may have asked before but

Nick167

Member
I may have asked on here before but want some new options I know its early to think about it but I have been thinking about buying a plow truck and plow and plowing some lots in a couple local towns this winter I want to see what you guys think about this I've only got around 1300 to spend on a rig I know it won't be great but something that works. Right now there's a 89 c10 Chevy on craigslist for about 700 its got 18900 but I don't know if its 4wd should I look into this as a plow truck? Anyone have any luck with this business? Thanks ahead all opinion's are appreciated! By the way I live in north central Ohio so some winters we do get a decent amount of snow.
 
I've had 3 plow trucks over the years Nick, a Ford F-250, a Dodge W-250, and a Chevy 2500....all built to plow snow from the factory and I never made a dime. Cost more to repair the trucks than I made. Maybe others will chime in and tell us about their experiences.
 
You are starting out with basically no money, looking at OLD equipment, and potentially light or snowless winters. Perhaps a nice pipe dream, but reality will soon sink in. You can't get a decent plow or truck in the price range you are looking at except maybe a broken down and worn out piece of junk. No matter WHOSE name is on the hood. If you really insist on losing your shirt, I wish you the best of luck. You WILL need it!!
 
jimg.allentown- Please don't 'sugar-coat' it. Tell us how you really feel! LOL

I'm just kidding you.

BTW, I agree with your sentiments.
 
Nick, We do snow plowing and removal and shoveling sidewalks. My boss started out about 15 years ago with an old Chevy. He bought an 86 Ford F350 for me. He contracted to plow a few gas stations and we still plow them. Now use a 2014 F250 and 2015 F350 with XLS plows. Also have 06 F350 and 04 F450. He bought all these trucks new but we also do excavation and concrete work. We did have a contract with the maintenance company for Home Depot and they are slow paying! Same with some snow plow customers once the snow melts they forget you. He says he makes money just shoveling sidewalks and has sorted out those that don't pay. Pic is my daily driver which is much better than the 86. It caught on fire as I was leaving at 2:00 in the morning and once I beat the fire out with my jacket and fixed the broken fuel line was good to go. Good times! That's the fun of running old equipment.
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Plowing snow and mowing grass are two things that are hard to make any money at. You budget for a snow plowing vehicle and plow is low enough that your going to be buying someone else's headache.
 
Having owned a plow and truck (F250) I have to agree with the others.

And you really don't want to try commercial plowing with a 1/2 ton truck. Pickups are made to carry or pull a load, not to have extra weight suspended on the front nor the strain of pushing snow. It's very hard on a 3/4 and 1 ton too. But the 1/2 ton pickups really are not up to the task of commercial plowing. Wet heavy snow is brutal on them!

I now move snow with a 3 point 8' blower. I haven't had anything more than one chain and 2 bearings to repair in the last 5 years and the bearings were going, not shot when replaced, in warm weather I might add.

When I worked as a mechanic almost every pickup we worked on other than oil changes in the winter were tranny and cracked frame issues on plow trucks. That was regardless of brand!

Lot of guys here thought they were going to get rich plowing snow back in the mid 90's and bought plows for their trucks. Very few still have them except for keeping their own drives clean.

Rick
 
As soon as you buy one it will quit snowing! That's what happened to a friend of mine, we haven't had enough snow to make any money plowing for a couple of years in MN.
 
Nick, you only have about $1,300 on the truck. That's not much, and for $1,300 I hope that you're not including the plow because that plow alone is going to cost far more than that. See if I can help you though. A half ton aint going to work, and a 3/4 ton won't hold up for long, especially a $1,300 one. HOWEVER, for the truck you might try a government, especially military auction. An old Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force 1-1/4 ton. They took far better care than civilians, and you're talking over a one ton. You may be able to get one for that. That leaves you the plow. Maybe, just maybe military surplus can help you there too. Try googling "military surplus" and see what you come up with.

Times are tough, I fully understand. We have to do what we can do and bless you for getting started now instead of the night before a snow fall. I heard tonight coming home from an overtime job that home ownership has hit a 40 year low where less than 63% of Americans don't own homes. That's not good.

Nick, I know that times are tough. Best of luck to you and yours.

Mark
 
If it's a C10, it's not an '89. Chevy went to the C1500 designation in 1988. If it's pre-1988, then it has an odometer that only goes to 99,999. My guess is that truck has at least 300K on it, and is completely worn out. As others have said, you can't start a snow-plowing business with a worn-out two wheel drive half-ton pickup.

Your best bet would be to find a used one-ton truck already set up to plow. Then plan to put some money into it, because plow vehicles are ridden hard and put up wet. You might makes some money if you get enough snow, but you need a reliable vehicle.
 
