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At work with Iceman


iceman
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Figured I would start a thread here to show you all what is keeping me busy these days....

Not sure how many of you give it much thought but, much more goes into dealing with the snow up here than just plowing the roads. Here due to the amount of snow we receive (that usually stays all season allowing us superior trails) the larger towns and cities have no choice but to remove the snow from the roadsides after every decent snowfall. This operation here where I am working in Trois Riveres well it’s not Montreal by any means but it’s very impressive, with dozens of contractors hired by the Ville de Trois Riveres to remove the snow in the city which is divided into Zones. We cover 2 Zones and a small storm takes up to four days to clear our zones. Larger storms when i asked they told me wait you will see. Don’t worry they have great understanding of my love of sledding and I am assured that I will get time to ride as I took this on to supplement my other work which slacks off in winter. 

Anyway the operation is massive and involves for us, 2 road Graders and 2 loaders with plows that go out ahead and move the snow from the curb so the Giant Loader with the giant snowblower on front can get it and load it into our trucks. 3 semi trailers of our own with 3 more hired contractors for us. Along with 4 ten wheelers. Make up our crew. Just for the city work that does not include the other 18 loaders with plows and various tractors for sidewalks and smaller areas along with teams of guys who shovel what can not be mechanically removed  that handle all the other commercial accounts which also need the snow trucked away and removed. Which is done after the work for the city is finished. So it’s continuous work.

we move from street to street and then haul the snow to various depots strategically places. Each truck has a transponder that registers the entry and exit from the depot as it costs money. 

After a road is finished another crew comes behind to mop up and redo the sidewalks etc...

Unbelievable the amount of trucks rolling through the city all night long. Mind boggling.

so far so good, I like it and work with a fun bunch of guys. Talking on the company radio is a bit intimidating but they say My french is not bad they understand me. Me understanding all of them...hmmm that might take a bit longer to happen. One night at a time.

Snow Wars Quebec style.

what i do normally 

AC8A4116-6446-4854-A6DD-1FE5C73E7D51.thumb.jpeg.d639ac40c2066ebd0a7390b2e60fb765.jpeg3C132DAA-15A3-4602-BC0B-8FE1CC44351E.thumb.jpeg.6aadcddc27a1bc7c290786f17b7047f4.jpegA73672FA-B80A-42C5-91F1-E683127F69C6.thumb.jpeg.44b658feb934b9bf9db619e1359af2d9.jpeg

My winter office

1E9AFD33-4D46-4254-8F72-D5A1E0CEACE8.thumb.jpeg.695ee392657222176a1b241822888832.jpeg56363A94-AB07-458C-B5FE-3C239CCA12AB.thumb.jpeg.e80608fefbc0da8bb25ce21b0ea92c53.jpeg

My Ride

8D6A5DA6-D09E-400B-BF68-B03FDF74AF55.thumb.jpeg.74396698a164ae1d6303bea3287c19ab.jpeg

ABA8C029-CEF1-4E66-9B1C-014B28D8AAD8.thumb.jpeg.4768baab2fdd0d03c4fa9d007fd20483.jpeg

8DDE34C7-6FAA-4132-866A-122B061ABFD2.thumb.jpeg.fc253608de6f5badad0351c61ddfec50.jpeg

891C4753-81A9-40F4-97D5-DE8F8DAF0399.thumb.jpeg.fd9d3b71b70f91a42ff543b859df869e.jpeg

At one of the Depot for the neige

B6D32E0F-DEFA-4DC8-9F60-1BDAF6503EB4.thumb.jpeg.dd20daba0dae5307e84c7f83dab4d319.jpeg

CFD9CD38-23ED-4F20-AA14-8F13A92492EA.thumb.jpeg.3063d115b990f751b0bb4abf8de0c97e.jpeg

F1B2B6D3-2573-473F-B376-5167622E55A2.thumb.jpeg.3e807248d50d0409ed6c8c4866784185.jpeg

6049A285-518D-42CC-A221-C98E484CE341.thumb.jpeg.34a0b29f935e8b8a6619bbd59a11bc24.jpeg

Had an issue last night just a minor problem that cost us 2hrs

6C6A7FEA-68E4-4941-876B-34C20DA3DA15.thumb.jpeg.9dcc68c78a7cd89ec3311c73b140af60.jpeg

back at it tonight, time for bed. 

