By Elliot Markowitz
Time is money. Nowhere is this motto truer than in the snow removal industry. The longer it takes to clear an area, and the longer it take for trucks to haul, dump and return to the job site, the higher the job cost. The results are more hired hands, more time on each site, longer hours and usually fewer customers serviced.
In a constant quest to increase efficiency and better service their clients, snow removal professionals are always evaluating new technologies, machinery and processes for clearing areas, both large and small. One such way is the use of snow melting technology to get the job done.
“It’s getting more expensive to get rid of snow, including hauling, weighing, tipping and even fuel,” says Javier Acosta, owner of Blue Line and Son’s Snow Melting, Richfield, NJ. To offset the costs, Blue Line bought a snow-melting machine from Michigan Melters of Howell, MI, three years ago and has never looked back.
“It’s easy to use and saves me time and hauling costs,” Acosta says, adding he basically leaves the machine onsite where he needs to clear 498 driveways, and will sometimes move it to another site where there are 110 driveways, if needed. “Now all I pay is two guys to run Bobcats, and I operate the melter,” he says.
Previously, Blue Line would have to hire trucks to haul the snow to a dumping station 45 minutes away. “It was incredibly inefficient and expensive,” he explains. Acosta paid around $70,000 for his machine, and he says it already has paid for itself.
Added efficiencies
Ken Ruddock, CSP, president of ULS Maintenance & Landscaping in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, says the efficiency his company has achieved by using a snow melter is the greatest benefit. ULS bought its first snow melter, a Trecan 80-PD, three years ago—and liked it so much that it bought the smaller 60-PD last year.
“There were several reasons why we first looked into getting a snow melter,” Ruddock explains. “We were intrigued by the technology. We view ourselves as industry leaders and innovators. When we bought our first one, there was no company in western Canada with one, and we always want to stay ahead of the curve,” he says.
The melters have enabled the company to set itself apart from its competition when bidding on contracts, says Ruddock, adding that the technology helped the company secure the contract for the CrossIron Mills shopping center in Rocky View, Alberta, the largest single-level shopping center in western Canada, with about 55 acres of asphalt.
“Having the snow melter allowed us to be more competitive on pricing,” Ruddock says. “Eliminating the need to haul snow to a municipal dump 1½ hours away (roundtrip) reduced the service cost. The efficiency I get out of this machine is equivalent to eight to 10 trucks and eight workers.”
Ruddock says he sees the greatest use for these snow-melting machines in large areas such as parking lots because the municipal dumps can be so far away. “I believe this is the wave of the future as real estate becomes more of a premium and customers don’t want snow piles on their sites,” he says.
And while its first snow melter is allocated specifically for the CrossIron Mills contract, ULS wanted more flexibility and picked up the second machine, which it rented out for use during the Vancouver Olympics, Ruddock says.
Maximizing potential
Much like Blue Line’s Acosta, Ruddock also says the machines need to be used properly to achieve maximum melting potential. In heavier or hardened snow, the machines are not going to melt as fast as thinner, fresher snow.
“You have to be realistic before buying a piece of equipment like this. All manufacturers will give you best-case scenarios, but if you have a block of ice, it’s not going to melt at the same efficiency,” Ruddock says.
Mike Clang, grounds supervisor at Mohegan Sun, a casino in Uncasville, CT, offers the same advice. “We haven’t had any issues with our snow melter. Basically, we park it 10 to 20 feet from a snow pile [depending on the size] and over a drain, and it melts it away. If the snow is light and fluffy, it rips right through it, but it takes a little longer once it gets heavy.”
Mohegan Sun purchased a Snow Dragon 900 melter a year ago for quicker and more efficient snow removal for its parking lots, and to be able to provide in-house maintenance instead of hiring outside contractors, Clang says. “The last 13 years we were having contractors come in and haul the snow. We have four very large parking lots, and they would bring in lots of trucks and take the snow to another location or bulldoze to another part of the property. That would cost about $1,000 an hour,” he says.
Using the snow melter, the company has saved $100,000. “We just put one guy in a tractor and fire up the snow melter, and that’s it,” Clang says, adding that because of the size of the parking lots, they didn’t eliminate plowing completely.
“What it saves is hauling the snow to another location. That saves us time and money,” Clang says. The machine burns about 50 gallons an hour of diesel fuel, he says, so Mohegan Sun uses a pickup truck that carries 125 gallons of fuel to fill the machine and top it off, he says.
Paul Vanderzon, vice president, operations for Amenagements Paysagers Vanderzon, Inc., St. Bruno, Quebec, Canada, says that while he believes manufacturers need to be more realistic in their snow melting capacity claims, he sees the efficiencies that can be gained by using a snow melter—including the flexibility of getting into hard-to-reach places.
“They can melt snow in very tight areas, where it is difficult to get trucks. You can also save a lot of time and money by not trying to find trucks to transport the snow. They are all busy, and all get paid a premium when it snows,” he says.
Michigan Melters
Competitvely priced with certified Class IV generator emissions and certified by the National Trailer Manufacturers Association to meet all Department of Transportation requirements, Michigan Melters’ custom-built, American-made units are guaranteed to provide more than 91% efficiency. Why eat the entire cost of hauling snow when you can melt it for half the cost? Call this family-owned business to order and reserve your production slot today.
MichiganMelters.com / 866-945-6358
Snow Dragon
The new SND580 can be used not only for standard snowmelting applications such as shopping plazas and parking lots, but is also the first mobile unit in the industry that can be used on the top deck of parking structures. The dual-axle machine weighs approximately 10,000 lbs. when filled with fuel and water, and less than 6,000 lbs. empty, allowing it to be towed easily by a Ford 250 or a Dodge Ram 2500 or higher. Measuring 16 ft. in length, 6 ft. 3 in. in width, and only 6 ft. 2 in. high at its highest point, the melt rating on this 5.8 million BTU snowmelter is 18 tons/hr. (75 to 175 cu. yds.), allowing it to be used on standard melting applications as well.
SnowDragonMelters.com / 888-441-2493
Trecan
With more than 500 installations worldwide, Trecan offers a 100% Performance Guarantee. The company says that it is the only snowmelter manufacturer to be ISO 9001:2000 certified, to provide a customer referral list and offer 24/7 remote diagnostics anywhere in the world.
Trecan.com / 902-876-0457
Elliot Markowitz is a freelance writer based in New York and is a frequent contributor to Snow Business magazine.
