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S3-145: Bis-man Outdoor Services, Bismarck ND
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The guys sit down with Jake Wutzke of Bis-Man Outdoor Services to hear how their snow operation has grown over the last 11 years, and how this winter coming up is their largest growth yet!
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Transcript
Introduction and Snow Preparation
00:00:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Here we go, Snow Jobs Nation. We are back again bringing you episode 145 of the Snow Jobs Podcast main show powered by Top Gun Backblades. As always, I'm Steve. You know who's with me.
00:00:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeremy Lindstrom in the house. What's up, bud?
00:01:01
RICK JAMES
Hey, Steve-O. Hey, not a lot. How about you?
00:01:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ah, we're back on our 24 hours to go before deadline recording. ha ha ha ha.
00:01:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah, hell yeah. Well, we got to keep what we're good at, buddy.
00:01:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:01:11
RICK JAMES
We just got to keep it what we're good at.
00:01:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah We are, I mean, typical snow guys.
00:01:13
RICK JAMES
so Yeah, well,
00:01:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
where throw the ah Throw the under the gun at us and we'll make it happen. We'll we'll get it done.
00:01:19
RICK JAMES
I mean, whatever. It's nothing new. But yeah, this week kind of got away from both of us, I think. Yeah.
00:01:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I mean, it was ah it was busy. I mean, we're we're in that zone now. we're We're both in full snow prep mode. we have We've had some near-miss events. ah we It seems like our time gets more and more scarce as other guys start getting snow because, I mean, how many DMs this week?
00:01:39
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:01:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
How many tags? How many, like, you know, it blew up again?
00:01:45
RICK JAMES
Yep. Yep. It was crazy.
00:01:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh It's like I look every couple of hours And I start doing I start you know reposting them And an hour later there's seven more And I'm like Jesus Christmas
00:01:49
RICK JAMES
Yeah. You had a, you had close call this week too, didn't you?
00:02:00
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
We had a very close call. Yeah. We were, we were borderline ready for it. It was, uh, you know, we had, uh, we had one salt truck down the, uh, the spreader, not the, uh, not the truck.
00:02:07
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
The spreader was, uh, not cooperating because it was improperly stored for the summer. And, uh, yeah, we, we, the guys, I think the young kids learned a valuable lesson on that and big thanks to Gene from Stork.
First Snow Events and Community Engagement
00:02:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, uh, God, they just make it happen, dude. You call them like 11 o'clock in the morning and say, hey, I need this. Okay, done. And by 9 a.m.
00:02:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
m the next morning, first UPS truck is coming in, kicking it off the truck.
00:02:37
RICK JAMES
That sounds like Gene.
00:02:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, they kill it, man.
00:02:38
RICK JAMES
He's always on it. And his crew.
00:02:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
You need parts for Douglas Dynamics, dude.
00:02:40
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
I don't know why you even bother going anywhere else. Get on the Stork's website and just order it. You'll have it in your hands the next morning. It's it's incredible how quick they work.
00:02:50
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. Definitely great operation there.
00:02:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah We did see some flakes, but thankfully they were very dry flakes.
00:02:55
RICK JAMES
So, yeah.
00:02:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
And they came down for probably probably two hours, two and a half hours. And, you know, I talked to weather pros, Nick, and I said, hey, know, is this hat?
00:03:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
what What are we doing here? And he says, nope, nothing to worry about. I'm like, all right.
00:03:14
RICK JAMES
He hasn't blocked you yet? He hasn't blocked you yet?
00:03:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
the No, no, he's he's ready to go.
00:03:17
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:03:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
I have him. He's an invalid right now.
00:03:19
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:03:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
He had knee surgery, so he can't move.
00:03:19
RICK JAMES
Yeah. ah Ah.
00:03:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
So he can't run away.
00:03:23
RICK JAMES
um you I haven't talked to him forever. yeah we got do Are we doing a show with them soon or what?
00:03:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
We are. We are. i think I think next weekend, honestly.
00:03:29
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:03:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think it'll be ah be released either the end the next week or what.
00:03:32
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:03:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, the Winter Weather Outlook by Weather Pros. They're going to tell everybody where the ah the locks are.
00:03:38
RICK JAMES
Ah.
00:03:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. the Well, shit, Chicagoland, Chicago, Indiana got hit pretty good last weekend or Sunday, Sunday, Monday.
00:03:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank God, man. The Arctic boys were out doing it.
00:03:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:03:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank God, because they've been dying, dude, for two years.
00:03:55
RICK JAMES
I was so happy for those guys. except I was little, I was wishing I was there with them playing in the snow, but I wasn't, but yeah, whatever.
00:03:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
So happy.
00:04:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
i texted ah I texted Spencer and Lucas, and I said, hey, tell me you guys are getting snow. And and ah very happily, I got the text back. We're getting snow. i just pushed we we pushed like 30 acres of eight inches of the wettest concrete snow you can with the with the trucks, with the Razorbacks, and they absolutely crushed it.
00:04:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
No breakages.
00:04:23
RICK JAMES
Yup.
00:04:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm like, good for you guys. um
00:04:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah, i saw.
00:04:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Did you see the video?
00:04:27
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah, a great video.
00:04:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's a great, great video.
00:04:29
RICK JAMES
Great video.
00:04:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
If you guys have not seen that video, yeah, absolutely.
00:04:32
RICK JAMES
So jealous. So jealous I wasn't there. God.
00:04:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
But if you have not seen that video of that Razorback Plow yet ah that they put out last week after that concrete storm,
00:04:41
RICK JAMES
That was a great video. That's a great video.
00:04:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Dude, honestly, and I mean, everybody knows we're very hardcore Arctic guys, but that alone, that just yeah put that aside because we can be objective.
00:04:47
RICK JAMES
Huh?
00:04:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
We've done it before. We we call it how we see it. Did you see when they made that 45 degree turn with the full fucking pusher and
00:04:58
RICK JAMES
yeah yep
Snow Management Success Stories
00:05:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
nothing basically came off the side?
00:05:03
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:05:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
That wasn't that was that I texted both of them. I'm like, dude, if that doesn't sell itself right there, being able to carry that full mold board into that turn and not lose anything off the side like that was great.
00:05:11
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:05:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for them.
00:05:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah, it was good. he was I'm happy they got that snow event. Johnny was Snapchatting me all last Sunday, Saturday, Sunday, just hauling equipment around the clock, getting the rest of them out there.
00:05:25
RICK JAMES
So, yeah, they hustled out. They got it all done. I heard they picked up a lot of extra work because they were ready and some guys weren't. So, yeah, good for them.
00:05:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah You know, Chicagoland's been down for, what, two years, two straight seasons. They haven't had anything.
00:05:36
RICK JAMES
Oh, minimum yeah, at least that, I think.
00:05:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
so
00:05:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
So good for all our friends in Chicago there.
00:05:39
RICK JAMES
It's not longer.
00:05:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, we have a lot of guys in and around Chicagoland and Indiana, and I'm glad you guys finally got some stuff. and Even Wisconsin, some places in Wisconsin.
00:05:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:05:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not Harry Stelt, because i I called him thinking he was going to be in the snow. ah
00:05:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:05:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
But ah no, no such luck. He's like, no, like 45 minutes away has multiple inches, but we don't got nothing. so
00:06:02
RICK JAMES
Yeah. 100%.
00:06:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
But it's great that a lot of listeners are are back into it and they got snow. They got their first push out of the way. I'm sure it went so smooth and no problems.
00:06:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Definitely. Yeah.
00:06:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:06:14
RICK JAMES
yeahrefore
00:06:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's how works. But yeah, it's ah it's been a week. So we are we are under the gun and recording, but we're going to get it done today. So today, it's easy. we're We're staying in Jeremy country, all right? We're staying in North Dakota, heading out to Bismarck.
00:06:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're to talk to Jake Wutzke of BizMan Outdoor Services and hear about how Bismarck does snow better than Fargo. All right, that's the key.
00:06:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah, could be.
00:06:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's the key. And
00:06:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
Listener Engagement and Merchandise Promotion
00:06:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
this is this is a first for us.
00:06:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
We are recording the banana belt.
00:06:42
RICK JAMES
They live in a banana belt, so. Yeah, it's like, it's kind of like it gets cold and snows and it gets warm out there. Here it doesn't warm. It warms up out there a little more than does here.
00:06:54
RICK JAMES
how We always call it the little banana belt.
00:06:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, you have worse wind, too, I bet, right?
