Getting an excavation company ready for winter before the ground freezes

Every dirt company in a cold state gets the same deadline every year, and nobody sends a reminder. Some time in late fall the ground freezes, and the work you penciled in for "before winter" either gets done badly, gets done expensively, or waits for spring. October and November are when you decide which of those it will be.

Here is how to use those weeks, from the open jobs on the board to the machines in the yard to the bank account that has to carry you to March.

Finish the open scopes first

Start with a list of every job that is started but not closed. Not just the big ones: the drainage fix you roughed in, the driveway that needs its final stone, the lawn restoration you promised "after it cools off." Each of those is money you already spent and have not fully billed, and each one gets harder once the ground turns.

Sort them into three piles:

• Finish now. Anything that involves fill, compaction, or restoration. These get worse with every week of cold.
• Can wait safely. Work that is stable, protected, and not going to wash out or settle over the winter.
• Needs a conversation. Jobs where the customer has to hear, now, that the finish will happen in spring. Say it in writing today rather than in January when they call.

Then close out the billing on everything in the first pile as it finishes. A job that is 95 percent done and 60 percent invoiced is a loan to your customer for the whole winter.

What work shouldn't you do once the ground freezes?

The big one is fill and compaction. Construction specifications from agencies like the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service say it plainly: no fill on a frozen surface, and no frozen material in the fill. The reason is simple. Frozen soil and ice lenses cannot be densified the way unfrozen soil can, and when they thaw, the ground settles. The settlement shows up in spring as a sunken trench line, a dip in the driveway, or a cracked slab, and it shows up with your name on it. Our page on compaction covers why moisture and density matter in the first place.

Other work that deserves priority before the freeze:

• Anything that ends in seed. Restoration that needs grass to take has a window, and it closes before the ground freezes. Straw and seed on frozen dirt is mostly decoration.
• Shallow utility work and footings. Anything that has to sit below the frost line is easier to dig, inspect, and backfill properly before the top layer locks up.
• Drainage. Swales, French drains, and outlet work are easier to finish and test while water is still moving.

Deep excavation, demolition, and some utility work can keep going through much of the winter with the right methods, but every one of those methods costs time, fuel, or material. Price them that way.

Winterize the iron

Cold weather finds every weak spot a machine has been hiding all season. The fall service is the one that matters most, because the next few months bring the hardest starts the machine will see all year.

• Fuel. Diesel can gel in hard cold. Know when your supplier switches to a winter blend, and treat or top off anything sitting with summer fuel in the tank.
• Batteries and block heaters. A battery that was marginal in September will not start a cold engine in January. Test them, and check that block heaters and cords work before the first cold morning, not during it.
• Coolant and fluids. Check antifreeze protection, and look at hydraulic fluid and engine oil against what the manufacturer recommends for cold operation.
• Undercarriage and tracks. Mud packed into tracks freezes overnight. Cleaning out tracks at the end of the day saves a fight the next morning.
• Machines that will sit. Anything parked for the winter should go away clean, greased, with fresh fluids and a full tank, and on a schedule to be started or checked.

Cold starts are hard on engines. Give them the warm-up time the manual calls for, and build that time into the morning instead of letting operators skip it to make the schedule. If you are not already tracking service by hours, fall is a good time to start. Our piece on equipment maintenance tracking covers the five-minute weekly habit.

Plan the cash for the slow months

For a lot of excavation companies, winter revenue drops while the fixed costs keep coming: equipment payments, insurance, the shop, and the people you want back in spring. The time to plan for that is while money is still coming in.

1. Collect everything. Get every finished job invoiced and follow up on everything outstanding. Winter is a bad time to be owed money.
2. Know your monthly floor. Add up what the company costs to keep open for a month with little or no work. That number, times the slow months, is what you need to have in the bank or earn some other way.
3. Decide on your crew early. Who stays on through winter, doing what? Shop work, repairs, and yard cleanup are real work, but plan it rather than making it up day to day.
4. Time big purchases. If you are buying or trading equipment, talk to your accountant before year end, not after.

Snow work as a bridge

Plenty of dirt companies already own the loaders, skid steers, and trucks that snow and ice work uses, which makes plowing and snow removal a natural way to keep people and machines earning. It is also a different business, with its own pricing, its own customers, and its own risks.

If you are considering it, think through:

• How you'll price it. Per push, per event, hourly, or a seasonal contract. Each one puts the risk of a heavy or a light winter on a different party.
• Insurance. Slip-and-fall claims are a real part of snow work. Talk to your agent about coverage before you sign anything.
• Response time and crew availability. Storms do not respect sleep. Know who is on call and how you will reach them at 2 a.m.
• Where the snow goes. Piling snow on a tight lot is part of the job. Our snow pile calculator estimates the volume you are moving.

There is more on running that side of the business on our page for snow and ice contractors.

Book spring before winter starts

The contractors with a full April usually started filling it in November. Customers who got a price in the fall and did not go ahead are still out there. Call them. Anyone who asked about work you could not fit this year should hear from you before the phone gets quiet.

A few habits that help:

• Keep a list of every job you turned down or pushed, with contact info and a rough scope.
• Walk and price spring jobs in late fall, while you can still see the ground and before snow covers it.
• Take deposits on spring work where your terms allow it, so a signed job stays signed.

When the first real thaw comes, you want to be starting jobs, not chasing them.

TrackOver was built inside a working excavation company in New Jersey, so the fall list of open jobs, machine hours, and unbilled work is a list we keep too. If you want all of it in one place, you can try TrackOver free.

Common questions

Can you compact fill on frozen ground? No. Specifications like those from the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service say no fill on a frozen surface and no frozen material in the fill, because frozen soil and ice cannot be densified properly and the ground settles when it thaws.

What should an excavation company finish before winter? Anything that involves fill, compaction, or restoration, plus seed work, drainage, and shallow utility work or footings that need to go below the frost line. Stable work can wait, and any customer whose job will not finish should get a written note now.

How do you winterize excavation equipment? Deal with the fuel before it gels, test batteries and block heaters, check coolant and cold-weather fluids, keep tracks clean of mud that freezes overnight, and put any machine that will sit away clean, greased, and full.

Is snow plowing a good winter business for an excavation company? It can keep people and machines earning, since many dirt companies already own loaders and trucks. It is a different business, though, with its own pricing models, slip-and-fall insurance exposure, and 2 a.m. response times, so plan it rather than drifting into it.