LMAO, how much would you like to bet? I will even let you pick which one of my trucks I use to prove you wrong.

 

i would only add to look and see what other guys are using, around downtown where people don't have big front lawns everyone plows with a pickup. you drive in, drop the blade, and pull the snow out. once it's in the street push it in a pile away from the driveway and the city will pick it up. wherever there is too much snow to blow on people's lawns the city will come with a big snowblower and blow it into a dump truck.

but before they do that they start by passing a plow up and down the streets to clear a path for the cars. this leaves a big pile in front of everyone's driveway. they won't come back to blow it into a dump truck for another day. a good snow guy will have the driveway clean by morning and may have to go back again if the city plow came by after. i used to do the steps for my boss and after my 12 hours were done, he'd have to go around and pull a lot of the driveways again after the city had been. this was another couple hours and more fuel on his end. but downtown customers expect to pay more for that kind of service. the other problem with downtown is it's very hard to maneuvre the truck because people are allowed to park on the street in winter and there's not always an easy place to push the snow.

out in the suburbs its a little different. for one the service is cheaper. where people have big lawns the town will pick up the snow and blow it onto the lawn. that means you can't just pull it out and push it in a big pile in the street somewhere and you have to use a tractor with a blower attachment. here its mostly bigger lawn care companies that can afford an extra set of equipment that just sits around all summer where as downtown you see a lot more landscapers and smaller companies looking for winter work.

far as trucks go my boss had a f350 dually with a dumper bed loaded with gravel for extra traction. had a manual transmission and a diesel engine. i think he had to replace the clutch once and one year he tore up his entire rear end after he hit a bad bad pothole. i think it was the weight of the plow was too much for the back end. u bolts broke, driveshaft went wtih it. about 3000 bucks i think.

 

You won't make much money, but if youre looking to keep warm and make the job faster, buy a lightweight plow. I bought a Western Suburbanite (Fisher Homesteader). It's a full-featured plow, just lightweight. I have one on my '03 F150 Supercab, and I love it. Doesn't hurt the front end, easy on and off. I remote start the truck, go out there and clear my driveway in 5 minutes, instead of the 35+ it used to take me with the snowblower. Not cheap, but worth every penny. It's made for residential use, NOT commercial. But the time and aggravation saved in doing 4 or 5 driveways is worth it. Just be easy on the tranny. I changed all my fluids to Amsoil synthetic and haven't looked back yet.

 

we have 6 snow plows, two walk behind blowers, two 2-wheel drive (heavily modified) 47'' snow blower tractors, a 47'' blower which is 4x4, a 59'' 4x4 garden tractor. the blowers are for sidewalks, we do alot of developments. we also have a 7775 JD skidloader, and a JD260 with rubber tracks, and a 79'' blower. it is wicked, to say the least. i guess you could say we have a plowing business. we UNDERCHARGE very much so, or at least i think. we charge about $75 an hour for a plow, i believe it was $65 last year. but we are taking on alot more jobs this year, and they are basically TELLING us how much to charge. one guy is a good friend of my dad (the boss), and he is telling us to charge $125 an hour for a plow. you can move ALOT of snow in an hour. but what we normally do, is push the snow TO the curb (not over), and come along with the trackloader and blower, and blow the snow about 40' away from the curb. it leaves a nice-looking straight edge with no snow packed up against the curb.

hours- we are out as soon as it starts snowing, and we dont stop till its done. i myself (16), 15 then, have worked 32 hours straight during the heaviest snow in 2005. alot of Vivarin, chased with red bulls.

remember to always push snow down hill, all of it. it is stupid when inexperienced people are clearing lots, they push it to the easiest place. that may not always be down hill. so, they push it uphill. then it melts the next day, runs down the pavement, and freezes at night. then the people slip and fall and then youre to blame for poor snow management, or they slide into something with their car. idiot-drivers nowadays, they have no where to go, but need to get out, and on top of that, they cant drive in the snow and cause problems.

we are thankful for people like that though. it is odd, how much money people will pay to have snow removed, when it will be gone in a day or two anyway. ever realize that? if that happened, we'd be screwed.

 

There are 6' plows available.

And of course I wont be plowing parking lots. I should've specified that in my earlier post. That is definately the place for a truck. But as far as driveways, sidewalks, and between parked cars on the street...I think the ATV has the advantage.

 

ya i too think that atv's have an advantage in small drive ways an doing sidewalks. of course my grandma has a 1/2 mile long lane and with a foot of snow, i opened it up in about 30 mins and i got complimented by both my dad and my uncle at how well it rolled the snow away from the edge and thew it out into the field. this year i will have dad do the main pass, and i will roll it away from the berm and throw it out since i have speed on my side.

 

You did specify that in your earlier post.

I'm not sure if you've ever really looked at a blade for an ATV, there is nothing to them. They can and will break if doing anything more than sidewalks or 1-2 driveways for a season. They have 1/4-3/16" pins that hold them on to the frame of the ATV at best.

They are not designed for anything more than what I have stated. Any more than that, and you will either be spending a bunch of money to reinforce the frame or be rebuilding it on a regular basis.

FYI, I do run a snow and ice management business in Grand Rapids, average snowfall is about 74", so we really don't even get that much snow.