00:06:58
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we do. Yeah.
00:07:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
I can't wait for this.
00:07:00
RICK JAMES
and They're in a little valley kind of too.
00:07:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
I can't wait. I can't wait for this one. But yeah, no, it's it's pretty great because this is a first for us. We are actually recording with a guest that is doing this from a tent out in the wilderness using Starlink internet.
00:07:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
And his audio, when we tested his audio, it sounds better than Sean by far in Jersey.
00:07:17
RICK JAMES
Yes.
00:07:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
it's It's crystal clear. It's amazing. But he is literally in a tent recording this.
00:07:28
RICK JAMES
He's hunting.
00:07:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
So... This is great. This is absolutely a first, and we can't wait to get to it. But before we talk to Jake, all right, we're going to hear, as always, from Team Top Gun, and we'll come back. We'll do a very quick week in review, and we'll get into it.
00:08:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, gang, we're back. So very quick week of review. We don't have much for you. As we talked about earlier, we have had the first snow events of the season for a lot of our listening areas and our listeners that are in them.
00:08:21
RICK JAMES
Bye.
00:08:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
So ah we hope that the first event of the year went smoothly for you, even though we know that most of us as first events go, it usually does not go very smooth, but we make it happen.
00:08:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
We get it done. So we wish you guys the best. We hope everything went well, as few
Interview with Jake Wutzke: Business and Innovations
00:08:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
breakages as possible. And hopefully we get a little window here to, to rearm and get everything fixed that broke the first, first event out.
00:08:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cause everybody was saying how heavy it was, even though it was like Lake effect. They said a lot of it was heavy.
00:08:53
RICK JAMES
Yeah, heard that.
00:08:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
So.
00:08:54
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:08:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
But as always guys if you guys are getting snow let us know and uh, hopefully we can uh hook up with you do like an instagram live or something help you pass the time get some laughs and uh See what you guys are doing out there get a look at your guys in action What else keep hitting apple some apple podcast and spotify keep hitting like and subscribe leaving us comments ah Anything we can do for you to to make the show better give you more of what you need.
00:09:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, let us know we'll get it done Um, it helps us immensely and uh you know, keeps us doing what we're doing for you. So thanks in advance for that snow jobs nation store stocked and ready. As always, Jeremy is itching to send more stuff out.
00:09:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. He's like Fargo Santa.
00:09:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:09:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
So make sure you get your snow jobs gear before it we're done for the winter.
00:09:35
RICK JAMES
so
00:09:37
RICK JAMES
so Somebody ordered something Thursday. I didn't get it out. i didn't I wasn't, I was gone.
00:09:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh,
00:09:43
RICK JAMES
i didn't get it out. It'll go out Monday. I just was, I was on the road, so I couldn't get it out.
00:09:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
you're no storks.
00:09:49
RICK JAMES
Yeah, definitely not. ah never I never, never claimed the fame on that. So no.
00:09:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Uh, it's coming. We'll get it out to you. Uh, what else?
00:09:57
RICK JAMES
Dumblers are coming. and I thought they would have been done by now, but they're not here yet. So.
00:10:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. You got anything else for the week in review? Cause I got nothing.
00:10:05
RICK JAMES
Nope. Just, uh, yeah, Christmas is coming. Let's buy some merch.
00:10:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:10:09
RICK JAMES
I can, I can order more too. don't know if somebody wants something special, let us know. Maybe we can get it made.
00:10:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Amen. All right. Then now if that, if we don't have anything else, then let's, uh, we'll hear from our partners. We'll come right back and we'll hear from Jake.
00:12:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
all right gang we're back thank
Challenges and Strategies in Snow Removal Market
00:12:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
you to all our partners who keep us going we appreciate them and i think we're ready to do this right we're our first ever episode recorded live from a tent this is ah complete with christmas lights heater this is awesome starlink a spare battery where we're ready to go so let's that's it it can be deployed right now let's welcome in jake woodski jake how are we welcome to the snow jobs buddy
00:12:49
RICK JAMES
A tent, yup.
00:12:56
RICK JAMES
It looks like he's been in Afghanistan.
00:13:00
RICK JAMES
ah
00:13:05
RICK JAMES
Hey Jake.
00:13:05
Jake Wutzke
I'm doing good. How you guys doing tonight?
00:13:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
doing good buddy doing good this is definitely a first man you sound great for being in a tent in the middle of nowhere oh that's awesome that's awesome so how far how far apart are you guys fargo and bismarck okay
00:13:14
RICK JAMES
Yeah, well, you can't hear the traffic out there from in Western North Dakota.
00:13:18
Jake Wutzke
You know, not a lot of traffic out here.
00:13:21
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:13:22
Jake Wutzke
Down in the banana belt.
00:13:22
RICK JAMES
yeah Yeah. Banana belt.
00:13:29
Jake Wutzke
About 200 miles.
00:13:30
RICK JAMES
200 miles.
00:13:31
Jake Wutzke
yeah
00:13:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not bad, not bad, but completely different weather.
00:13:34
RICK JAMES
mom
00:13:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeremy's weather is much, much worse there in Fargo.
00:13:37
RICK JAMES
i I didn't say i didn say it was completely different. I just said it was. We're literally on a straight line. There's not many curves between us.
00:13:46
Jake Wutzke
but
00:13:47
RICK JAMES
You can believe that.
00:13:48
Jake Wutzke
it's it's a little bit more flat out there.
00:13:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
You don't have to steer.
00:13:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:13:50
Jake Wutzke
that's That's for sure.
00:13:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:13:52
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:13:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
You guys got mountains out by you?
00:13:52
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:13:54
Jake Wutzke
no we're we're in like a river. there's ah There's a river, but no mountains. Yeah.
00:14:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Got it. Okay. Okay.
00:14:01
RICK JAMES
Well, they got... It'd be a mountain to us, probably, because it goes uphill a little bit. Might as well drop a gear.
00:14:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's a small hill. What's the elevation change? You guys are 25 feet.
00:14:13
RICK JAMES
25 feet.
00:14:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, so that's ah that's a mountain in North Dakota.
00:14:15
RICK JAMES
the i of i don't know. I have no clue.
00:14:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, shit. Well, Jeremy, you want to take us away? Let's hear all about Biz Man.
00:14:23
RICK JAMES
All right, Jake, don't you tell everybody about BizMan, where you got started, and what you guys are all about?
00:14:28
Jake Wutzke
Oh yeah. Um, so we're a landscape landscape maintenance company and that's, that's how we got started was doing maintenance mowing, um, weed control fertilization. And we just kinda, kinda stayed there.
00:14:41
Jake Wutzke
Um, never got into the install side of things. Um, we've been doing commercial snow for 11 years now. So, and that's kind of the focus of the business at this point is commercial snow.
00:14:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
What do you like doing the most, the green side or the white side?
00:14:57
Jake Wutzke
The white side. Yeah.
00:14:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:14:59
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:14:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Love it. So I know all about Fargo. I don't know about Bismarck. So tell everybody, like, what is your annual snowfall? What what types of storms do you guys see there 200 miles away from the worst weather imaginable in Fargo?
00:15:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:15:14
Jake Wutzke
I think we're, we're pretty similar. We're, we're in that 50, 55 inch is our, is our average.
00:15:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
okay
Contract Structures and Customer Communication
00:15:20
Jake Wutzke
um We get a, we get a lot of blizzards, a lot of wind with our events, you know, when it gets cold and it stays cold here.
00:15:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:15:28
RICK JAMES
not as bad wind, but yeah, they get wind.
00:15:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not as much. Not as much wind as Fargo.
00:15:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah. Well, they got that they got the valley. They're in the little valley, so they dip down a little bit.
00:15:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
The 25 feet has a huge effect.
00:15:37
RICK JAMES
ah Hey, it does.
00:15:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, my God. You guys are so funny. ah So you're doing 55 inches. You get your so your your windblown blizzards. um Are you guys you guys super dry and light as well? Snowfall?
00:15:54
Jake Wutzke
Yep, yep. um
00:15:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:15:55
Jake Wutzke
Except for, you know, the first and the last storm of the year generally are pretty pretty wet concrete.
00:16:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. Where where is my not in relationship to you guys? like I keep hearing my not from Brandon Riley like they're always getting snow, but you guys don't get any.
00:16:11
Jake Wutzke
it's a hundred miles north of us.
00:16:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
OK, got it. All right, cool. So what is your bread and butter out there?
00:16:17
RICK JAMES
Yep. Yep.
