treeguys plowin and saltin

[treeclimber101]

Hey treevet you should get a ten footer for that ford chiptruck you have , just leave some weight in the back that truck would do well on big work, like roadways and lots..

 

[treevet]

Maybe we get some more stuff if this one pays off. We got bout 3 to 4" down right now and I been making calls. Got over 4k into the pu unit and want to buy the wings and tomorrow prob gonna get a tailgate spreader.

Spending it like a drunken sailor.

 

[treevet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ovR_yq9ECE&feature=related

 

[treevet]

 

[treevet]

truck needs a bath bad. How'd you like the little rr climbing gear box addition?

 

[treemandan]

Watch yer step over there... might be some "sticks" in the snow.

On another note: Ben you lay down some seriously funny ****! Thanks man I needed a good laugh.

The new chip truck is gonna come with a plow on it. Should probably put a mount on the bucket truck.....hmmm.....thats a thought.

Saturday into sunday and then the start of the week will be fun. Lake Effect, love it, love it, love it!

By " Ben" do you mean me?

Anyway, if you have a 4x4 for tree work then it makes sense to throw another tool on it whether it be for carving a path into the job or to stir up revenue and contacts throughout the dry season. I did mention it sucks you can't go nowhere and you don't get to play with your kids in the snow, well you do, but by then you have sobered up from all the alcohol the people give you ( I know, they give you wine and stuff too, go figure) and realize you have been up way past your bedtime.
Its a hassle, all of it.

Another great tip:
I cut out the carpet in the cabs of the trucks and painted bed liner. I only cut out where your feet are. I was thinking of just tossing the plastic cover that holds the carpet down but haven't decided yet. My one truck ( 91 f150) has some small rust holes in the floor boards . It was not a plow truck til 5 years ago. My other truck which has always been a plow truck needs new rocker panels, its a 94.
I cut out the rust and slathered this beliner and body adhesive on over the floorboards and fit some peices of sheet metal in. Boy, did that stink it up real good! but it was worth it. I plan on running this truck a few more times up the hill and even though mine is older a newer truck will suffer the same consequences in short time with all the water that runs down under that plastic rocker panel cover. TOSS IT OUT I think. I filled under mine with tons of nasty rubber glue so the water will pretty much run down to the door seal so I made some nice holes for that so crap won't get stuck up under the lip of the bottom of the door seal rot out.
I wouldn't be saying all this if I thought it was a waste but I see the more value in things like this rather than a big flashy sign on it.

TIP:
Spray Grease
You pretty much have red and white. Think red for outside the truck, white for in but you can use red on most things. Primary its the undercarriage. Shift linkage primary but you would be surprised to see how much under there could use a shot. Definatley should lube the shift linkage if ya can. Ever try to get your spare down? Not only does it lubricate but water can't freeze on whatever its on.

 

[treevet]

ok question for the experts....

We had a ton of rain....temp drops below freezing and the wetness freezes....then after the night is over, we will maybe have 4 inches of snow.

I go plow drives tomorrow am but under the snow is an ice surface. In this case you are likely creating a hazard by taking the snow off the ice.

AM temp in the mid teens. Salt don't work well under 20. Do you spread sand? Can a tailgate spreader spread sand. Is there a sand that is best for this application? Coarse prob.

Then after the temp rises you gotta come back and spread salt to melt the ice?

This stuff is interesting and strategic.

 

[treeclimber101]

ok question for the experts....

We had a ton of rain....temp drops below freezing and the wetness freezes....then after the night is over, we will maybe have 4 inches of snow.

I go plow drives tomorrow am but under the snow is an ice surface. In this case you are likely creating a hazard by taking the snow off the ice.

AM temp in the mid teens. Salt don't work well under 20. Do you spread sand? Can a tailgate spreader spread sand. Is there a sand that is best for this application? Coarse prob.

Then after the temp rises you gotta come back and spread salt to melt the ice?

This stuff is interesting and strategic.

No sand it freezes in the hopper , its always sand salt mix and keep it dry outta the rain ....salt will melt ice to about 10 degrees ..

 

[pdqdl]

Don't even try sand, unless you can buy dried sand and store it inside.

A big pile of sand freezes on the surface (frozen clumps!), and the inside is nice and soft. You load it into your spreader, where it starts freezing! DAMN! now your spreader has a load of frozen sand stuck in it, and you have to learn a whole bunch of new tricks to get it working again.

You will have the same problem with any mixture of sand and salt, below a certain temperature.

Cheap solution for below 20°: mix in a bag of 95% calcium chloride per 2-3000 lb scoop of salt/sand mixture. This will work down to about 0°, but you need to still it a bit for good results. I learned that from MoDot in 1985. I saw how well their salt was melting the roads, when mine was doing nothing. So...I went down to the local shop and asked them what they were doing, and they told me!

