Actual time plowing

[ratlover]

How much time do you actually spend plowing? I see alot of dicussion of hours per season and I always wonder if the #'s people list are for the time they are out or if its the time the blade is on the ground. Durring a season for a strict plow truck how much time do you spend with your blade on the ground compared to doing other stuff like traveling, getting a snack, fueling tractors, checking lots and all the other pidly BS that seems to pop up?

Not counting working on your blade doing regular matinence or all the other BS that we spend time on getting the truck ready, just from the time you start your truck to leave for a storm till the time you get back. Just an average of productive time for a season. 0% would be 100% productive and all your time was spent moving snow. Also be interested in hearing what responsibilities you have(and owner or supervisor may spend more time cruising round checking his crews than plowing)

Also would be interested in hearing from guys with V boxes to break down thier times on productive plowing, unproductive(travel, fueling, loading salt etc) and salting.....but I guess thats another discussion.

[ratlover]

Depending on the storm......but I spend alot of time cruising around checking stuff out or hitting problem spots so I genneraly have alot of travel time compared to actuall plowing. Fueling tractors and suck also seems to gobble up an hour or so per storm by the time its all done. I'm ussualy in the 25%-50% productive range depending on the storm and once we go into "clean up" mode my productive rate goes into the toliet. Looking at my times lately overall I'd say 70% of the time I spend durring a season is spent with my blade down making $......the rest is unproductive. Seems to be getting worse as my wroute and mission has moved a bit. Putting a transfer tank on my truck was the worse thing I could do for my productivity :haha but does help out in the grand scheem of things.

[dforbes]

My route consist of 1 property. My blade hits the ground when I get there, 1/2 inch of snow, and pretty much stays on the ground until storm is over and everything is clean (5 to 6 hours after storm is over) I leave the property about every 12 hours for 15-30 minutes for food, fuel and to fill up my 3 thermos'. I have 2 other routes that would fall into the 50% range.

[T-Zab]

When I calculate "drop time" it means blade on the pavement or setting up for dropping the blade. I know exactly how long each site takes me to plow, and that number, times number of events is how I estimate "drop time".
Keeps it simple and fair in my findings.
If I estimated all my hours I would probally have more then guys in the snow belts, allthough this year has been less by bringing in more help.

[Wizard]

I voted 10-25%. It actually comes out around 15%, all of which is spent driving between sites. On occasion I'll spend a little time BS'ing with other plowers or my shoveler, but that accounts for very little time compared to the length of the route. If I'm salting immediately after plowing, the time spent without the blade on the ground goes up a little, maybe to 25%... The buzz box is so efficient it's really cut down the amount of time spent salting.

[Pickering Snow]

I have Dentons route so tight it would make sally look like a virgin hours plowing are done with a trip switch to a hour meter total storm hours are 1 number i count then blade time. Like Phil said you cant really count travel time when out ,iam intrested more this year in blade down time this year with the XLS since were testing the plowing time hours on this plow.

In the past i would look at total storm time.... i have no clue how many hours Erie1 has plowed since 04 BJ gets this plow in April has promised and he is gonna see shes no Virgin. Erie 1 was a test pig for all the mods you guys have now on your Eries shes rock solid still after this many storms just doesnt look real prettttttty.

The hour meter on the switch is still the best way to track time when i post the end of season review of the XLS i will show a pic of the hour meter along with diff stages of the season on vid.

[ratlover]

I log the time I am in each lot to the minute and log if I'm off fueling or the like. About the only time thats unaccounted for is the few minutes here or there I spend BSing with the guys in equipment or the other trucks trying to figure what the game plan is.

I have a nice little timer deal on my truck that would work very handy for "blade drop time" but I know I would forget to turn it off or on and that would throw my findings all to hell.

Hmmmmm.......a timer hooked into the float. Interesting idea :grinz

[Wizard]

Hmmmmm.......a timer hooked into the float. Interesting idea :grinz

Or what I was thinking is right into the power switch on the blizzard controller. It would still count your drivetime, but if you know how much drive time you typically have per storm, you can deduct it from your totals. I have a specific amount of drive time in my route which seldom varies... Only problem with that idea is if you unhook the plow and forget to shut it off, or drive around with the plow on, not during a storm...