00:16:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like what types of sites are you guys doing snow for? What are you guys doing?
00:16:23
Jake Wutzke
um So we're we're all commercial. ah we We try to service as many no tolerance places as possible and provide that level of service. um You know, ah medical medical centers, banks, things like that.
00:16:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
very cool you guys know you know about how many acres you guys are doing or no
00:16:42
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:16:46
Jake Wutzke
ah We're on we're around two million square feet.
00:16:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
okay all right very big nice very cool how is the market in bismarck for snow do they uh they haggle with you they know they need to pay for a good service out there
00:16:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:16:53
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:17:01
Jake Wutzke
Uh, I probably kind of like a lot of places we have, we have a lot of companies that snow isn't their focus, you know?
00:17:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
hu
00:17:11
Jake Wutzke
Um, so a lot of construction companies, concrete companies that I think they kind of view it as a side, ah side thing just to keep guys busy. Um, so there's a lot of, you know, things going for a lot less than they should be going for. So.
00:17:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. Cool.
00:17:30
RICK JAMES
That's weird. We never heard that before, right, Steve?
00:17:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Never, never. That's a first. That's 145 That's a first.
00:17:34
RICK JAMES
Easy. easy Easy. Snow guys are right on top. They want to pay us big money so they you know get that great service.
00:17:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh yeah absolutely but so you said 11 years you've been doing commercial snow and how long have you been doing the green side so what made you go to were you always going to get into snow eventually or was there a reason something that pushed you into snow
00:17:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:17:47
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:17:51
Jake Wutzke
ah fifteen 15. Yeah.
00:17:59
Jake Wutzke
yeah Yeah. That was the goal. It was just, just equipment. and I did residential for a few years, but then we we switched to commercial 11 years ago. So.
00:18:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
gotcha very cool what you got from jay
00:18:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah. No, I was going to say, Jake just kind of, think I think I met you this summer. I think on the Instagram, he messaged me, Jake. that how we met? I can't remember.
00:18:18
Jake Wutzke
I was on a call with Don, actually, he threw me on speakerphone, and yeah, we we started talking then.
00:18:21
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah.
00:18:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:18:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah, he didn't even know anything about the podcast or anything. Then he came by at my shop one day, and I'm like, this is but like a couple weeks before storm, storm days. I'm like, hey, you go to storm days.
00:18:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
nice has a habit that's a habit I'm not sure you're better off like You know, like, man, I think blissfully unaware guys are are almost better off at this point than the guys that are super into it and know what's going on.
00:18:37
RICK JAMES
And he went to storm days, and he spent a lot of money this year getting ready for snow. this This guy's gone all out for snow. Tell everybody what you, I mean, he's jumping. He's brining. I mean, he's doing everything, this guy.
00:18:52
RICK JAMES
Went to Artix. Yeah.
00:19:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Because it costs so much to keep up with the Joneses. It costs so much to to keep up with tech and and to have the, you know, the best, most efficient stuff out there. it's yeah It'll bleed you.
00:19:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:19:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
So what did you get this year?
00:19:18
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:19:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
What's new this year? what Tell us. What did you waste all the money on?
00:19:25
Jake Wutzke
A whole lot of stuff, whole lot of stuff new this year. Probably the biggest, uh, we, we got into liquids, um, got, got into brine making storage, um, additive, all that stuff.
00:19:25
RICK JAMES
just
00:19:36
Jake Wutzke
So, yep.
00:19:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
That'll do it. That'll do it. Oh, yeah?
00:19:40
RICK JAMES
Artics. Artics.
00:19:41
Jake Wutzke
Yep. Yep. We're new to Arctic. We're new Arctic this year.
00:19:44
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:19:44
Jake Wutzke
We switched, uh, switched over to Arctic. So we're running, running five Arctic this year and we've never ran an Arctic before. so
00:19:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, you'll love them. You'll love them. did Did Jeremy give you the recipe for fire brine?
00:20:00
Jake Wutzke
He did, yeah.
00:20:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Highly agitated.
00:20:02
RICK JAMES
Yeah, he'll probably actually, actually he makes his brine right. I, he, I was just there last week or two weeks ago and I delivered him additive and or calcium stuff.
00:20:12
RICK JAMES
And he was, uh, uh, yeah, he he's, he's got all the right stuff there. That's for sure. He's his, his brine is 23.3 on the button. So yeah,
00:20:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice. and Is it, is it highly aggravated, agitated? yeah That's the key. Make it really angry.
00:20:28
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:20:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, that's awesome, man. Good for you.
00:20:32
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:20:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
What, uh, what brand brine makers did you go with and Brian stuff?
00:20:36
Jake Wutzke
ah We went with Veritech.
00:20:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:20:39
Jake Wutzke
Yep. Yep.
00:20:39
Jake Wutzke
There.
00:20:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what you have, right?
00:20:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
hey Right. Jeremy.
00:20:41
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:20:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:20:42
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:20:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:20:44
RICK JAMES
ye
00:20:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're happy with them.
00:20:46
Jake Wutzke
So far, it's a a little bit too too early to tell.
00:20:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:20:49
Jake Wutzke
You know, we we made we we went and pre-treated last week for the first time.
00:20:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:20:54
Jake Wutzke
um And that's our only experience with it. so
00:20:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. What did you look at the other brands? What made you choose Varitek over the other brands that are out there for liquids?
00:21:03
Jake Wutzke
ah Semi-local.
00:21:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:21:06
Jake Wutzke
They're out Alexandria, in Minnesota. They're 300 miles away from us. So we we had some dealer support. ah and And then the the boss dealers around here didn't really know anything about VSI.
00:21:19
Jake Wutzke
So that I wanted to go to VSI, but nobody here knew knew anything about it.
00:21:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:21:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep, that's a problem. Smart.
00:21:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Smart. I love how you guys are so out in the middle of fucking nowhere that 300 miles is considered local.
00:21:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:34
Jake Wutzke
Semi-local, right?
00:21:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
so
00:21:35
RICK JAMES
yeah That'd be like five states, five states little longer, though.
00:21:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
so my local yes shit i could get through the whole northeast in 300 miles great uh yep oh man so do you guys have a contracted weather service out there that you like or that you use or are you just you know count on snow every night
00:21:49
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:56
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, we're we're new to that, too. we We got the weather pros this year. So, yep.
00:22:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh you do all right rob and nick all right have they have you had anything yet you haven't had any flakes yet you did okay
00:22:03
RICK JAMES
Nice. Yup.
00:22:09
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, we had an event last week. We had a, yep, yep, we had a salt event, salt and sidewalks. So.
00:22:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
i knew somebody out in north i saw snow in north dakota i knew i told you that jeremy but i saw something on the map no but this week you guys are both this coming week i think there's something heading both your ways no
00:22:22
RICK JAMES
I know. And i said yeah I said, yeah, but it wasn't for me. So I didn't care.
00:22:32
RICK JAMES
No.
00:22:33
Jake Wutzke
and
00:22:35
RICK JAMES
like Like a flurry. i don't know.
00:22:37
Jake Wutzke
it There was something that that it seems like they kind of threw away.
00:22:39
RICK JAMES
They pulled it out. They pulled it out. Yeah.
00:22:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
already gone.
00:22:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:22:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
That sucks.
00:22:44
RICK JAMES
We get the standard trace to one inch.
00:22:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah. Zero to one inch.
00:22:49
RICK JAMES
Zero to one.
00:22:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:22:50
RICK JAMES
Zero to one inch every day.
00:22:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Has that started already?
00:22:52
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah. That's been going for a while.
00:22:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
For the next 180 days.
00:22:57
RICK JAMES
Yep. Yep. You got it.
00:23:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jesus. That's so funny. That's so funny. Well, weather pros. Yeah, that's awesome. So they're, they're going to try North. Didn't Jeremy, I thought they were, did they start that for you?
00:23:09
RICK JAMES
I use them. I use them, yeah. Yeah, they said they weren't out here, remember?
00:23:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:23:12
RICK JAMES
And then, like, yeah.
00:23:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
They weren't. Yeah. They weren't at one point. So now, now there's two customers in North Dakota.
00:23:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:23:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Now they're,
00:23:18
RICK JAMES
I think they got more than two, but, yeah. You'd have to ask Nick. He did tell you.
00:23:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm going to ask Nick.
00:23:24
RICK JAMES
Or Rob.
00:23:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're going to have him on couple in next week. We'll beat him up a little bit.
00:23:29
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:23:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
So.