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Us non-city dwellers forget how quickly you run out of places to put snow when dealing with city streets. I'm always impressed when I see one of those snow blowers in Quebec that is so big it travels with a flagman to keep people away from the huge impeller.

Thanks for a behind-the-scenes-look Ice.

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I remember the days of them dumping all that trucked away snow in the St Lawrence river in the Montreal area. Last number of years they make massive mountains in snow dump lots that take all summer to melt.

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6 hours ago, iceman said:

Figured I would start a thread here to show you all what is keeping me busy these days....

Not sure how many of you give it much thought but, much more goes into dealing with the snow up here than just plowing the roads. Here due to the amount of snow we receive (that usually stays all season allowing us superior trails) the larger towns and cities have no choice but to remove the snow from the roadsides after every decent snowfall. This operation here where I am working in Trois Riveres well it’s not Montreal by any means but it’s very impressive, with dozens of contractors hired by the Ville de Trois Riveres to remove the snow in the city which is divided into Zones. We cover 2 Zones and a small storm takes up to four days to clear our zones. Larger storms when i asked they told me wait you will see. Don’t worry they have great understanding of my love of sledding and I am assured that I will get time to ride as I took this on to supplement my other work which slacks off in winter. 

Anyway the operation is massive and involves for us, 2 road Graders and 2 loaders with plows that go out ahead and move the snow from the curb so the Giant Loader with the giant snowblower on front can get it and load it into our trucks. 3 semi trailers of our own with 3 more hired contractors for us. Along with 4 ten wheelers. Make up our crew. Just for the city work that does not include the other 18 loaders with plows and various tractors for sidewalks and smaller areas along with teams of guys who shovel what can not be mechanically removed  that handle all the other commercial accounts which also need the snow trucked away and removed. Which is done after the work for the city is finished. So it’s continuous work.

we move from street to street and then haul the snow to various depots strategically places. Each truck has a transponder that registers the entry and exit from the depot as it costs money. 

After a road is finished another crew comes behind to mop up and redo the sidewalks etc...

Unbelievable the amount of trucks rolling through the city all night long. Mind boggling.

so far so good, I like it and work with a fun bunch of guys. Talking on the company radio is a bit intimidating but they say My french is not bad they understand me. Me understanding all of them...hmmm that might take a bit longer to happen. One night at a time.

Snow Wars Quebec style.

what i do normally 

AC8A4116-6446-4854-A6DD-1FE5C73E7D51.thumb.jpeg.d639ac40c2066ebd0a7390b2e60fb765.jpeg3C132DAA-15A3-4602-BC0B-8FE1CC44351E.thumb.jpeg.6aadcddc27a1bc7c290786f17b7047f4.jpegA73672FA-B80A-42C5-91F1-E683127F69C6.thumb.jpeg.44b658feb934b9bf9db619e1359af2d9.jpeg

My winter office

1E9AFD33-4D46-4254-8F72-D5A1E0CEACE8.thumb.jpeg.695ee392657222176a1b241822888832.jpeg56363A94-AB07-458C-B5FE-3C239CCA12AB.thumb.jpeg.e80608fefbc0da8bb25ce21b0ea92c53.jpeg

My Ride

8D6A5DA6-D09E-400B-BF68-B03FDF74AF55.thumb.jpeg.74396698a164ae1d6303bea3287c19ab.jpeg

ABA8C029-CEF1-4E66-9B1C-014B28D8AAD8.thumb.jpeg.4768baab2fdd0d03c4fa9d007fd20483.jpeg

8DDE34C7-6FAA-4132-866A-122B061ABFD2.thumb.jpeg.fc253608de6f5badad0351c61ddfec50.jpeg

891C4753-81A9-40F4-97D5-DE8F8DAF0399.thumb.jpeg.fd9d3b71b70f91a42ff543b859df869e.jpeg

At one of the Depot for the neige

B6D32E0F-DEFA-4DC8-9F60-1BDAF6503EB4.thumb.jpeg.dd20daba0dae5307e84c7f83dab4d319.jpeg

