Noisy plow in the middle of the night (apartment complex, house)

[Orangejello]

I know, I know, there's probably nothing that can be done about this or any rules preventing it- I just had to vent. I assume many of my Wisconsin brethren have felt my pain. Is it unreasonable for me to be upset about the factory across the street waiting until 10-11pm every night to plow their huge lot? I don't understand why it can't be done earlier. Their lot is always free of cars by 8, 9 o'clock, and yet they wait til bedtime to start plowing for an hour. And when they do plow, they have a guy come in with a truck that sounds like it's better suited for jumping dirt mounds in an arena full of 8 year old boys. Tonight they had the Bobcat out, this tiny little Bobcat with maybe a 4 ft bucket trying to plow a half acre of pavement. My whole house was shaking. It always takes them about 45-60 minutes to finish, too, so good luck falling asleep before 11:30. They're parked adjacent to a residential area that was there long before the factory, and the owner (some foreign broad) has basically told anyone who complains about all their bad habits to go take a leap. That's real respect for your community there, Natascha. Don't you have a moose and squirrel to bother instead back in Motherland?

Thanks for listening. Maybe just maybe this will persuade me to stop building that rocket-propelled snowball launcher after all.

[Empidonax]

The owner is one thing, but is there a manager or other on-the-ground official you can approach?

Otherwise, are there any nighttime noise ordinances for your neighborhood?

[JoshB]

As a former plow driver I'll chime in here. Typically we'd start at properties that require attention sooner (Hospitals, clinics, gas stations etc.) We would then work our way across town hitting sites that we had contracts with. It wouldn't make sense for us to drive to a site just to clear it only to have to travel back to a site that may require immediate attention. Just remember many of these guys will be sitting behind the wheel of these trucks and tractors for 10-12 hours.

I do understand your frustration though, I live in an apartment complex and the guys started at 930 and just finished up at about 1115. They did make some noise but my wife and I sleep with a fan on to minimize any outside noise. It's winter and we just have to deal with these kinds of things.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Orangejello

I know, I know, there's probably nothing that can be done about this

Earplugs work wonders when used properly.

Originally Posted by Orangejello

or any rules preventing it- I just had to vent. I assume many of my Wisconsin brethren have felt my pain. Is it unreasonable for me to be upset about the factory across the street waiting until 10-11pm every night to plow their huge lot?

Yes.

Originally Posted by Orangejello

I don't understand why it can't be done earlier. Their lot is always free of cars by 8, 9 o'clock, and yet they wait til bedtime to start plowing for an hour.

It's not like the party in question has its own plow crew on standby that can scamper right out after the last car has left for the evening and clear off the lot. They almost certainly have a contract with an outside vendor who has to answer to one or two or five other clients before they get to the one across the street from you.

Originally Posted by Orangejello

And when they do plow, they have a guy come in with a truck that sounds like it's better suited for jumping dirt mounds in an arena full of 8 year old boys. Tonight they had the Bobcat out, this tiny little Bobcat with maybe a 4 ft bucket trying to plow a half acre of pavement. My whole house was shaking. It always takes them about 45-60 minutes to finish, too, so good luck falling asleep before 11:30. They're parked adjacent to a residential area that was there long before the factory, and the owner (some foreign broad) has basically told anyone who complains about all their bad habits to go take a leap. That's real respect for your community there, Natascha. Don't you have a moose and squirrel to bother instead back in Motherland?

If a "tiny little Bobcat" is enough to shake your whole house from across the street, then the problem isn't the "tiny little Bobcat" -- the problem is a structural engineering issue with your house. A "tiny little Bobcat" situated across the street should not under any circumstances shake a whole residential structure that was built to anything resembling contemporary engineering standards within the last, say, 150 years.

Originally Posted by Orangejello

Thanks for listening. Maybe just maybe this will persuade me to stop building that rocket-propelled snowball launcher after all.

Nah, go ahead. But do please report back how well that works for ya.

[ranger17]

as the others have said, ear plugs work wonders for any outside noise and (i've known those who plow in winter under contracts as well up here) often there isn't anything the crews can do but clear the lots they are given in order.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by Orangejello

I know, I know, there's probably nothing that can be done about this or any rules preventing it- I just had to vent. I assume many of my Wisconsin brethren have felt my pain. Is it unreasonable for me to be upset about the factory across the street waiting until 10-11pm every night to plow their huge lot? I don't understand why it can't be done earlier. Their lot is always free of cars by 8, 9 o'clock, and yet they wait til bedtime to start plowing for an hour. And when they do plow, they have a guy come in with a truck that sounds like it's better suited for jumping dirt mounds in an arena full of 8 year old boys. Tonight they had the Bobcat out, this tiny little Bobcat with maybe a 4 ft bucket trying to plow a half acre of pavement. My whole house was shaking. It always takes them about 45-60 minutes to finish, too, so good luck falling asleep before 11:30. They're parked adjacent to a residential area that was there long before the factory, and the owner (some foreign broad) has basically told anyone who complains about all their bad habits to go take a leap. That's real respect for your community there, Natascha. Don't you have a moose and squirrel to bother instead back in Motherland?

Thanks for listening. Maybe just maybe this will persuade me to stop building that rocket-propelled snowball launcher after all.

From what I understand from my neighbor who's Father operated the Maintainer for the county they live in, no plowing is done commercially or otherwise until the snow quits falling heavily if possible or it is an absolute necessity because the snow is not going to quit anytime soon.
The main roads and emergency areas were done first, side roads next and any other parking lots, and the rest of the residential areas were generally last.

Some of the commercial snow removal services cannot get to a place before 10:00 PM simply because they have other clients who are either first on the list or more important areas to tend to.
Use earplugs and leave the company alone, a 4 foot bucket on a bobcat is not going to shake your entire home and since you are so focused on respected in the Motherland do you really think it is appropriate to refer to the owner of any company as "Some Foreign Broad"? Your respect for another human is overwhelming.

[Orangejello]

Originally Posted by CSD610

do you really think it is appropriate to refer to the owner of any company as "Some Foreign Broad"? Your respect for another human is overwhelming.

I know this is a less than polite way of putting it, but the reason why her being foreign is of issue is because our town is very small, so we don't have people with Eastern European accents running around frequently. This led me to believe she wasn't from around here, which, upon asking her this when we first met, she confirmed she did not live anywhere in the area of our town. I assume she's from one of the bigger cities around here, where maybe people don't have all their neighbors on a first name basis, where people try to have a sense of close community. She didn't get that or respect that. Being a foreigner doesn't make her a bad person, her being rude and arrogant and disrespectful to the community she operates in does. Ex. When some of her vendor's trucks kept leaving giant muddy ruts in our lawn (because they were driving on our lawn instead of the road when exiting their driveway) we went to complain a few times, asking if she could at least leave a memo to her vendors to be more careful. She said no; watch which trucks are doing it and call their companies if you don't like it. Asking her to leave a note was too much of a hassle. The last time she asked one of us "Don't you people have anything better to do in this town than bother me?" So if you're going to make fun of our lives, I'm gonna make fun of you.

This factory has done numerous things that have angered us and other residents since they first opened, and when we first confronted this owner with a complaint about something else, she was rude and unhelpful, basically telling us she could do whatever she wanted there. This was the first time we had ever met her and this was her way of dealing with members of the community her business just opened it- to tell them "Tough luck. We can make whatever noise or cause whatever damage to your property we want." We then asked her, detecting her accent, if she lived in the area, and she responses that she didn't. So we said "So the problems you cause aren't a problem for you because you don't live here, so you don't have to deal with it yourself, huh?"

[cheese plate]

There seem to be other, underlying issues here...