00:23:30
RICK JAMES
So what do you... What kind of businesses are you doing? Industrial or just retail?
00:23:37
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, ah retail, medical, um dentists, banks, things like that.
00:23:37
RICK JAMES
what do you...
00:23:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:23:44
RICK JAMES
You specialize in big lots, small lots, doesn't matter. What are you guys really good at? Everything?
00:23:50
Jake Wutzke
run You know, we do a lot of like one acre lots, half acre lots, things like that. um
00:23:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
love those what size artics did you get you said you got five artics what'd you go with
00:23:56
Jake Wutzke
We got we got a ah couple new big sites this year, so.
00:24:01
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:24:05
Jake Wutzke
Uh, 17 HD, 14 HD and, uh, an eight, a 10 and 13 LD.
00:24:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
all right those are nice the lds are nice you won't you won't break any blocks on the lds hds maybe
00:24:19
RICK JAMES
yeah we still I still got to get you those other ones don't I I got to get you those ah it wasn't I supposed to order you something limiters yeah yeah as I got to talk to I got to talk to Zane about that yeah so yeah yeah I think so we haven't yeah they definitely definitely help that's for sure i mean nothing's gonna completely take you still gotta to have an operator in there too you know so
00:24:25
Jake Wutzke
What limiters? Yeah. I think I'm try out some limit. Yeah.
00:24:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh do those work yeah they do all right i'll take your word for it
00:24:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah you definitely do so jake how many how many guys do you guys have on during a storm how big are you guys
00:24:54
Jake Wutzke
ah We're planning on to have about 14 operators.
00:24:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, cool. And that is that sidewalks included or you got different sidewalk dudes?
00:25:03
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, that sidewalks sidewalks included. ah we don't We don't really have like shovelers per se. We're trying to keep everybody in equipment.
00:25:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:25:12
Jake Wutzke
So.
00:25:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep, that's the Jeremy Lindstrom way. It's too cold, right? Too cold to have guys out shoveling.
00:25:18
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
00:25:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh I don't know. I'm watching a guy do a podcast in a tent. You know what mean? Like, I think you guys can handle it out there. You guys are tough. You can get it done.
00:25:27
RICK JAMES
Dude, cold to you guys is like 18 degrees.
00:25:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was, no, it was 30. thirty It was 30 something the other day. 30
00:25:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I said, but oh, that's cold to you? 30?
00:25:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
is right now. 30 is cold. Yeah. In November. Yeah. 30 is pretty cold here in November.
00:25:41
RICK JAMES
Yeah. in this In January, what is that? Get down to 20 and after 20 you're freezing or what?
00:25:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
and we were we were in single digits quite a few days last year actually quite a few days that last year was i'll tell you last year we had more days below freezing last winter than i think we had the the previous four or five winters combined like we had a lot i think that two years ago my kids had like three or four days skatable ice on the outdoor rink and last year they were skating from december all the way to march
00:25:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:26:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, yeah, we had a lot of a lot of below freezing days last year where that's not usually the norm.
00:26:11
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:26:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
But Nick and Rob are saying it's going to be the same winter. You know all the numbers look identical on the setup. So, hopefully, we have a lot of below freezing days this year, too.
00:26:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
um What do you guys – there you go.
00:26:29
RICK JAMES
How about ah contract structures out there? What are you guys doing for contract structures? Doing hourly, per time, seasonals? What are you guys working with?
00:26:36
Jake Wutzke
A lot of per push per inch. ah That's the vast majority. We do, we do do like an equipment retainer though.
00:26:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:26:45
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:26:45
Jake Wutzke
It's kind of like a hybrid in between the seasonal and the per push.
00:26:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Smart.
00:26:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:26:49
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:26:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Did you have a tough... Is that something that's common in your area, or did you have to sell people on that?
00:26:56
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. I kind of to sell people on that
00:26:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
They understood it, though? they They got behind?
00:27:00
Jake Wutzke
for the most part. It, it, I need to explain it ah but almost every time. But when I explain it, I haven't had very many people not understand why after I explain it.
00:27:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:27:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good.
00:27:10
Jake Wutzke
So.
00:27:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. but Because here they don't seem to go for that. Like like Sean was saying, that he was he's having a tough time selling that in Jersey because everybody wants to do per push because they've had such erratic snow years.
00:27:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nobody wants to pay for a seasonal because they think it's barely going to snow maybe.
00:27:23
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:27:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
So he's like, all right, I'll do per push, but you've got to pay for an equipment retainer. you know I can't just have all this money and equipment on standby for you with no no guaranteed money coming in, and it's ah it's a tough sell.
00:27:37
RICK JAMES
Great.
00:27:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
So good for you being able to sell that.
00:27:41
RICK JAMES
about, oh, was I going to say? I lost it. and lost it
00:27:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hourly. T&M.
00:27:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. You got TNM you said, right?
00:27:53
Jake Wutzke
We got a little bit of TNM. Yeah, we do some work for the state. that's That's all TNM.
00:27:58
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:27:59
Jake Wutzke
So, yeah.
00:28:00
RICK JAMES
How about floors and ceilings? Do you have anything like that with your with your retainers or nothing? They don't give you anything?
00:28:05
Jake Wutzke
no No, not with the retainers. Yeah, and i think we have we have one season all. ah no
00:28:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:28:09
Jake Wutzke
No floors, no ceilings.
00:28:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
How often on the on the per inch per push, how often are you pushing and What's your triggers usually on those?
00:28:12
RICK JAMES
Gotcha. Gotcha.
00:28:18
Jake Wutzke
um it It varies from no tolerance to our highest triggers an inch and a half. That's the most that we offer.
00:28:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:28:24
Jake Wutzke
Cool.
00:28:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. Very cool. Jay, you want to hear all about his equipment with the Dines leasing equipment segment?
00:28:31
RICK JAMES
I do. All right, Jake, I was just out there, like I said, a couple weeks ago and I got to see all your equipment.
00:28:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. Take them away.
00:28:37
RICK JAMES
So let's tell everybody else what kind equipment you have, all your loaders, wheel loaders, sidewalk machines, and all your stuff you made.
00:28:46
Jake Wutzke
cool Uh, yeah, we run, uh, I guess maybe big to small. Um, we have three, three yard loaders that we run. Uh, and we got two, two with artics, one with a boss LDR pusher.
00:29:00
Jake Wutzke
And then we run three compact loaders, um, with, with LDs. And then we have a, like a little mini loader, you know, 7,000 pound machine and a skid steer.
00:29:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, cool.
00:29:13
Jake Wutzke
So that's, that's what we run for. for equipment like that. And then we have we have three plow trucks, ah front and but and back blades. We run snow powers on the back of those.
00:29:23
Jake Wutzke
um
00:29:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, running back blades.
00:29:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:29:25
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, yeah, back blades are pretty awesome.
00:29:27
RICK JAMES
I didn't see that. i didn't see that when I was out there.
00:29:29
Jake Wutzke
yeah we We have another shop that's just out outside of town at my old house.
00:29:30
RICK JAMES
Where were they where were they hiding?
00:29:34
Jake Wutzke
so you um
00:29:35
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:29:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Have you been running back blades for long?
00:29:38
Jake Wutzke
And then, yeah, yeah, ah probably six, seven years
00:29:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
what's your take on them increased productivity big time or
00:29:47
Jake Wutzke
I would never get in a truck without a back blade.
00:29:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
really okay very cool and had you what made you try one the first time for guys that you know because i'm sure there's a lot of guys out there they hear they hear snow power they hear top gun but they're just hesitant to try a back blade like what what sold you on getting one the first one you bought
00:29:50
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:29:51
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:29:51
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:29:53
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:30:07
Jake Wutzke
I think probably saw a YouTube video, dirt monkey or something, and um just decided to take a, take a flyer on one. ah my but My buddy who plows two, he got one at the same time.
00:30:19
Jake Wutzke
And yeah, ah both of us would never plow without one. So, yep.
00:30:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Never look back.
00:30:25
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:30:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you. That's cool. Sorry to interrupt you. Keep going on your equipment.
00:30:29
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, and then ah ah sidewalk equipment. We run Bobcat L23s. We got a couple of those. And then we have a Toolcat, too, that's new to us this year. so
00:30:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
How long have you been running the L23s?
00:30:42
Jake Wutzke
ah Last year was the first year with them.
00:30:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Did you break any doors?
00:30:47
Jake Wutzke
We have not broken a door yet.
