Is it a worthwhile investment? Snow plough

Assuming that we will encounter more extreme winters I think I will seriously look at snow ploughs. Whilst I would love to get one for the 4X4 I don't think it would have much use so am toying with getting a Quad bike with an adjustable front snow plough blade.

The plough would have to manange snow clearance on gravel as well as tarmac etc. I appreciate that we would also have to offer a gritting service as well.

We cleared a fairly large staff carpark manually on Sunday and will hopefully have this job next time it snows. I have also identified a number of other companies that hopefully would pay for snow clearance. I will be contacting these to sound them out.

The company whos car park we cleared were unable to get any staff members on site for over 6 days and still had to pay their staff (25 in total) full pay. So a small price to pay to keep them operational - I just wonder if more companies / schools would be prepared to pay?

Has anyone used a snow plough on a quad bike? Would appreciate your views.

Does anyone think that this could soon become the norm similar to our friends across the big pond?

Even if the "service" didn't take off just think of the fun times on the 4X4 quad bike and the PR by clearing selective areas for free (assuming the legal risks are not too high) would be worth the initial investment!

Replies

PRO

Stephen @ SJS January 14, 2010 at 11:23am

Seen one such beast the other week up here, looking at weather problems we have a pedestrian snow blower (Snapper-2 stroke job about the width of a lawn mower) which is pretty good at lifting the snow providing it's not too wet but need to put rocksalt down as soon as snow blown as made the mistake on drive & it turned to sheet ice! A lesson learned, A heavier machine would probably do better .
The Perfumed Garden January 14, 2010 at 12:09pm

This is something that has crossed my mind over the last week. It could be a risky investment but could also be a good opportunity. If you have the equipment, it would at least keep your staff occupied and money turning over.

I think a snow blower would be good. I used one in Minnesota a few years ago which was brilliant but I'm not too sure whether it would be good on gravel drives. A snowplough on a 4x4 would ~~be great fun~~ do a good job, possibly with snow chains but I'm not too sure whether you would get good enough purchase with a quad bike.

I'm sure there would be lots of potential for private and commercial business.
PRO

Phil Voice January 14, 2010 at 12:24pm

We considered this a few years back when we had a responsibility to keep certain public car parks and pathways open for Petersfield Town Council. I am pleased we didn't make the purchase (although I am sure we could have made use of the quad in other ways).

Why not think about a 1.5tonne excavator? You won't need to wait around for snow to get the investment back because it can be used/hired out for 52 weeks of the year.

One added advantage would be the use of a 1m wide levelling bucket for dragging.scraping and moving snow and ice where other machines might not be able to access.
Graeme @ BGS January 14, 2010 at 12:51pm

You are right Phil but my thinking was that by having a road legal 4X4 it could be dispatched at a moments notice without the risk of towing equipment to the area. I have access to a JCB but this wouldn't be any use for the smaller car parks and a nightmare to arrange transportation. I must admit the fun element might just swing it!!

My concern is that we all think the snow will only be an issue for a day or so and hence happy to put up with it. Hopefully after this recent dumping of snow it might just change peoples views. However I am concerned that if I cleared a school and kept it opened I would have 100's of unhappy kids chasing me but then they couldn't out run a quad bike! :-)
Dermot Cowper January 14, 2010 at 2:57pm

I don't think that a quad with a plough would a great idea, but we used a snow blower in the states last year, we cleared 80m in about 30mins,
Quads are better at pulling, so a gritting service or a quad would be great, i saw westminster council using them this year, if only other councils had the same idea. They gritted the pavements at about 15mph. Covered a huge area.
PRO

Phil Voice January 14, 2010 at 3:18pm

Drop spreaders are good for gritting/salting - just a cheap plastic Scotts will do (and they don't rust): The weight of the heavy sharp sand/grit/salt works in a dropper's favour but is easily clogged up in a rotary; often the agitator spring won't revolve.
Graeme @ BGS January 14, 2010 at 3:48pm

I have attached hopefully a photo of the car park before clearing - unfortunately it got too dark by the time we finished for the mobile phone.

Interesting comment from Dermot but I am still thinking a plough would be sufficient on a decent quad bike.

Whilst I would appreciate all comments (good or bad), the more good ones I get will help my case to spend money on the kit or my wife will think it is just another boys toy with yet another cup holder :-)
PRO

Phil Voice January 14, 2010 at 4:01pm

You can get a snow blade for a large rotovator - like this one on Ebay. I know there is the transportation problem (there could even be a problem with a quad unless all sites were within a certain radius??).

The lower the investment the less you'll worry about the kit sitting idle if it never snows again :)

....sorry Graeme....this isn't helping win the argument with your wife I know :)
Graeme @ BGS January 14, 2010 at 4:02pm

Another option would be to fit a plough to the SCAG but transporting it would be an issue, hence the Quad bike option and killing two birds with one stone.
Graeme @ BGS January 14, 2010 at 4:09pm

Tracmaster do a nice powerunit with snowblower and plough options

http://www.tracmaster.co.uk/products/implements/snow_thrower.php

I know this would be a far better investment but not as much fun!