Green Thumb Lawn and Landscape
Site: 56 Acre Lot
Location: Wichita, KS
Average annual snowfall: 20"
Sno Pusher type:14’ IST Loader Sno Pusher, 12’ Switchblade Loader Pusher, and Skid Steer Sno Pushers.
Equipment: 5 Pushers
Keywords: EFFICIENCY, EDGE TYPE, LARGE SITE, TRADITIONAL PLOW VS CONTAINMENT
Executive summary
Green Thumb Lawn and Landscape is a mid-sized snow removal company operating out of Wichita, KS. This case study showcases how it has incorporated Sno Pushers with truck plows on a 56 acre site and have reduced their overall man hours by 70%.
Company Background
Green Thumb Lawn and Landscape has been in the snow removal business for approximately six years. It operates with 35 snow removal employees. It works more than 100 commercial lots in the Wichita, Kansas area. Green Thumb’s snow removal fleet consists of wheel loaders, skid steers, and ten trucks with plows. Its Pro-Tech fleet consists of 2 14’ IST Loader Sno Pushers (IS14L), a 12’ Switchblade Loader Pusher (SB12L) and 2 Skid Steer Sno Pushers.
Site Information
Green Thumb clears snow at the lots at the Coleman world headquarters in Wichita. The total plowing area is approximately 56 acres with several lots connected by access roads. The lots vary from employee lots with islands, curbs, and foliage to large truck loading areas with 75 loading docks to be cleared. The lot is never empty; there are always cars and semi-trailers to work around when plowing. The lot is primarily asphalt with concrete at the loading docks. The lot gets up to 20” of snow each season with an average of 2” per storm.
Comparison: Before & After the Addition of Pro-Tech Sno Pushers
Before: Before using Sno Pushers, Green Thumb used 12 trucks with straight blade plows to windrow all the areas needing to be cleared. A loader would then be used to collect the piles of snow created by the trucks and stack the snow in designated areas. This process would take 14 employees and 2 hours to complete, requiring a total of 28 man hours to clear the lot in a typical snowfall.
After: Green Thumb now clears the lot with a 14’ IST Sno Pusher (IS14L) on a loader and a 14’ Switchblade Sno Pusher (SB14L) on a loader. In addition to the pushers, 3 pickup trucks with plows are used to remove the snow. The Sno Pushers are used to clear large, open areas of the lot and access roads. The pickup trucks are used in windrow areas around obstacles. The Sno Pushers are able to clear the piles made by the trucks in long, single passes to move the snow to designated areas. This process can be done with 4 employees in 2hours, requiring a total of 8 man hours. The addition of two 14’ Pro-Tech Sno Pushers allowed Green Thumb to reduce man hours by 71% and use 8 fewer units to clear the lot.
Quotes
“One Sno Pusher does the work of five trucks.”
“Sno Pushers have given me huge savings and I am hoping to buy another.”