00:30:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:30:50
Jake Wutzke
I've given given every every new operator that I've trained the ah the warning that if he breaks a door, he's got to finish the route. so
00:30:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is the most common thing we hear on those L23s and L28s is the doors.
00:30:58
RICK JAMES
ah
00:31:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:31:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah They break constantly. That's cool.
00:31:05
Jake Wutzke
yeah
00:31:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
how did they How did they do for you?
00:31:06
RICK JAMES
You gotta finish.
00:31:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
it Was traction an issue at all?
00:31:10
Jake Wutzke
ah No, not really. Yeah, we've got turf tires on them.
00:31:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:31:13
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, they've been seem good.
00:31:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good. What are you running in front of those for yourself? Are you brooming or plowing? What doing?
00:31:21
Jake Wutzke
brooms and blowers. Yep.
00:31:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Brooms and blowers. Cool.
00:31:23
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:31:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Awesome. Very cool. So that's, is that all of your stuff? That's awesome.
00:31:31
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. And then, and then I guess the salt, the salting side, yeah we got, we got a couple of salt trucks.
00:31:31
RICK JAMES
No,
00:31:35
Jake Wutzke
We got a hill tip this year on a six 50, a six yard hill tip.
00:31:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:31:39
Jake Wutzke
So, so yeah, so that, that's going to be new to us.
00:31:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Six yarder. Okay.
00:31:44
Jake Wutzke
And then, and then we got a brine truck that we put together, 1300 gallon Veritech on that.
00:31:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
00:31:50
Jake Wutzke
um And then we have a little a little mini truck, actually, like a Japanese K truck.
00:31:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah. Yep.
00:31:56
Jake Wutzke
And that's a sidewalk salt and rig that we have. We have a drop salter, and I just got done making a brine spray for that.
00:32:04
Jake Wutzke
So,
00:32:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Dude, I love that.
00:32:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's like a much cheaper UTV, basically, right?
00:32:08
Jake Wutzke
yeah.
00:32:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:32:10
Jake Wutzke
Yep, yep. And they're they're narrower, too, you know?
00:32:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, absolutely.
00:32:13
Jake Wutzke
um Yeah, yeah, it fits on a four-foot sidewalk.
00:32:16
RICK JAMES
What do you say?
00:32:17
Jake Wutzke
So, yeah yep, yep.
00:32:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah, it's 48 inches, you said? I think you said that, yeah. Yeah.
00:32:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do they make those in an automatic?
00:32:23
Jake Wutzke
they They do. Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
They do.
00:32:24
Jake Wutzke
i've seen them. my eye Yeah. I know some of that.
00:32:26
RICK JAMES
I think they're hard to find.
00:32:26
Jake Wutzke
ad
00:32:27
RICK JAMES
think, yeah.
00:32:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
If I could find an automatic one of those, i would buy it.
00:32:29
Jake Wutzke
Ours is a manual.
00:32:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
But trying to teach these kids how to drive a standard, forget it. yeah You're replacing a clutch a week. Every storm, we were replacing a clutch.
00:32:41
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:32:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, those are sweet, dude.
00:32:42
RICK JAMES
and they're They're pretty cool.
00:32:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
I've heard they're very good in the snow, too, with the traction. They're not too bad.
00:32:47
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yeah. We got, we got studded snow tires on it. So yeah, it does. ah Before it didn't do that well. And it was honestly pretty scary driving it around with regular tires. Cause you're, you're, uh, you got nothing in between you and oncoming traffic, you know?
00:33:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
you but
00:33:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. He studs his tires on the Salters and everything. He was studding them. So it's pretty cool.
00:33:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really? That's awesome. I don't even, honestly, I don't even think we're allowed to here. I don't know that we're allowed to stud our tires for the for the roads.
00:33:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Might not even be an option here. I'll have to look.
00:33:22
RICK JAMES
And you, agree you just ran the hill tip last week and you said you love that thing. didn' Yeah.
00:33:27
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, yeah, ah definitely in love with that, with with the rake control and pre-wetting at center.
00:33:27
RICK JAMES
That,
00:33:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're using all the geo fencing and stuff.
00:33:35
Jake Wutzke
I didn't set up H-Track yet, yeah.
00:33:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. Very cool.
00:33:40
RICK JAMES
But you're running it you're running it and in automatic, not simulated speed. Yeah. Like you're supposed to.
00:33:45
Jake Wutzke
correct yeah
00:33:46
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:33:46
Jake Wutzke
yeah Yeah, we're in automatic mode.
00:33:47
RICK JAMES
Nice. Yeah. And it works weird.
00:33:50
Jake Wutzke
It works, it works great, yeah.
00:33:53
RICK JAMES
Wow. That's good.
00:33:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
So now how deep are you getting into liquids this year? Are you going full liquids? Are you going like half and half? What do you, you know, half liquids, half granular? How deep are you going in year one?
00:34:03
Jake Wutzke
ah We're going to take it easy. we're We're just going to be pre-treating and then where you we're going to be trying out like a slurry at the spinner with the hill tip.
00:34:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:34:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:34:14
Jake Wutzke
um So like 25-30% liquid by by weight. um So that's how we're going to get more into it. I don't know if I want to go spray spray down lots post-treatment right away.
00:34:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I hear you. Got to figure out how how angry you need the brine before you do that.
00:34:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:34:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's ah definitely the key.
00:34:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:34:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man, that's great.
00:34:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah. He brought, I brought him a load to spike it with. So he's ready to go.
00:34:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Just keep agitating from, you know, every day, a couple hours a day.
00:34:39
RICK JAMES
So yeah.
00:34:44
RICK JAMES
A couple hours.
00:34:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Agitate away.
00:34:45
RICK JAMES
gotta do it all day.
00:34:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, all day?
00:34:46
RICK JAMES
All day, every day.
00:34:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right.
00:34:47
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Get that prime.
00:34:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
I didn't know that. That's great.
00:34:50
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:34:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool.
00:34:51
RICK JAMES
Yes, sir.
00:34:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
how many yeah How many yards of salt you guys go through and in a season?
00:34:57
Jake Wutzke
150, 200, right around there.
00:34:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. are Are you using regular untreated? Using a treated salt? What are you guys running granular-wise?
00:35:05
Jake Wutzke
Just regular untreated, and then we're treating at the spinner.
00:35:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, cool.
00:35:10
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:35:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
So you're always spiking it a little bit. Okay, cool. Very nice.
00:35:14
RICK JAMES
What's it got your brakes fixed on that salt truck? huh
00:35:17
Jake Wutzke
ah it's They're still working on that brine truck. Yeah. yeah yeah no
00:35:20
RICK JAMES
oh
00:35:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:35:23
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah.
00:35:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Every...
00:35:24
Jake Wutzke
Brakes were, ah that the rotors were glowing orange this last round that we went out.
00:35:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah hu
00:35:29
RICK JAMES
Oh
00:35:31
Jake Wutzke
So, yeah.
00:35:33
RICK JAMES
yeah.
00:35:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep Breaks every year No matter what that's That seems to be the norm now I think that Honestly I think the the replacement parts Are getting shittier and shittier Like it doesn't matter whether you're going OEM or aftermarket it's you're You're replacing the rotors the The pads You're replacing everything every freaking year now It's crazy
00:35:39
RICK JAMES
oh yeah
00:35:57
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I got a KWT-170. It's been getting DOT'd for like the last month. and it's ah They couldn't find some some brake modulator ABS thing. don't know.
00:36:10
RICK JAMES
It's poli is discontinued. They found one and it was $3,500 just for this.
00:36:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
really
00:36:16
RICK JAMES
I need it. Otherwise, you know, your brakes don't work. So I'm like, I guess you have to get it, don't you?
00:36:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah minor detail oh man what jake what brand of equipment are you running are you partial to anything or you got all different types of stuff what are you running loader wise
00:36:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Unless you throw an anchor out with you or something. don't know. It's like, God damn. These trucks are killing.
00:36:36
Jake Wutzke
No, we're all across the board. and ah We got a couple, we leased couple of Doosans. We got cats, Tarek's case, ah Bobcat.
00:36:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:36:47
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, we got little bit of everything.
00:36:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. Very cool.
00:36:51
RICK JAMES
It's got a tool cap too.
00:36:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
I know I had a... Oh, yeah?
00:36:53
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:36:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
What are you running on Toolcat?
00:36:56
Jake Wutzke
Broom and a blower.
00:36:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:36:57
Jake Wutzke
And then then we got a brine sprayer in the back of that that I built too. So, yeah.
