9 Best Snow Removal Tools Every Snow Business Professional Own

Many parts of the United States experience snowfall and many people reside around these parts of the nation. More than 70% of roads in the US are located in snowy regions that receive over 5 inches or 13 cm of average snowfall. 

Over 70% of the population of the United States lives in these snowy regions of the country. Hence,  there are many opportunities for snow removal businesses. 

Both residential and commercial property owners request snow removal services. Therefore, choosing the right tools and equipment becomes crucial because you need to serve a broad range of clients. 

While you are structuring your snow removal business idea, you might not know what snow removal equipment or tools would be the best fit for you to invest in the initial run. This article is a guide to help you with the 9 snow removal tools you need in your business. 

List of 9 Must-Have Snow Removal Tools 

Remember to own these nine crucial snow removal tools while starting the business. This list below has snow removal equipment options that would help you with both residential and commercial jobs, which include:

1. Ergonomic snow shovel

Snow shovels are manual tools essential for clearing out moderate or light snow from residential properties. The ergonomic nature of being introduced to this snow removal tool has made it easy for professionals to lift it easily and minimize bending while removing snow. 

The professionals can prefer getting multiple snow shovels to have sufficient of them for multiple employees to take up jobs at different sites. The homeowners who like DIY snow removal jobs often prefer a snow shovel of plastic material. 

But, the professionals mostly prefer a metal snow shovel to use the sturdiness of this material while carrying out the jobs professionally. 

While looking for snow shovels, ensure you get the ones with bent handles that can somewhat reduce the back strain. Apart from that, if they have functional levers to release wet snow stuck to the base, it is an add-on that you can prefer. 

If you have a long driveway, you can also consider buying a sleigh shovel to speed up the removal process. A sleigh shovel comes with a deeper blade and better snow removal capacity than a traditional shovel. 

2. Ice scraper

An ice scraper is useful for removing ice from frosted windows and car windshields. You must get a long ice scraper to help you reach the high and difficult-to-reach angles. 

Commercial vehicles with big windshields might not have easy access to scrape ice at all corners with a regular-handled ice scraper. Therefore, to be ready for such cleaning requests, you must always have a long-handled ice scraper in your snow removal toolbox. 

3. Ice melt

Ice melt is not that big a tool but is useful as a removal tool and preventative solution. It is spread around the driveways or walkways to prevent walking or driving accidents due to the accumulation of snow and ice. 

It is more like a preparatory tool for the professionals to start the removal job at the client’s residence or commercial property. When using ice melt for your clients in the winter season, make sure to get the one with low toxicity to make it safer for both the environment and your pets. 

4. Snow blower

A blower is the best snow removal equipment a professional should have in stock. The purpose of a snow blower is to clear out the snow from the area in the direction you maneuver it while moving. 

A snow blower comes with motors and demands you to walk behind it to make it functional. People have the option to choose between electric blowers and gas blowers. 

Electric snow blowers are light in weight and are appropriate for clearing snow from the driveways and walkways. They are not preferable for heavy blowing jobs as their specification limits them to remove light snow up to 12 inches. 

Electric blowers do not need much maintenance or any oil changes, which makes them a cost-effective tool for residential projects. 

On the other hand, gas blowers are industrial-grade snow blowers in three-staged modes, single, dual, and triple-staged blowers. The ascending order of the stage types determines the increase in power, job efficiency, and cost. 

Depending on the intensity of snow removal projects, you can consider getting the gas blower at an appropriate stage. A general thumb rule is that if the cleaning area is longer than 60 feet, then you should go with dual-stage or triple-stage gas blowers, else, the single-stage blower would do a perfect job. 

5. Roof rake

A roof rake is a plastic sheet implemented over a long pole that is used to gently clear the ice dams from the roof. Ice dams form when the snow accumulated over the roof melts and then freezes again. 

These layers of ice dams can damage the gutters and the roof altogether. Therefore, when a complete snow removal project request is inquired, professionals prefer to take a roof rake to attend to this obvious issue after a snow storm. 

The purpose of going along with a long-poled roof rake is to prevent the necessity of climbing up a ladder or the roof. It is potentially dangerous to walk on a snowy and slippery roof. Therefore, to minimize the risk, professionals must immediately add this basic yet essential tool to their operations. 