Another method, more planning and investment, but also more effective: mix a tank with a very concentrated water solution of calcium chloride, then pour it over the salt mixture when you load it. The liquid interface on all the salt makes it melt ice much better when it is cold out.

Some salt spreaders can be equipped with calcium chloride sprayers that can be turned on or off. They spray the liquid onto the salt as it is thrown out the spreader onto the road. Obviously, this is the best method for getting good results with the least amount of wasted material, but it is also the most equipment intensive. $$$ !

 

[treemandan]

ok question for the experts....

We had a ton of rain....temp drops below freezing and the wetness freezes....then after the night is over, we will maybe have 4 inches of snow.

I go plow drives tomorrow am but under the snow is an ice surface. In this case you are likely creating a hazard by taking the snow off the ice.

AM temp in the mid teens. Salt don't work well under 20. Do you spread sand? Can a tailgate spreader spread sand. Is there a sand that is best for this application? Coarse prob.

Then after the temp rises you gotta come back and spread salt to melt the ice?

This stuff is interesting and strategic.

Buddy if you are a :newbie: you will be up all nights:hmm3grin2orange: I was- but in retrospect its all simple.
Like in this case about the ice forming: you salt beforehand... and of course during and after if needed. Also all your plow clients have your cell phone if they need immediate service.
You also can mix the salts, sands and gravels to get something you can use that will work in more specific of and area. I won't put anything more that sand through a small rear mount spreader. For what they want to a running unit I would take care of it. Also if the salt won't melt and of course the sand won't then I would say to just bulk up on the salt which provides traction.

The hourly rate system works well when working with this snow stratagey. A typcial invoice of mine might read:

12-12-10 11:45p to12:00am Salt drive salt used 50lbs
12-13-10 6:00a to 7p clear and salt salt used 50 lbs

You can see by the date and times (if I wrote it right) could be an actuall senerio and it actually is. And you can see how it could work with a strategey in which you can bill for proper service rendered.
Well it sounds good I suppose and you can write it on paper but in reality the people are going to be glad to pay you what you need or they would not call you... they would be doing it themselves.
Now if you have real snow then you count on the real money but sometimes its not so good but you are still out in your territory and you come upon things as it is. I thought it a no brainer since the tree work slacked off.

 

[pdqdl]

ok question for the experts....

... Can a tailgate spreader spread sand. Is there a sand that is best for this application? Coarse prob.

The local salt-sellers use "treated sand" when they run out of salt to sell. Basically, it is the the same calcium chloride solution poured over sand to keep it from freezing.

If you come across that for sale, don't be tricked into thinking it will melt the ice. It's only treated good enough to keep it from freezing in the hopper.


I guess an adventurous fellow could just mix some dry calcium chloride with his sand pile, and keep it covered. Enough calcium chloride, and the sand would almost never freeze.

 

[kugss]

For the guys that do the plowing do you havea set base price? One of my customers told me he charges between $2.00 an 3.00 a min but wont drop his plow for anything under $35.00 doing mosty res. homes.

 

[pdqdl]

A little over $100/hr is normal for our area. Some guys make/bill more, but they don't win as many bids, either!

 

[treeclimber101]

Just stick with the sand salt mix , keep it dry with a tarp and try to limit the time you cart it around , in the tailgate style hopper its always bagged straight salt or potassium , you shouldn't even try to use sand in there chances are you will have a straight ice block when you try to spread it and it is too heavy ..In the V style hoppers you can do a mix , it doesn't have to be treated special S&S remember you are trying to make a profit , find yourself a hook up that will keep some late hours when theres a storm or stockpile a load or two, remember the trick is keep it dry, rain will really jam you up ...As far as a time line , you need to know when the customers open or leave for work , by that time the road or lot needs to be passable and the walks need to be clear, usually I like to hit sites with salt right around the witching hours between 3:30 to 5 a.m. so when the sun pops up we start to see some asphalt..

 

[treemandan]

For the guys that do the plowing do you havea set base price? One of my customers told me he charges between $2.00 an 3.00 a min but wont drop his plow for anything under $35.00 doing mosty res. homes.

A minute rate sounds better than an hour rate.

 

[treevet]

Yesterday WAS our first rodeo. (not counting cocktail plowing over thirty years ago). Made a few beans and everything went just fine. Found out for now don't need a tailgate spreader for 1400 bucks. 80 dollar home improvement spreader holding 50 lb bag worked just fine for now. One job had a eighth mile drive into a turnaround into another drive into a a big open lot. Just took maybe 15 minutes to do the whole thing.

Prob get a tailgate spreader with the first commercial account.

What is the tech for plowing gravel drives and not moving all the gravel away? We have a number of them around here and they are expensive properties too.