00:37:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. So that's going to be what? Sidewalks?
00:37:05
Jake Wutzke
yeah Yeah, just for sidewalks.
00:37:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:37:06
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:37:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's sick. What blower do you have on there?
00:37:11
Jake Wutzke
just ah Just a Bobcat SB200.
00:37:13
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. yeah
00:37:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Just a regular bobcat blower.
00:37:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
You ever look at the muskox for it?
00:37:17
Jake Wutzke
yeah Yeah, I've seen them.
00:37:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. They're pretty killer. They're pretty killer. Oh, that's awesome, man. Toolcat. Is that the one that crab walks?
00:37:26
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, it does the four-wheel steer. Yep.
00:37:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. Well, you hope. You hope the four wheels steer. where You hope you can get them back straight. That was what the but somebody else said. Oh, that's awesome, man. ah The toolcats are sick.
00:37:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah,
00:37:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
They've come a long way.
00:37:42
RICK JAMES
yeah they're good good units.
00:37:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, absolutely. They're just so like, what do you know what that ran you? The tool cat.
00:37:49
Jake Wutzke
ah We got it used, you know, at 1,400 hours.
00:37:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. 1400
00:37:53
Jake Wutzke
I think it was like 30, right around there. so
00:37:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
hours and it was still 30. Yeah, that's that's nuts.
00:37:57
Jake Wutzke
yeah still so Yeah, the new ones are insane, what the new ones are.
00:38:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, what are they 60?
00:38:01
Jake Wutzke
yeah Yeah, by 80, they're way up there.
00:38:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, Jesus.
00:38:04
Jake Wutzke
yeah they're they're way up there
00:38:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's insane. That's absolutely insane.
00:38:10
RICK JAMES
ah You guys, that's where was going.
00:38:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Are you running any software to to track? Ah, got you.
00:38:14
RICK JAMES
You got me.
00:38:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
You guys are running any software to to ah track your winters and stuff?
00:38:20
Jake Wutzke
I mean, we were a service autopilot user and, but we, we honestly, we invoice our snow with it, but we don't run our routes with it.
00:38:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:38:29
Jake Wutzke
It doesn't really seem to work really well for us or, or maybe I just can't figure it out. Right.
00:38:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. it's but It's very possible. Definitely. I mean, we've heard there's a bunch of guys, Jeremy, right? We've heard sort of service autopilot a couple times before.
00:38:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I've heard that, yeah. Yep, for sure.
00:38:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. Cool, cool. You want to some commercials or you want to want hit some commercials quick?
00:38:47
RICK JAMES
Is there... I want more here yet.
00:38:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, go ahead.
00:38:52
RICK JAMES
Is there one piece of equipment that in your fleet that you don't think you could go without? what's What's your go-to?
00:38:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:38:59
Jake Wutzke
Uh, man, that's a tough question. I don't know Honestly, the plow trucks. Yeah. Yeah. With the, with the back plows on them.
00:39:08
RICK JAMES
What do you have?
00:39:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really?
00:39:08
RICK JAMES
Do you have a front blade too on them or just a back?
00:39:11
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. We run boss bees. Uh, yep.
00:39:13
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:39:14
Jake Wutzke
Yep. We've got eight twos and nine twos with wings on the front and yeah. The 16 foot back blades.
00:39:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
So how does that work with the back blades?
00:39:21
RICK JAMES
and there's some.
00:39:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you have the front blade and the back blade down at the same time or how that work? Hmm.
00:39:26
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, yeah, you can. You can. if once you're Once you're comfortable with it, you can definitely run both of them.
00:39:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Interesting. That's it's such a weird concept to me. That's awesome, though.
00:39:38
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, we can, I mean, we can outrun 14-foot pusher on ah on a three-yard loader all day long on probably four inches or less with with trucks.
00:39:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Pretty cool.
00:39:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really?
00:39:50
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, yeah once once you get once you get a healthy amount of snow, the loader wins, right?
00:39:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:39:55
Jake Wutzke
But yeah.
00:39:56
RICK JAMES
ah you Are you pulling it are you pushing it most the time?
00:39:59
Jake Wutzke
almost always pulling it.
00:40:00
RICK JAMES
and
00:40:01
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:40:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. And those are Rick's stone powers they're using?
00:40:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
and
00:40:06
RICK JAMES
No.
00:40:06
Jake Wutzke
Yep. Yep.
00:40:07
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. Nice.
00:40:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
nice
00:40:09
RICK JAMES
Have you seen his new one that he redid?
00:40:11
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:40:11
RICK JAMES
Have you seen the new one?
00:40:11
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. I did.
00:40:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:40:13
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. I saw that at, uh,
00:40:13
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:40:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's cool very cool right you know what let's uh let's let jake get a drink real quick we'll hit some commercials we'll be right back
00:40:17
RICK JAMES
Stormdab.
00:40:17
Jake Wutzke
yeah, it's during day. Yeah.
00:40:19
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:40:23
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:40:39
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:41:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, we're back. We're back with Jake here. um I want to know what what kind of competition is there in Bismarck? Are there a lot of companies doing snow?
00:41:40
Jake Wutzke
yeah Yeah, there's a fair amount amount of companies around here.
00:41:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:41:44
Jake Wutzke
you know Not a lot to do in the winter up here. so
00:41:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I hear that. I hear you. So how do you guys separate yourselves from the other companies? What what makes you guys ah better than anybody else? Or or how do you like how do you sell yourself when there's so many other companies out there?
00:41:59
Jake Wutzke
ah we We try to provide a higher level of service than anybody else is providing. All
00:42:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. Very cool.
00:42:06
Jake Wutzke
right, cool.
00:42:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
What else you got from Jeremy?
00:42:10
RICK JAMES
I was, well, like I know the answer and I think you already said it. You, you customize a lot of your own stuff to work for certain areas. I mean, I think you said you built your own, uh, Brian sprayer and stuff like that.
00:42:20
RICK JAMES
So is that, he just you you're just good at doing that or you just kind of say fuck it and figure it out as you go like everybody else.
00:42:21
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:42:27
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, we, we, ah we definitely like making our own stuff. We like, uh, trying to, you know, have, have custom stuff and try to find the most efficient way to do things. Right. So,
00:42:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
probably save 60% too off the top
00:42:42
Jake Wutzke
yeah. Yeah.
00:42:43
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:42:44
RICK JAMES
How about, do you have any subcontractors in your crew? Anything like that? Have you had to do that yet or no?
00:42:50
Jake Wutzke
ah Not a lot. we ah yeah we We have one sub that we use on like one site and that's it.
00:42:57
RICK JAMES
Okay. Do you guys haul a lot of snow at Bismarck? i don't even know if you guys do or not, but.
00:43:02
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, yeah, we haul a fair amount. Yep.
00:43:04
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:43:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah think
00:43:05
Jake Wutzke
and And we use subs for that. I should say yeah we sell about pretty much all the truck and we don't have our own truck.
00:43:10
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:43:10
Jake Wutzke
So, yeah.
00:43:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
course they haul. they they're They're not that far from Fargo. You know, Fargo's created a whole niche there. Everybody hauls. Do you haul like Jeremy gets like a half an inch of snow and they haul for a week?
00:43:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
You guys that crazy with it?
00:43:25
RICK JAMES
Do not haul for a week.
00:43:27
Jake Wutzke
yeah i don't I don't know about for a week, but, but i yeah, we got some sites. We got a hall every, every single event. Yeah.
00:43:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's crazy. That's awesome. Good for you guys. That's great. I couldn't imagine that.
00:43:39
RICK JAMES
ah you're Your employees you have, are they all full time year round or do you have to hire on seasonal employees too? Or what guys doing?
00:43:47
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, no. ah Most of our guys are seasonal. um we We have a ah small core group of guys that are year round.
00:43:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
00:43:55
RICK JAMES
How do you find them? Just word of mouth farm kids or what do we got?
00:43:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, where do you get them?
00:44:00
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, yeah, we got we got some we got some farm guys, and then ah we got like probably like a quarter of a concrete company that works for us in the wintertime. So, you know, started started with Juan, and then he just started referring people over, so...
00:44:10
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:44:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep that's how it works that is definitely how it works what are you um out there in bismarck what do you guys feel uh the biggest issues facing snow management companies today is
00:44:28
Jake Wutzke
Uh, national service providers just destroying the industry.
