snow and gritting service pricing

Hello,

I had a friend who is a fabricator make me up a plough for my 4x4 which works off my winch and since using ive decided to run it as a service i'm looking to buy a rear door mounted snow ex gritter. also a pedistrian gritter i do have a farm quad which i may also mount a plough to for large areas unreachable by 4x4. i have all the correct vehicle insurances and liability insurance to cover these services.

So my question is how do i go about pricing up jobs and whether to charge a retainer which i would be happier with.

A local nursing home has already asked me to quote on a pre emptive service yet they weren't happy with the recent person they had do it all with a pedestrian kit he came 4 days on a trot in decemeber and january and charged them £600. which to be honest i think is high also i believe he over gritted.

Be careful where you go with this Mitchel and don't spend too much money yet - you could open up a can of worms. You probably have more snow where you are, but down here in Essex, we have had none so far this winter, so any equipment would have lain idle.

The problem with carrying out commercial snow clearing is that EVERYONE wants it done by opening up time, say 7 - 7.30am and you would probably still be on your first call. What about continuous snow, would you leave where you are and move on, or stay on your first site and turn your phone off?

I work very closely with our biggest client, who employ around 800 and we have set up a 'Snow Clearing Force' with them. We get in(4 of us) at 6am and work with maybe 3 of the security team. At 8am around 6 more staff members would join in if needed. We have investigated the use of a small plough, but always come up with the same problem - possible damage to VERY expensive granite kerbs, hidden speed humps and where do you put the snow?! We bought a van mounted salt spreader, which was quite honestly pretty useless, as damp salt would form a cavity in the hopper and stop working! We found it quicker and more efficient by hand! This system has worked OK in the past as we only get light to moderate snow.....but if we got ***S N O W***, snow, everyone is agreed that half of the staff wouldn't get in anyway! For this, we charge basic labour plus out of hours rate.

We are usually away by 9 - 10am and then we zip round our older private customers and clear their drives and paths - all part of the service and it keeps them happy!

Sorry if all that is a bit negative, but we have been there, but as I have said, there may be more call in your area. Don't forget, you would need to upgrade your insurance.

Replies

PRO

Richard Gadsby March 1, 2015 at 12:04am

Hi Mitchell I would not know if that's high or not as we have no way of knowing how big is is.
What I do now is that when it's covered in ice and snow the place I want to be is in the house with a nice cup of tea and watching a film or something.
I work far too hard from March to mid december to want to be out in the snow working.
I'm sure there is money to be made but Ive no idea how I would price it, so something along the lines of £30 per hour plus allowance for kit and grit. It would have to pay well to get me out in it!
Good luck with it.
Colin Hunt March 1, 2015 at 10:05am

Be careful where you go with this Mitchel and don't spend too much money yet - you could open up a can of worms. You probably have more snow where you are, but down here in Essex, we have had none so far this winter, so any equipment would have lain idle.

The problem with carrying out commercial snow clearing is that EVERYONE wants it done by opening up time, say 7 - 7.30am and you would probably still be on your first call. What about continuous snow, would you leave where you are and move on, or stay on your first site and turn your phone off?

I work very closely with our biggest client, who employ around 800 and we have set up a 'Snow Clearing Force' with them. We get in(4 of us) at 6am and work with maybe 3 of the security team. At 8am around 6 more staff members would join in if needed. We have investigated the use of a small plough, but always come up with the same problem - possible damage to VERY expensive granite kerbs, hidden speed humps and where do you put the snow?! We bought a van mounted salt spreader, which was quite honestly pretty useless, as damp salt would form a cavity in the hopper and stop working! We found it quicker and more efficient by hand! This system has worked OK in the past as we only get light to moderate snow.....but if we got ***S N O W***, snow, everyone is agreed that half of the staff wouldn't get in anyway! For this, we charge basic labour plus out of hours rate.

We are usually away by 9 - 10am and then we zip round our older private customers and clear their drives and paths - all part of the service and it keeps them happy!

Sorry if all that is a bit negative, but we have been there, but as I have said, there may be more call in your area. Don't forget, you would need to upgrade your insurance.
- Mitchel ingham > Colin Hunt March 1, 2015 at 10:36am
  
  What sort of salt spreader did you buy im hopefully purchasing a snow ex one built in auger and viabrator to stop bridging . All ploughs have rubber blades on them to stop damage of curbs.
  
  I've also got the correct insurances
PRO

Landscope March 1, 2015 at 11:29am

Hi guys,
Right now up in sunny Scotland I run a summer garden maintenance business with a mix of commercial and domestic clients. We were running a defender with a 1575 snowed on the back and if required we put a custom built cuthbertson plough on the front. Bridging, wet salt, electrical problems and motor failures was the reasoning behind purchasing a brand new defender with a built 1.2 ton salt spreader and plough that goes on the front. Kit is expensive and the reason that customers want you to do it is because it costs too much to gear up for, maintaining and repairs are expensive and staffing is not cheap either. Don't go in cheap as you will get caught out!!
I have been doing this for a while now and it's not easy
- Mitchel ingham > Landscope March 1, 2015 at 11:33am
  
  I texted you :( haha
- Mitchel ingham > Landscope March 1, 2015 at 11:35am
  
  is the 1575 a good piece of kit been offered one for £800 it done two seasons ?
  
  well pricing is biggest thing im struggling with trying to work out how much salt i would down a sqm to work out costings..
- PRO
  
  Bryn Dunkerley > Landscope October 31, 2017 at 4:05pm
  
  Hi, please can you advise on how to price for Gritting/Snow Clearing Services.
  I would like to offer this service to Local Nursing Homes, Pubs and Small Local Buisnesses and Maybe even Domesctic Customers
PRO

Landscope March 1, 2015 at 11:51am

The 1575 is a reasonable machine I am on my second one. First one had issues and eventually broke when out of warranty so moved onto another brand new one and it needs a replacement hopper after just a couple of uses. Warranty is very important as they do have issues
- Mitchel ingham > Landscope March 1, 2015 at 11:55am
  
  actually its an 1875 sorry so will see how it goes.
  
  what do you do if you clear a site and grit but it carrys on snowing do you stay on that site? or move around the sites?
  
  Also is it possible to over grit?
PRO

Landscope March 1, 2015 at 12:13pm

You should measure out 40 grams of salt then this is what you should put down per m2
That will give you an idea of salt.
I quote per hour on snow pushing and gritting is per visit / drop plus salt used