And, don't forget the work day starts at Midnight, so you can get the commercial lots done before 0600 when the traffic gets heavy. And the Spring repair for the "deep cycle thatching" you WILL do to peoples' lawns. And the worst-possible-timing hiring of the construction contractor to move your giant piles from the once-a-decade snowfall in December, only to get shut out for the rest of the Winter. And carrying full coverage commercial insurance on a $1500 vehicle lest you back into a $3K garage door and have to pay to repair it out of pocket. And, fixing a vehicle frozen solid with ice outside in the driveway, or even in your heated shop while time is a wasting'. And the six or seven cousins, widows and stoner buddies you are pressured to plow for free just because you have a plow. And the customers wanting you to plow with every eighth-inch accumulation, but to bill by the foot, and pay by the yard.

But have fun. It is a blast.

(Retired commercial plow guy)
 
Not enough snow here last year (north central Ohio) to even bother plowing it.
Get a tractor and plow with it. Much more reliable.
 
We took care of a construction co's units for 20+ years -- in the winter they plowed snow. They started out with 1/2 ton Dodge and Ford. Trannys were always out on the fords and axles were always broke on the dodges. They now run 3/4 and 1 ton Dodge and HD Chevys with far less problems than the 1/2 tons. They have a old 1 ton dodge dually for a sander truck. Could not and would not recommend a 1/2 ton for plowing snow.
 
Car dealer I used to work at had an old 1980 ? Jeep CJ7 with a snow plow. That thing would push a lot of snow and never got torn up.
 
If less than 63% don't own homes, how many do? A $1,300 1/2 ton truck isn't going to plow commercially for very long if at all. When I retired from the City, we were replacing our 1 ton Chevys every 6 to 8 years and getting between 6 and $8,000 for them at auction. They would plow commercially, but you could plan on putting some money into them in short order.
 
You need a reliable vehicle to plow snow commercially. A customer is not going to accept "my truck's broke down" as an excuse when there's snow to plow. They will simply call someone else and tell you that you are no longer needed.

There is no way you will be able to get a reliable roadworthy vehicle with a snow plow for $1300. For sure a 1/2 ton pickup truck is not going to hold up.

The company they hired to plow the complex where I work last winter only had a little compact tractor, a small wheel loader, and an old 1/2 ton pickup. That was fine for most of the winter because we got very little snow, but we got one snowstorm that dropped 18" by lunchtime, and they were woefully unprepared. They couldn't even keep the main driveways opened.
 
Thanks for all the input! That Chevy was just one I had happened to see I don't know a whole lot about them I was thinking of an extra job this winter between school and a job I have on a farm. I have a good everyday truck its a 3/4 on 01 silverado but I didn't want to tear it up with a plow so I was hoping I could find a decent truck to hang a plow on relatively cheap.
 
Drove an old Scout with a plow on it for a guy years ago.
Front end piled up so until we could get parts for it we put a set of cable chains on the rear and loaded the back up with weight.
In my opinion the truck had better traction in 2wd with the cables than it ever did with just 4x4.
Lots of raising and lowering of the plow dictated needing the biggest batteries and alternator you could get to keep up with the electrical demand of the hydraulic pump.
A transmission cooler is a must if the truck has an automatic.
As would be a plow that can be angled hydraulically.
I have known quite a few that have gone belly up because of not enough snow and as others have mentioned check the cost of insurance before you do anything.
Another nice option is a winch so when, not if, you get hung up on a snowbank you can pull yourself off instead of trying to find assistance at 3:00 AM.
 
Nick, back a million years ago when I was younger, a bit dumber, and a lot more optimistic, I had a neighbor that plowed snow with his '73 F250, and talked me into going out with him with my '69 IH 1200D (both 3/4T) to make a few extra bucks. After 2 winters of burning both ends of the clock working days and nights, getting stuck and sitting waiting for my buddy to get free to pull me out (and vise versa), welding his and my broken stuff between runs, dealing with customers who felt that THEY had to be plowed out before anyone else, especially when it started snowing at 6pm, was still going strong at 6am and their place was already done once, or even twice... a FEW bucks and a bunch of painfully frustrating moments at the time, though laughable in hindsight is all that I can claim.

If you have no illusions of making money at this, have some extra money to throw away on a truck and plow that will get beat up, are willing to get 'beat up' by customers who won't be happy, no matter what, by all means: go for it. I find it enough work to keep my own driveways to the barns open with a tractor that was designed to be worked hard, and is still going at 65 years old. A pickup with a plow, regardless of the care you give it the rest of the year, won't survive but a fraction of that.

Just MHO, YMMV.
 
Have you even taken into account commerical insurance? You need to price it out. Plow without it and your gambling on losing everything you own. Now add into it gas, oil tires and maintenance on the trcuk and plow. Good snow winter you may make some money if you don't break. Bad winter, no food on the table. I did it part time back in the sities. Finally got out as the insurance just kept going up even though I never filed a claim. Worked a regular full time job on top of th plow. Rough way to make a few extra bucks.
 

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