00:44:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah yeah yeah cutting the throat of the contracts absolutely uh it's definitely a big one that's for sure
00:44:39
RICK JAMES
How about, I'll continue on that. How about your clients out there have had their expectations changed over the years, over your years, you've been in snow quite a bit.
00:44:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh
00:44:50
Jake Wutzke
um Yeah, it is it is kind of trending more towards, you know, five years ago, everybody was spreading sand. Nobody salted anything. And a lot of places didn't even get sand, right? And that's that's definitely changing around here.
00:45:05
Jake Wutzke
um A lot of contractors are using salt now. Not a lot of liquids, but it's it's it's getting there. The service level is getting up higher. Yeah.
00:45:15
RICK JAMES
ah You want to first with liquid in Bismarck, you think? Or there are there a few guys doing it? there
00:45:20
Jake Wutzke
ah Definitely not the first. um I don't think a lot of people are doing it like wide scale, though.
00:45:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:45:26
RICK JAMES
Is there still a lot of guys doing sand out there?
00:45:29
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, yeah, there's there's still quite a bit of sand that gets spread out here.
00:45:30
RICK JAMES
Really?
00:45:32
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:45:33
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:45:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Are they also doing the sweeping in the spring?
00:45:33
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:45:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
double ah ah I find that the guys still selling selling sand to customers are the ones that are still doing the sweeping as well. You're double dip it, put it down, and get paid to pick back up.
00:45:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
um i got one for you like you've been doing this 11 years in commercial snow if if you have any what did you learn in your first couple years of doing it as you started to grow um important lessons that you'd want to pass on to the younger guys or guys maybe just starting out a couple years in snow what uh what lessons did you have to learn the hard way
00:46:13
Jake Wutzke
ah Always have backups. i'm I'm a pretty big proponent of of having backup equipment, having a plan B um and and not biting off more than you can chew.
00:46:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
um
00:46:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Amen.
00:46:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. All very good lessons.
00:46:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:46:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:46:29
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:46:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, you gotta. I think we're seeing that around here. I was actually shocked. So I actually just had a guy. So this lot in town that's historically been a extremely low bid lot, the same guy's been doing it for like 15, 20 years for it.
00:46:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
I want to say it's like three acre lot three and a half acre lot shopping center and guy's been doing it for historically way way way under value for years and years like 15 years i think and he's gone now because i guess they had a couple problems last year maybe a slip and fall or something um he's out and one of my the younger guys in the area just got this for like a 300 increase over what they were paying last year so like i'm like wow that's all it takes like get sued or get sued and then okay now we got to get quality snow removal in there but i couldn't believe when he he he said yeah i gave him the price and i just heard back like yeah they want contract i'm like holy crap good for you dude like wild wild that it went up that much but i mean it shows it can happen i mean i guess new owners and huh
00:47:25
RICK JAMES
oh
00:47:37
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:47:41
RICK JAMES
Wasn't all hands. Wasn't all hands. Yeah.
00:47:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm not touching that. No, no, we, we have a, we have a formula that works and I will not touch high traffic retail that have more than like, I think there's like three businesses in there that are open 24 seven.
00:47:50
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:47:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
And it's, uh, it's got, if you look at the, like the blacktop, it's like downtown Beirut, you know, like it's all cratered and stuff. so
00:48:05
RICK JAMES
Smooth. Nice.
00:48:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
So no, I'm not touching that, but yeah,
00:48:07
RICK JAMES
smooth
00:48:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
he's getting He's getting really, really good money, like exceptional money to do it. So, I mean, that's that's great that it's it can come back around.
00:48:14
Jake Wutzke
Thank you.
00:48:18
RICK JAMES
please
00:48:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, the the Nationals are killing prices, man. the The Nationals and the low, the guys that just don't know, I don't know. They don't know their overhead. They don't know what the local market tolerance is. they They're just killing it. But it is nice to hear a couple of them have come the other way.
00:48:33
RICK JAMES
Yeah. I'm going to jump back to one more thing about your, about your crews.
00:48:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:48:37
RICK JAMES
How do you guys, how do you stay in touch with the crew? You guys are using two way radios, the cell phones, or what are you guys, you guys use anything special out there?
00:48:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Or do you not want to talk to each other?
00:48:45
Jake Wutzke
ah Just cell phones.
00:48:47
RICK JAMES
Party calls. Okay.
00:48:49
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:48:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
You got the blue parrots, the glacier blue parrot headsets?
00:48:55
Jake Wutzke
ah No, no. Yeah, we don't have a we don't have a group chat going. ah Thinking about maybe starting one this year, but yeah.
00:49:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
it's ah yeah It's definitely fun.
00:49:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah, it's worth it.
00:49:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it's definitely a lot of fun. Makes the time go. I'll tell you that.
00:49:11
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:49:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool. You want to take a five and five, Jay?
00:49:13
RICK JAMES
Yep, that's where I was going.
00:49:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go
00:49:15
RICK JAMES
Hey, Jake, where do you want to see your company going next five years? what are you looking to expand or what?
00:49:21
Jake Wutzke
Uh, definitely would like to have a manager doing a lot of the tasks that I'm doing now.
00:49:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:49:27
Jake Wutzke
Um, so that I'm not the, the, the key man risk of my operation. Right. Um, and, uh, yeah, just, just keep growing, keep, uh, slowly growing keep my level service up.
00:49:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
How much have you grown in the last couple of years?
00:49:42
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:49:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like the last two, three years, how much have you grown?
00:49:47
Jake Wutzke
Uh, we, we grew quite a bit this year.
00:49:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Quite a bit.
00:49:48
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:49:50
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:49:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool. So what was the most important decision in the last five years to get you to this point that you made? What's the best decision you made in the last five years?
00:50:02
Jake Wutzke
ah put Putting faith in in my key guys um and and letting them kind of take the reins on some things ah that i I don't have to be involved in everything, right?
00:50:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:50:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
it's definitely important man can't do it without the boys it's uh it makes your life easier you can't you can't be everywhere at once you know gotta have guys you can trust that's cool what else you got from jeremy
00:50:16
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:50:23
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:50:29
RICK JAMES
Well, on Bismarck there, you guys, you said your competition, you have enough competition, but are there any like, like i know I don't want to sound bad, but you know these said there's some smaller guys just do it kind of for something to fill.
00:50:42
RICK JAMES
or Are there any, like, real snow companies like yourself that, like, you know, take it pretty serious? and
00:50:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
wants to say like glacier are there any snow companies like glacier out there bismarck i know
00:50:51
RICK JAMES
No, I'm just – no, I i don't – I know of, like, another – I know, like, one other company out there. I really don't know many companies out in Bismarck, to be honest, so.
00:50:58
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yeah. No, there's definitely guys out here that take snow real seriously and they, they do a great job too. So.
00:51:05
RICK JAMES
Good. Yeah, I just didn't know. So, I mean, I don't get off the Bismarck too often.
00:51:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
nope can't leave the fargo bubble
00:51:14
RICK JAMES
No.
00:51:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
You never know. never know when it's going to snow in Fargo. You got any funny plowing stories, Jake?
00:51:18
RICK JAMES
You don't. You don't.
00:51:23
Jake Wutzke
Uh, yeah, I mean, the other night, uh, when I, when I was out with, I was out with the brine truck for the first time pre-treating the lot. And, uh, I thought I smelled something funny. Right. And had the window up and backed into, backed into the shop to fill the truck back up. And the, the cal or the, the rotor was just orange, like not like kind of orange. It was like glowing.
00:51:47
Jake Wutzke
It was like, I thought there was a flashlight on underneath the truck.
00:51:48
RICK JAMES
but no
00:51:50
Jake Wutzke
Right. Yeah. Yeah. So it could have been worse.
00:51:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
That could have been bad. Yep. That could be real.
00:51:56
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:51:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
What caused it?
00:51:59
Jake Wutzke
Ah, caliper was sticking.
00:52:00
RICK JAMES
Got
00:52:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Calibro seized. Yeah.
00:52:02
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:52:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
That'll do it. Oh, man.
00:52:05
RICK JAMES
a little firebrand on the old calibers and she just lit her up.
00:52:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, there you go.
00:52:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:52:09
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:52:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Firebriant. No problem. Oh, man.
00:52:13
RICK JAMES
So, did you put that logo on your brand maker and your brand store yet? Firebrand, like I said. Yeah.
00:52:18
Jake Wutzke
and No, we're not going to Firebron. We're getting logos this week, actually, but we we didn't we didn't do the Firebron thing.
00:52:22
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:52:25
Jake Wutzke
Didn't want to scare people.