[ratlover]

I was thinking it would be good for keeping track of not just the time my blade spent on the ground but to see what some of our other employees are doing and see some trends possibly. On the note of emplyees it would be easy to "fool" if someone wanted to to rack up time......and its not perfect becasue if someone parks it with the truck running and dosnt shut off the controler(I shut it off 99% of the time) it will rack up time.....but its the easiest cheap way I can see. Could rig it on the salt trucks PTOs to track thier productivity.....or a number of things.

I keep good enough track of travel time on my end. Like I said I note each time I enter and leave a lot, and if I take off to specificly fuel something or the like I make note of that. But if I happen to be somewere and start fueling someone or get caught talking with any of the drivers then that kinda gets lost in my total time in a lot. Somewhat have to ball park some of my "productive" time.

The size of the shoe box I could easily mount a timer into it too :D Just need to score me a cheap one with a reset button that reads at least tenths. Be good for helping me do some more exact estimating :cool:

Some days I wish I just had me a little wroute and all I did was worry about plowing it. All the other side BS is no fun

[Wizard]

Some days I wish I just had me a little route and all I did was worry about plowing it. All the other side BS is no fun

I hear ya there Phil. I used to manage a medium sized lawn company, what a nightmare! All I have to worry about now is me, my truck and equipment, and a shoveler who's working out better than I could have ever expected. Love my route, just enough drive time to break up the monotony, goes by a couple decent gas stations with decent food and facilities, just about ideal... :cash

[EZSnow]

If you really wanted to track wear items and maintenance on a plow, the only thing that REALLY matters is how much time it spends on the ground- pushing snow, carrying a load, wearing edges. For blizzards, hook a timer to the float light on the control and call it good. You *could* forget and leave the plow in float while fueling or some such, but if you're talking about 10 or 15 minutes in the scope of a couple hundred hours, it really doesn't make much difference. And besides, leaving the plow in float for extended periods is a good way to smoke a float coil- I always try to remember to cancel the float if I'm getting out of the truck.

[Pickering Snow]

Well since we didnt want to attempt to change anything with the Electronics on the XLS the on off switch and hour meter is the best way for me Denton has a BIG note now above the contoller to turn on the switch after he failed to hit it two storms.

If it wernt for the XLS deal Derek is right wired to the float would be just fine. All of my Wreckers came with hour meters that only track Pto time so when switching the pto the time is counted this is critical has service on the systems need to be done on time. When i reach a hour mark its law now i have to have the cables , guides and rigging tested and a sticker put on the inside doors of the tool boxs, i cantnot legally perform these test i have to have Santoros do this for me.

[Elky]

For all snow my unprodutive time is at 39%

That also includes my drive time when I go to clear off decks & roofs.
That is time spent getting fuel, coffee, snacks, taking a smoke break and all of my drive time.

[ducatirider944]

I voted 0-10% but that depends on how you look at it. I am a subcontractor to a snow removal company. I have 2 trucks and a skid loader that is contracted hourly. If you go by hours billed I would say it is less than 1-2% are unproductive. I fill up before a storm hits and the skid loader will run about 10-12 hours before needing more fuel, the truck is a diesel and I can run 30+ hours on a tank. I will need sleep before my truck needs fuel. In that 1-2% includes the time that I'm telling my guys what to do, filling the skid loader(I keep extra fuel in the back of the truck), taking a leek, and driving around the lot at the end of a push to make sure everything is up to snuff. All my accounts are big and with in 1/2 mile of each other. My guys have been at it for 5+ years and we do the same lots, they know what I will find expectable. We have gotten very efficient in who does what and in what order. We save the B.S.ing for after we are done and go for breakfast. If it's a long push and we take a break for lunch, dinner that is logged out.

Now if we look at from when I leave my house till the time I return, I would say it is at least 20%. You have drive time, stopping to get fuel and snacks, you can count on us going to get something to eat and B.S.ing when we are done plowing.

[Ford fan]

I'm an owner so I better be productive,lol. My guys are more in the 10-25% and one guy is probably one higher than that. He expected me to pay him for wait time while his truck was being repaired. 10-15- or even 20 minutes ok, but almost an hour, sorry but thats your problem not mine. One of my other guys makes up for it though.