treeman/snowplow man tips, musings

We plow, salt etc in the winter to offset the slow times. We still do tree care, but snow gives us the financial ability to pick and choose the winter weather that we perform it in. It takes a lot of time to develop a good client base, crew, and equipment line up just like tree care and always comes with lots of headaches. The long hours just become routine after a while.....
 
ROYCE said:
Also, I like the idea of plowing off the area where we will be working. Or, plowing a path for the bucket to back into. Like right now, we have had freezing temperatures with little snow. The ground is frozen solid.
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Royce- Did you get any of the attachments for the BMG? The rake actually works really well in the snow...and doesn't tear up the grass past the driveway. Now it does not give a clean surface, like a plow or bucket (some slips through), but it get the worse of it. I use it most of the time for my drive, unless it is a real heavy snow. I have also used it for what you mentioned above, cause it wont tear the grass.

The snow part starts at 1:05
 
I've been plowing since 81..

bought the 75' elevator with snow money.. made so much money with it, I almost decided to get out of the snow biz..
would be nice to take the winters off and find a sunny beach in south America for a couple months...

Right now I have 3 diesel pick ups with plows... have yet to get the kind of contracts to put a skid steer loader on... Some guys that do, are making real $$$ around here..
 
Reilman said:
Here is your answer: Move South.
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I did move south and have to say that for two seasons life is good, but that third season just really sucks. In the north, I can put more clothes on to stay warm, and if I do it with some forethought, I can tolerate some pretty severe cold. In the south I can only take so many clothes offand still be legal. Fourth season you ask? No we only have three; spring, fall and hot.
 
Cover up from the sun in the summer with arborwear tech long sleeves, arborwear tech pants, and treestuff dew rag, you will be fine. I hate the winter and y'all up north plowing snow deserve every penny and then some.
 
This year I finally find myself in a position where snow doesn't affect my job. I plowed every winter for 15ish years. I never plowed for myself but for the companies I've worked for. I absolutely hate it, always have. I don't mind working long hours. I don't mind working all night. I don't mind spending hours on end in a truck. I don't mind being hypnotized by falling snowflakes for long periods of time. But, for some reason, when you mix all those things together and add (oh, I dunno, 40,000 or so) back and forth motions, I absolutely hate it. I used to dread winter because of plowing. It's weird, I've actually re-discovered how much I enjoy snow. It's fun now that I don't have to stress about getting all the loading docks clear by 5am and dumb-a$$ black friday early-bird door buster shoppers showing up at 2am and parking in the one and only spot in the entire empty parking lot that completely screws up your operation.
I still get stressed out with a knot in my stomach when it's snowing hard at 9pm. That's the way I used to feel, knowing that I should go to bed and get my 2 hrs of sleep, because soon I'd be heading out for 18ish hours of suck. I'm glad to be done with snow plowing and hope to never have to do it again.
It is very hard on equipment too. I think a lot of the reason it's so hard on truck transmissions is because operators get in a hurry, and when they're driving back and forth for hours on end, they don't come to complete stops when shifting between drive and reverse.
I salute all you guys still keepin' it clear so the rest of us can function. I hope you all can find a way to cash in on it.

The freaks come out at night!
 
gotta lock up the wheels into a slow speed skid when shifting in a hurry to keep the trans from taking too much of a beating. Its often just overheating that wipes the trannies.. I always let my trucks idle in neutral when ever I stop for any reason... some dodges don't keep the transmission fluid circulating in park.. tranny just sits there and cooks while you're getting a cup of joe or making a call.
 
Daniel said:
gotta lock up the wheels into a slow speed skid when shifting in a hurry to keep the trans from taking too much of a beating. Its often just overheating that wipes the trannies.. I always let my trucks idle in neutral when ever I stop for any reason... some dodges don't keep the transmission fluid circulating in park.. tranny just sits there and cooks while you're getting a cup of joe or making a call.
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It's my understanding that some automatic transmissions circulate ATF while in "P", and some don't. One indicator of whether the transmission you have in your vehicle does or doesn't, is to find out in which gear you're supposed to check the fluid level. If you're supposed to check the fluid in "P", then the tranny (most likely, I believe) circulates fluid in "P". If you're supposed to check the fluid in "N", then the tranny (most likely, I believe) does not circulate fluid in "P". In that case, Daniel, you offer some pretty good suggestions there.
We had a lot of snow in 2008 with several storms each dumping large amounts. I was working for a large company at the time. I think we had 12 plow trucks. At one point that winter, we had 5 trucks out of commission - all due to transmissions. The rest of us had to pick up the other routes. That meant several shifts over 24 hrs each. Man, that winter sucked!
 
Daniel said:
gotta lock up the wheels into a slow speed skid when shifting in a hurry to keep the trans from taking too much of a beating. Its often just overheating that wipes the trannies.. I always let my trucks idle in neutral when ever I stop for any reason... some dodges don't keep the transmission fluid circulating in park.. tranny just sits there and cooks while you're getting a cup of joe or making a call.
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My Silverado has a tranny temp gauge on the dash readout
 
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