00:52:25
RICK JAMES
Ah, that's too bad. Yeah.
00:52:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's funny that's really funny you got any questions for us jake at all oh no problem
00:52:29
RICK JAMES
Good stuff.
00:52:30
Jake Wutzke
yeah ah I guess I wanted to thank you guys for for doing this. um i ah Jeremy kind of talked about that a little bit, but I didn't know any of this existed until Storm Chasing came out.
00:52:45
Jake Wutzke
um
00:52:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
really so you heard about the podcast from storm chasing
00:52:46
Jake Wutzke
The first
00:52:49
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, the first episode came out and i i was just all in and I worked up the courage to call Glacier and I just called the business line and asked if I could talk to somebody about about snow and Don answered the phone um and he he spent over an hour on the phone with me, right?
00:53:08
Jake Wutzke
And then he kicked kicked it over to speakerphone and Jeremy was there and Jeremy was like, yeah yeah, you know, we got a podcast too, right?
00:53:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
nice
00:53:09
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:53:18
Jake Wutzke
And yeah. I mean,
00:53:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's crazy
00:53:20
Jake Wutzke
yeah
00:53:21
RICK JAMES
Shameless plug.
00:53:22
Jake Wutzke
yeah
00:53:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
00:53:23
Jake Wutzke
yeah yeah it's, it's old me, man. And and it really ah ah inspired me to, to level up my business and to, to get in, get into Brian, get Artix really, really take, take my level of seriousness of snow up.
00:53:41
Jake Wutzke
Right.
00:53:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:53:42
Jake Wutzke
So, yeah. Thank you guys.
00:53:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
So you didn't know about the podcast till April.
00:53:46
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:53:47
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:53:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
How deep are you into it?
00:53:49
Jake Wutzke
Well,
00:53:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Did you start at episode one and go in there?
00:53:50
Jake Wutzke
ah <unk>ga I got pretty much every episode in now.
00:53:54
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:53:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:53:55
RICK JAMES
Chase is.
00:53:55
Jake Wutzke
have
00:53:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
but
00:53:57
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:53:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's a lot of hours since April.
00:53:59
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:54:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you, dude. That's awesome, man. Love hearing it. That's great.
00:54:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:54:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
so So this is the guy. Jordan was telling us, ah like, there's there's guys that heard of the podcast from Storm Chase. I'm like, no way. Like, it's the other way around.
00:54:12
RICK JAMES
but
00:54:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
you hear about Storm Chase from the podcast. Here's the guy. This is it.
00:54:16
RICK JAMES
Yeah. There's the guy, Jake.
00:54:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jake is the guy.
00:54:17
Jake Wutzke
Yep.
00:54:18
Jake Wutzke
Living under a rock, right?
00:54:18
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:54:18
RICK JAMES
Yep. Jake.
00:54:19
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:54:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is awesome.
00:54:20
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:54:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, I mean, you're out in a tent in the middle of nowhere.
00:54:23
Jake Wutzke
yeah
00:54:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, things get by you. Oh, geez.
00:54:26
RICK JAMES
What are you hunting for out there? What are you gonna hunt for? Pheasants?
00:54:28
Jake Wutzke
ah Just pheasants. Pheasants, geese. Yeah.
00:54:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:54:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Did you hunt today or you're hunting tomorrow?
00:54:32
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:54:34
Jake Wutzke
yeah Yeah, we did a little hunting today.
00:54:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
How'd you do?
00:54:37
Jake Wutzke
No, nothing.
00:54:37
RICK JAMES
Cooking supper out there no?
00:54:38
Jake Wutzke
nothing
00:54:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nothing?
00:54:39
RICK JAMES
Nothing?
00:54:39
Jake Wutzke
yeah yeah Freeze-dried meals.
00:54:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, no.
00:54:42
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:54:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, no.
00:54:43
RICK JAMES
Oh, no. Yeah.
00:54:44
Jake Wutzke
Yeah,
00:54:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Would you have cooked the birds if you got any today? That was dinner?
00:54:47
Jake Wutzke
yeah. Yep.
00:54:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:54:49
Jake Wutzke
ye
00:54:50
RICK JAMES
Huh.
00:54:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man. What's the best way to cook a pheasant?
00:54:54
Jake Wutzke
Uh, out here, there's not a lot of good ways.
00:54:56
RICK JAMES
Just press them off.
00:54:57
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yeah. Smoke them. I like smoking them. So, yeah.
00:55:00
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Are you hunting geese too, you said?
00:55:04
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yeah. But my friend that's with me, he's hunting geese.
00:55:05
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah.
00:55:07
Jake Wutzke
So, yeah.
00:55:07
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:55:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Canadians.
00:55:09
Jake Wutzke
Yeah. Yep.
00:55:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Just shoot them down. That's like any aircraft.
00:55:12
RICK JAMES
Shoot them.
00:55:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're coming over the border.
00:55:13
RICK JAMES
Just shoot them.
00:55:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Just shoot them down.
00:55:14
RICK JAMES
Just shoot them. Yeah. no No passport. Shoot them.
00:55:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh man.
00:55:20
RICK JAMES
yeah Yeah, the only thing good for geese is goose jerky. That's about the only thing good to make out of them.
00:55:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Is it? I've never had goose jerky.
00:55:27
RICK JAMES
Oh, love that. So good. My uncle makes that. So good.
00:55:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really? Interesting.
00:55:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:55:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's pretty crazy. Well, it's, you got anything else for him, Jeremy, before we let him go?
00:55:37
RICK JAMES
I don't think so.
00:55:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
I don't want to, don't want to.
00:55:40
RICK JAMES
No, like I said, I was... Yeah, I don't want to wear his whole battery out. for the You know, he's got a...
00:55:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah In case he needs it for emergencies or something.
00:55:46
Jake Wutzke
So, it's a Navibelt.
00:55:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
don't want to.
00:55:46
RICK JAMES
His buddy's probably getting cold outside. He wants to get in that tent, though.
00:55:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:55:50
RICK JAMES
Brokeback Mountain out there maybe.
00:55:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Get this buddy out of the warm tent.
00:55:51
RICK JAMES
i don't know. It's
00:55:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:55:55
Jake Wutzke
an amabel
00:55:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh man. Oh, you're good.
00:56:01
RICK JAMES
yeah Yeah, I'm good, Jake.
00:56:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:56:03
RICK JAMES
ah Like I said, it was thanks for coming on and it was fun going out to see your shop and stuff a couple weeks ago and I made it out there. Me and I alone, look me up. sorry If you're in Fargo, come on by. you know that. Yeah.
00:56:15
Jake Wutzke
Yeah, for sure.
00:56:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jake, awesome to have you on. Awesome to meet you. i loved hearing about it. I can't believe ah you're actually doing this from a tent via Starlink Internet, but we appreciate it.
00:56:25
RICK JAMES
With Christmas lights?
00:56:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Dude, it's great. Christmas lights. It's you got a little. What do you got? A wood stove in the appellate stove in the tent.
00:56:33
Jake Wutzke
Yeah.
00:56:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Look at that. That's awesome.
00:56:36
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:56:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for them. ah
00:56:38
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:56:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
well this has been a snow jobs first first from uh out on the frontier in a tent doing a recording and i i gotta say it's it sounded better than half of sean's recordings right in new jersey 100 like audio is crystal clear no glitching this is great like we'll have to do it out and out in the bismarck wilderness more often that's great yeah starlink very cool
00:56:50
RICK JAMES
Holy hell yeah, yeah.
00:56:59
RICK JAMES
Starlink, I'm about to get that, I think.
00:57:02
Jake Wutzke
Thank you, Elon.
00:57:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
00:57:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah, Elon.
00:57:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank you, Elon.
00:57:06
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:57:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. Well, Jake, thanks very much for being on. I appreciate you coming on. Jeremy does too. ah for Doing this out in the middle of nowhere. It's awesome. We gave it a shot and it worked out. So ah thank you very much. Best of luck to you this winter.
00:57:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Get it all done. And hopefully it all works out for you. And if you need anything, don't hesitate to get hold of us.
00:57:27
Jake Wutzke
Sounds good. Thanks, guys.
00:57:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, so guys, that's going to do it for episode 145 of the Snow Chats Podcast main show.
00:57:29
RICK JAMES
Thanks, Jake.
00:57:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
want to thank Jake again for his time. ah That will be all for us. Everybody, be safe out there. Have a great week. If you're getting snow, let us know. Keep pushing.