guys had more calls than usual for this time of season? I've had quite a few calls for commercial and residential quotes already. The freak storm in Buffalo may have contributed to that.

[johnkeegan]

bcx, I got out of it for the exact same reasons you mentioned. I sat down and REALLY looked at the added expenses involved and the actual profit for the true amount of hours (inc. maintenance, call backs, travel time etc.) and said screw it. Now, in the winter, I sleep in and stay home with the kids on snow days and EVENTUALLY get around to clearing my own driveways (before my wife gets home from work...). I've found I have more energy to concentrate on the landscaping end of my business (paper work, research, design etc.), which leads to much more profit than plowing.

[TrickyDick]

I used to work for a haz-mat spill response contractor in California. Did my share of having to wake up in the middle of the night, put crews together, coherently communicate with clients and government agents and clean up other people's messes, sometimes having to leave for weeks on zero notice. To this day I have this wierd, Pavlovian response to a Nextel beep where my heart races for just a second. When I left that job I decided that nobody was getting my ass out of bed in the middle of the night, ESPECIALLY in winter, again. I also just really like having some time off in the winter to decopmpress, catch up, etc.

Someday we may start plowing if I am going broke but only if I don't have to do it myself.

[HardDaysKnight]

I try to live below my means somewhat and pay my bills in advance. I usually have all my monthly payments for october thru
march paid in advance by august. I started doing that because I hated snow removal so much. This year I moved locally, paid for
my Moms dog operations, paid for my friends dogs vet bills and eventually the cremation and got some things for myself that
I always wanted. Work has been slow so I may be out there
with much regret. It's too early to say.

[cutntrim]

You can add me to the list of soon-to-be-former snowplowers. Told my wife yesterday that after thinking on it for a long time, I'm going to stop offering plowing as a service. My plowing list is pretty small as it is and although I'll lose some business short-term, I think it'll benefit my in the end long-term.

If anyone is interested in some very well maintained plow equipment let me know...

[jamesn162]

YES VERY MUCH......SALTER, PLOW BUT SALTER MAINLY.

[GLAN]

I don't enjoy it as I used to.......Salting I like...takes no time to do.

Just last week I lost 3 commercial contracts..........It blows my mind.....They were year round work......I don't understand how anyone can do what I did for less money......

Oh, well........they are not going to provide the service we did

[Pelican]

I lost one 4 season account this year too. Not too worried about it, it seems for every job I lose, two more better ones appear.

I don't know what it is, but watching snow roll off the end of the blade does something for me. I've been plowing since '67, since '78 commercially. It would be cool to play in it once in a while though, I can never stray far during the winter.

[cutntrim]

It was 10 years of plowing for me, with a couple more using snowblowers before that. I still love cranking the music and pushing mountains of snow, but I only love it until about 2:00am. After that, I'd rather be home sleeping.

I've always wondered how landscapers in the north can survive without plowing in the winter...guess I'll soon be finding out. My thoughts are that snowplowing can be profitable if you are a one-truck operation, or if you're running 5-6+ trucks, or better yet...subs. With only 3 trucks like me, it was always a break-even prospect.

Heck, my company name is C&C Lawn & Landscape...not C&C Snowscaping...I'll just be concentrating on what I should be all along.

[dan deutekom]

I never could figure how plowing actually payed. By the time you factor in the cost of the plow, the brutal wear and tear on the equipment and insurance it was a break even proposition at best.

I use to enjoy plowing but now I find the novelty wears off after about 3 hours. Now that I work for a municipality I am only on snow call every second week and since the Ministry of Transport has very specific laws about hours of work behind the wheel of a truck I can't work more than 14 hours without a ten hour break. I really don't miss those 36 hour marathons that I use to do.

[cutntrim]

Yeah, I hear that the MTO is going to be enforcing logbook records for private plow companies this winter. That'll be one more headache I'll be avoiding. Guys will have to keep extra "float" drivers on hand for the big storms where trucks need to be out around-the-clock.

How is that municipal job going anyhow? A landscaper buddy of mine and I joke that we'd jump in with both feet if a "cushy" town job came our way. I keep threatening (tongue in cheek) to go to the city and tell them to hire me on to replace their current maintenance crew chief.

[cutntrim]

I dropped my year-end stuff to my accountant today and told him I've decided to drop snow. He pretty much had a heart-attack on the spot. Said "Don't tell your customers that yet, I've gotta run P&L's from the past few winters and see how profitable it has been for you first!"

He thinks it may be a big mistake to let it go altogether like I plan too. I said, "Let me put it this way... I ... don't want to plow snow anymore...but if it can be done profitably without ME then I'd look at keeping it. Otherwise I'm out. "

So, he's going to run the numbers once the tax season is over and give me a call in May. In the meantime, I'll probably re-look at it possibly working without my butt having to be in a truck anymore...