 

[treemandan]

Yesterday WAS our first rodeo. (not counting cocktail plowing over thirty years ago). Made a few beans and everything went just fine. Found out for now don't need a tailgate spreader for 1400 bucks. 80 dollar home improvement spreader holding 50 lb bag worked just fine for now. One job had a eighth mile drive into a turnaround into another drive into a a big open lot. Just took maybe 15 minutes to do the whole thing.

Prob get a tailgate spreader with the first commercial account.

What is the tech for plowing gravel drives and not moving all the gravel away? We have a number of them around here and they are expensive properties too.

Gravel drive? Nope! Maybe if its worth the risk. You'll put the front of the drive in the back yard. Maybe if you had feet and were able to get the right adjustment to account for the gravel drive but I wouldn't go looking for that kind of work unless it was big bucks. I think blowers are set high and used on gravel.
In my contract for plowing it states that driveways are in fact " wearable items" that require maintenance periodically and I am not responsible for any damage... unless they can prove I was drunk. Once any drive have a good sized noticable hump in the middle you can expect problems to develope pretty quick. Try never to plow upgrade if you can help it. If I had a choice whether to push in on virgin snow uphill or back in , pack it down and push down I would go with the latter. A hump in the middle while pushing up is not recomended unless you are getting paid extra to redo the drive. If you can plow the drive and not strip off the top of the hump or at least start to then you were lucky that time. That might even be plain common sense I dunno.
And it always looks worse when its fresh. They see the mud , gravel and bits of driveway pushed up next to the garage and they start freaking out. I will fix any major damage like if I hit something but after it all melts the mess is not so bad.
If you have long drives to do mark them. I do have days in the spring where I have to do around and clean things up here and there. And never feel bad about knocking down a mailbox and never let anyone else try to make you feel bad about it. I have knocked them down and went out and got new ones so fast the people still don't know. The one was a pain because the last name was Lawrence and it said it on both sides. I have been lucky cause all mine were relatively easy and cheap to fix but there are some nice ones out there

 

[treevet]

Gravel drive? Nope! Maybe if its worth the risk. You'll put the front of the drive in the back yard. Maybe if you had feet and were able to get the right adjustment to account for the gravel drive but I wouldn't go looking for that kind of work unless it was big bucks. I think blowers are set high and used on gravel.
In my contract for plowing it states that driveways are in fact " wearable items" that require maintenance periodically and I am not responsible for any damage... unless they can prove I was drunk. Once any drive have a good sized noticable hump in the middle you can expect problems to develope pretty quick. Try never to plow upgrade if you can help it. If I had a choice whether to push in on virgin snow uphill or back in , pack it down and push down I would go with the latter. A hump in the middle while pushing up is not recomended unless you are getting paid extra to redo the drive. If you can plow the drive and not strip off the top of the hump or at least start to then you were lucky that time. That might even be plain common sense I dunno.
And it always looks worse when its fresh. They see the mud , gravel and bits of driveway pushed up next to the garage and they start freaking out. I will fix any major damage like if I hit something but after it all melts the mess is not so bad.
If you have long drives to do mark them. I do have days in the spring where I have to do around and clean things up here and there. And never feel bad about knocking down a mailbox and never let anyone else try to make you feel bad about it. I have knocked them down and went out and got new ones so fast the people still don't know. The one was a pain because the last name was Lawrence and it said it on both sides. I have been lucky cause all mine were relatively easy and cheap to fix but there are some nice ones out there

you're a wildman :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[treemandan]

you're a wildman :hmm3grin2orange:

I still have yet to hook mine up this year. I had to get a new angle cylinder for the one which I have yet to put on and I did some work to the pump assembly so the whole thing needs to be filled and bled. I am hoping to get that done this week when it warms up a little.
Right now I am trying to soak in heat from the stove, I am going out by noon to haul some fill dirt and be done with a few hours and get back in here by this stove. It has not been cold enough here to get the ground cold enough. There is still standing water in some ditches so even though the air is cold the ground isn't.
But its headed up past freezing all week from here on with sunny days so I plan to bust chops through the weekend but dam if I am headed out there right now at 27 with 30 mph gusts.

 

[treemandan]

And it does say all that in the contracts, hell, they know I am drunk, they gave me the bottle. They do agree to the plow knowing and understanding. A couple of my clients I have really carved up and it is not my problem. I mean I feel bad, I really do, I wish they all had shiny flat new drives but the truth is the truth and when spring rolls around you will have pangs of guilt when you see what you did. There will definatley be scrape marks and probably a gouge or two.
I am think about getting a rubber blade but I think they want so much dam money for the thing its almost a joke.
There is a great funny video somewhere around here about " The Plowman" and his Marbs and his 6 pack. If I find it I will send it to all my clients... along with a new rate sheet that includes a new rubber plow.
Anyone ever use rubber?