Suggest your customers call to remove such ice dams when they notice around 6 inches of snow over the roof. Any more than that could put the property’s roof at risk, making removal difficult. The professionals must be ready with all the assisting tools to attend to such complex situations. 

6. Wheeled snow pusher

A wheeled snow pusher is yet another manual yet best snow removal equipment for the driveways and walkways. It serves a similar purpose to a snow shovel but is meant for high-intensity removal tasks. 

With a snow pusher, you don’t have to remove snow by lifting a lot and throwing it aside. With this tool, you are pushing snow out of your way in larger quantities. It saves ample time in the manual job around the residential spaces, where plow trucks cannot enter. 

Like shovels or plows, snow pushers come in different materials, including plastic, wood, fiberglass, and metal. The standard plastic pushers are cheap and are meant only for DIY residents. But as professionals, you must look for a long-term investment, for which you should get a pusher, made up of any other material. 

7. Salt spreader

Salt spreaders are tools for sprinkling ice melt or salt solution evenly around the driveways or walkways. Without this tool, there is a high chance that even professionals would make a mistake by dumping too much salt in one spot. 

It will not add any extra help for the removal job but promote waste. Therefore, get a professional salt spreader that comes with different opening sizes. 

Moreover, the best part is that if you are a landscaping service provider offering off-season snow removal services to customers, you can use this tool as a fertilizer spreader or grass seed spreader in the growing seasons. 

8. Plow trucks

Commercial requests to remove snow often include cleaning out a larger area. Such larger areas include:

• Longer sidewalks/walkways/driveways.
• Bigger property outdoors.
• Gardens.
• Lots of property windows. 

The most difficult job at commercial snow cleaning sites is to clear out the outdoor snow piles. No manual tool or a large number of manpower is proficient at doing the job in a specified period. You will need a plow truck to speed up the removal of thick snow from the commercial property grounds. 

If you already own a pickup truck that can fix a plowing attachment, you will be saving a lot of money on buying a completely new truck. As per the experts, it is advised that you get at least two plow trucks for your business. 

One can be operational at all times, while the other can be used as a backup. If there is an urgency with immediate cleaning of properties and nearby spaces after a snowstorm, you can send both of your trucks to work and earn good money. 

This is a snow removal hack that you don’t run a snow removal business until you have a plow truck on your equipment list. It is because, without such heavy equipment, people will consider your business only for smaller projects. 

Even residential properties sometimes demand small and mid-sized plow trucks to remove snow and ice. Some of the small, mid-sized, and heavy plow truck options that you can consider are:

• Toyota Tacoma
• Chevy S-10 Blaxer
• Ford F-150
• Ram 1500
• Ram 3500
• Chevy Silverado 2500
• Ford F-350
• Silverado 4500
• Ram 5500

9. Snow thrower

A snow thrower is a miniature or less powerful version of the snow blower. Snow blowers of the highest stage can be used for commercial snow removal operations. But a snow thrower has a slightly lower cleaning efficiency than a single-stage snow blower. 

But it is still a preferable option because it comes cheap. The snow accumulation of around 8 to 9 inches after a minor or moderate snowfall or blizzard can be removed easily with snow throwers at residential properties. 

If you are starting with your snow removal business, then it is appropriate for you to get a thrower before the blower. Initially, your mission would be to start getting job requests. And later, when you start getting more and more residential and commercial projects, decide to upgrade to a blower of an appropriate stage. 

FieldCamp- An Essential Software Solution To Be Added To Your List of Business Essentials

FieldCamp is the most crucial snow removal software solution to back up your entire business operations. You might have all the necessary equipment and tools to commence your projects, but improper and outdated management can cripple your brand’s growth. 

We have brought FieldCamp to assist you in modernizing your field operations management. Every time a job request comes to you, you must be able to respond to it faster and send a price quote for a snow removal service in a matter of minutes. 

FieldCamp is a job scheduling software that allows you to respond to and schedule the jobs by assigning dates and employees to the request. You don’t have to undergo rigorous training to master its interface. The UI is fairly simple for any business owner to navigate and requires no technical knowledge. 

You can also create invoices, collect payments and store customer data over FieldCamp. It is your one-stop solution to digitize almost all snow removal business operations. So, count on adding this software as a priority along with the nine crucial tools listed above. 

If you still intend to try before you trust our words, we have a 7-day FREE trial of FieldCamp for you to leverage its maximum potential. Check its efficacy in the best ways possible, and then we will await you for a permanent integration request.