Business owners and managers across the Midwest know the disruption that winter weather can cause. That’s why our team at Earth Development is often asked for snow removal tips and advice on keeping a business open during these cold months.
Not only do we provide regular, reliable, and affordable snow removal services, but we also aim to offer the best snow removal techniques.
Our team also works with our clients to establish a good winter snow removal plan, which includes:
- Full property inspections
- Site staking
- Preparing necessary equipment
- Making a custom schedule
- Handling insurance matters
By making detailed plans, we ensure that our snow removal teams are ready to go as soon as the temperature drops. It means that you and your team can focus on the work you need to do while experts handle the conditions outside.
Making snow plans for the winter is an important part of keeping your business open every year and hiring professionals to do it can help you mitigate the dangers that come with removing snow from parking lots and pavements. It might seem like a daunting task, but with the help of professionals, you can make it much easier for you and your team to handle.
Earth Development’s local contractors help you keep your doors open this winter while keeping your employees, customers, and clients safe. And if you need any advice and tips, we’re only a phone call away.
In this piece, we’ll explore the best practices for snow removal, and everything you can expect from our team once they assess your property and put together a custom snow removal plan.
Choosing the Right Snow Plow Blade
When your business property includes a parking lot, you’re going to need a snow plow. But which kind?
There are various snow plowing techniques that can be employed by a multitude of different vehicles and blades. At Earth Development, our local contractors have large fleets of vehicles and machines that can be used to clear your parking lot or provide snow removal for driveways, and they typically fall into three categories.
V-Plow Blades
A V-plow is a popular option for commercial properties looking for truck snow plowing because it is versatile. The v-shape of the blade means that it can quickly and easily break through a large amount of packed snow and ice and then easily move the rest of the snow to either side of the vehicle and create a pathway.
The plow then moves to a scoop position allowing it to move the snow away.
Winged Plow Blades
A winged plow is another versatile option and comes in a number of snowplow sizes. It doesn’t break drifts as well, but it can carry more snow than most other kinds of the plow. That makes it a great cost-efficient way of clearing snow quickly and safely.
Straight Blade
This is a basic form of snow plow blade perfect for smaller properties with small parking lots and driveways.
It simply pushes the snow to one side, where it can either be left to melt naturally or taken away by snow removal equipment.
Using Proper Snow Plowing Techniques
There are certain snow plowing techniques that snow removal experts use to ensure that your property is kept free of ice, frost, and snow. Using many different blades and snowplows, these techniques can ensure that your parking lot or driveway is safe for both cars and pedestrians.
One example of proper snow plowing techniques is driving up to a garage or building, dropping a blade, and then backing up while pulling the snow roughly two car lengths back. A snowplow can then be turned around and backed into the clean area, allowing the blade to push the snow to the end of the driveway.
Snow removal experts know that you should never exceed 10 mph while plowing and never exceed 65mph while transporting snow.
There are many other tricks to know, too, like starting a fresh pile next to a hard pile of snow before stacking more snow on top of the fresh pile. This method avoids snow from falling off of a frozen-over hard pile.
Snow Plowing Do’s and Don’ts
There are some best snow removal techniques that all professional snow removers know about when using these snowplows.
Dos:
- Always plow immediately after the snow falls
- Use snow tires on your vehicle
- Always start at the opposite end of where you intend to pile snow
- Be aware of your environment and clear the area first
Don’ts:
- Don’t pile snow in high-traffic areas or on somebody else’s property
- Don’t pile snow on top of a structure
- Don’t pillow snow near water drains, dumpsters, and trash cans, catch basins, fire hydrants, or mailboxes
- Don’t push snow across a road without checking local regulations first
When removing and clearing snow yourself, it’s important to know about these driveway and parking lot snow removal techniques – but we always recommend you speak to our snow removal experts to ensure your property is safe this winter.
Snow Piling vs. Snow Thawing
For a long time, commercial snow pushing focused on moving snow out of the way and leaving it on a secluded part of a commercial site to melt naturally. However, many businesses do not have large outdoor space suitable for piling snow, making snow thawing an increasingly popular option.
Deciding between snow piling and snow thawing requires you to consider the snow removal laws in your area, the space available on your site, and the amount of snow that falls.
At Earth Development, we offer fantastic advice online to help you choose between snow hauling, piling, and thawing.
Snow thawing lets you melt snow and frost on your side, reduce accidents, and meet various building codes and local regulations related to providing safe entrances and walking surfaces for employees and customers.
Got questions? Give our team a call, and we’ll walk you through your options.
Ice Removal: De-icing vs Anti-icing
Not only do our local teams of snow removers across the Midwest work with businesses to remove ice and snow, but we also help you prevent ice and snow build-up. Deicing areas on your property will always be an important part of keeping your property safe for customers and employees, but anti-icing preventative measures can dramatically reduce the amount of build-up on your parking lots and driveways.
Leaving snow and ice unattended while waiting for the right time to use a deicing agent, whether that’s a chloride-free ice melt or traditional salt deicer, can be dangerous. It leaves anybody who walks or drives on your property at risk of having an accident.
Anti-icing measures, however, help prevent this. By laying deicers before the temperatures drop, you can avoid the build-up of ice on your property.
At Earth Development, we help save you time and effort when it comes to deicing and snow removal by working with meteorologists to predict low temperatures and adverse weather conditions and taking action pre-emptively.
We also offer a fantastic range of green ice removal products, which allow you to take preventative anti-icing action while also considering your impact on the environment.
Give our team a call today and find out more about how anti-icing and deicing measures can protect your business this winter.
Choosing Commercial Snow Removal Company
While it’s possible to remove snow yourself, we certainly don’t advise it if you have a business to run and a large outdoor space. Managing snow and ice is a big job, comes with some liability issues, and there are so many ice removal products to choose from that it might be difficult to find the right product.
Our commercial snow removal company helps businesses across the Midwest, and our teams of local professionals are always available to provide deicing and snow removal services as and when you need them.
For more information about our snow removal company, click here, and to get your free quote and speak to an expert, call today at (866) 475-2807.
.jpg)