CFD9CD38-23ED-4F20-AA14-8F13A92492EA.thumb.jpeg.3063d115b990f751b0bb4abf8de0c97e.jpeg

F1B2B6D3-2573-473F-B376-5167622E55A2.thumb.jpeg.3e807248d50d0409ed6c8c4866784185.jpeg

6049A285-518D-42CC-A221-C98E484CE341.thumb.jpeg.34a0b29f935e8b8a6619bbd59a11bc24.jpeg

Had an issue last night just a minor problem that cost us 2hrs

6C6A7FEA-68E4-4941-876B-34C20DA3DA15.thumb.jpeg.9dcc68c78a7cd89ec3311c73b140af60.jpeg

back at it tonight, time for bed. 

I bet there were some Tabernack's thrown at this one!

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13 hours ago, Cnc said:

I remember the days of them dumping all that trucked away snow in the St Lawrence river in the Montreal area. Last number of years they make massive mountains in snow dump lots that take all summer to melt.

Yup those snow parcs around here have snow in them ‘till July.

Snow removal is a big operation. My BIL owns and drives his own semi just like the one your driving Ice, big $$$$ for the boys with the right toys. 

Edited by Trailblazer
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You have my respect Iceman to drive those monsters in city steets throught many cars that don't always figure out you need some space! I have a good friend that have did that in Montreal few years and it is not an easy one job, many hours to work in a row and many at night. Thumb up to you my friend!

Alain

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  • 1 year later...

 

Figured I would resurrect this thread from last year and share some of the deneigement adventures this year. 

While rumors abound, that I have hung up my helmet, let me assure you this is not the case. Like fine whiskey or tequila the trails are the same, they just get better with age and as a true conoisseur of tequila, whiskey and trails, I along with the “Team” know the best of the riding is yet to come. That said I will be headed out next weekend. 

Been wicked busy doing deneigement, to the point I actually began to curse this snow but after several long shifts of 16-20hrs plus I think you can understand where I am coming from. If not then go ride 16-20 hrs sleep 5 hrs do it again, then repeat, then repeat again. It’s been non stop. Deneigement at night and my regular job as well, albeit much more slow in the winter still has it’s demands. 

Anyway last night we finished up the Zones of Trois Riveres that are ours. City is divided into zones, companies bid for deneigement by Zone. We won two more zones this year, one being downtown centerville. Sounds great but it’s a nightmare. Double the operators double the drivers/trucks(many trucks we use subcontractors as we have only 6 to haul snow. 3 semi and 3 twelve wheelers or “douze roue”. 4 plow and sand trucks (big ones) and 4 small sanders. A fleet of sidewalk plows, 5 snowblowers (big mounted on front of loaders) and another fleet of 28 loaders with various buckets and blades to do snow, plus 2 graders. 

Anyway after this last storm we finished for the ville last night now great however we also have a list of commercial customers a long list. Last night after wrapping up the ville at midnight we started doing the Hospital St Marie in Trois Riveres. One crew loading with bucket loader the other with snowblower. 9 trucks. 12-8am we are  3/4 done with that. Back tonight to finish then we move on down the list. We got 2 nights at least left and more snow on the way and then we start it all again from zero.

snow dumps are getting full going to be interesting come end of February.

My semi trailer has a bad hub on the last axle on the trailer so I was in a 12 wheeler last night. Like driving a Toyota Prius compared to my tri axle trailer like a damn vacation. Love that truck.

Anyway last nights adventure involves the Bucket Loader. Let’s just say the boss is gonna be shelling out some bucks. I was returning from dump and heard on radio the guys talking about the loader being finished. Well when I arrived back I saw for myself. The upper pin that holds the giant hydraulic cylinder for tilting the bucket, broke, the cylinder jumped up and went right into the windshield and dashboard, Lucky Sylvain in the loader was not hurt. They said the noise when it broke was incredible. 

Anyway here are some pictures of the carnage. 

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C5E1E25F-2CF7-49E8-88C8-9DEC7298B51C.thumb.jpeg.5088f3a99ccb4f224528b2b8c97378ef.jpeg

 

until next shift...

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Amazing what cold temperatures can do to steel.  

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