Its a good winter gig - Certified SoftWash Roof Cleaning

Danny Cronauer · SoftWash Systems Certified

Its a good winter gig

Hank Timmermann · Junior Member

Dan,

I'm jealous. You want to do my driveway(s)?

Hank

Jason Reider · Freshmen Member

I would imagine that adding this service would increase insurance costs, but by how much?

Danny Cronauer · SoftWash Systems Certified

Jason depends on what your covering, most guys in the snowplow industry won't pickup the extra insurance. Its not to bad if your truck is already labeled under "commercial" policy.

Jason Reider · Freshmen Member

Thanks Danny.

John Smith · Lead Tech Certified

Ive heard a busy plow can tear the front end of a truck up quick

AC Lockyer · Administrator

John Smith wrote:
Ive heard a busy plow can tear the front end of a truck up quick

Not if you buy s FORD! lol

AC

Hank Timmermann · Junior Member

John Smith wrote:
Ive heard a busy plow can tear the front end of a truck up quick

John,

You've heard right. In the past the fords(f250) seemed to hold up better because of the leaf spring front end. Chevy, Dodge and Toyota all have the "A Frame" front ends. Having said that if you're proactive and clean the truck after every use and have the front end maintained it will last. The trick is to remove the plow when not in use. I've seen contractors leave the plow on, for weeks, even though there hasn't been snow on the ground for the same period of time.

Hank

Dan Dykstra · Senior Member

I agree with AC, buy a FORD. But really, I have been plowing snow off and on for the past 30 years up here in Michigan, if you take care of your truck and plows they will not be an issue. I have had to replace 1 transmission in all the years of plowing. We went all of December and most of January before we saw any snow here, now - we plow every week :)

Danny C. how does that Tundra handle the snowplowing.

Dan Dykstra · Senior Member

I for one do carry the extra insuarnce to cover myself and my customers when plowing. We do alot of schools and commercial lots and because of this we have to carry snowplow coverage on the trucks. It is a little pricey, but you sure would wish you had it when that one time where you hit a light pole or a garage door or something else happens.

Danny Cronauer · SoftWash Systems Certified

DanD wrote:
I for one do carry the extra insuarnce to cover myself and my customers when plowing. We do alot of schools and commercial lots and because of this we have to carry snowplow coverage on the trucks. It is a little pricey, but you sure would wish you had it when that one time where you hit a light pole or a garage door or something else happens.

Yes, especially if you have employees driving the truck, you can sleep much easier at night knowing you are covered.

Danny Cronauer · SoftWash Systems Certified

DanD wrote:
I agree with AC, buy a FORD. But really, I have been plowing snow off and on for the past 30 years up here in Michigan, if you take care of your truck and plows they will not be an issue. I have had to replace 1 transmission in all the years of plowing. We went all of December and most of January before we saw any snow here, now - we plow every week :)
Danny C. how does that Tundra handle the snowplowing.

I had a ford f-150 it was an 04 the year they changed the truck, it had all kinds of problems and at 97000 it sounded like it was going to blow up. It was used to tow but never plow. It really was dissapointing, and ford wouldn't own up to it, even though the 04 had problems across the board. So I went to the toyota dealership. I got a good price on the truck, it was exactly what I wanted white,extended cab, 8ft bed. After I purchased it, they gave me a 5 year,100k bumper to bumper warranty. 5 year free road side assistance. Now I keep seeing these commercials about toyota being 5 year most reliable and it pulled that space shuttle.

Tundra handles the snow great, its an 8ft plow, no issues. The "new" tundra's are actually built, more like the 2500 series the old ones were more like the 1500. I did purchase timbrens for the front end, I was thinking about buying timbrens for the rear to help with the weight of the roof cleaning equipment.

As Hank mentioned, take care of the truck and it takes care of you. Make a pass at 10inches, always rest the plow on the ground when parked, always take the plow off when you can, wash it down after each storm. Simple these go along way.

Dan

Danny Cronauer · SoftWash Systems Certified

John Smith wrote:
Ive heard a busy plow can tear the front end of a truck up quick

I heard SH will eat up a truck! (This was sarcastic) SH will rust out a truck much quicker than if SH wasn't present. Plowing will beat up a front end faster than if you didn't plow. All you have to do is charge for it! If your charging $250 for a roof your not gonna make it very far, if you charge $20 for lot thats not gonna cover the trans when the time comes. The truck is an assest, I wanted to suck that assest dry, rather than having it sit an depreciate.

John Smith · Lead Tech Certified

Ya, i agree you have to maintain equipment. I talked to a guy that owned a bulldozer. he said $50 of his fee an hour goes to the equipment. You cant doze with a broken hydrolic line

Jason Mariano · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

Good Investment I have them.

http://www.timbren.com

Dan Signor · SoftWash Systems Certified Applicator

Hey everyone! Great post, this is what we did this year and even managed to make a bit of money. This is exactly like any other business and can follow the principles AC has put in place for Soft Wash.