snow shovel

[Fred]

Hi,

I got caught out today because I did not have a shovel to shift snow.

There seem to be two types of "snow shovel": one that is a big scoop on a stick and another which looks like a normal shovel but is made of plastic.

Is any one type better than the rest or are they all as good as each other?

I can see that the big scoop type will shift move snow in one go but as you are still shifting the same weight of snow whether you move fewer heavier throws or twice as many lighter ones, overall isn't the effort the same?

I can see that the plastic shovels have two advantages: unlike metal shovels, they will not rust, and they are lighter to carry in the car. Other than these, are they any different to a normal (and cheaper) shovel, like this one:

[David P]

The main advantage is that the snow doesn't stick to them like it does to metal. Scoop or plastic shovel both do the same job but the weight of snow in a shovel can be very high so I use the shovel to push the snow aside and the scoop type when it needs throwing aside.

For fresh 'powder snow' I use a leaf blower which takes away all the effort!

David

[polygonum]

> TIA

I bought a shovel like this (but not the same):

is so light, snow moving is much, much easier than the shovels and things I have previously used. While not as large as some (like the TS one), it is incredibly effective. I'd say it feels like half the effort. Much easier to do two light scoops than one heavy one - especially if you are not used that sort of activity (like me).

The telescopic and detachable handle makes it easy to find somewhere to stow it in the car. And it feels very, very strong.

[David WE Roberts]

Extend that comparison to moving the snow with a teaspoon and you may find the effort is considerably more. :-)

Probably most efficient (and a lot faster) to move as much as you can shift with each shovel load, so the bigger lighter shovel should be better.

[Clive George]

Nah - there's a sweet spot between too heavy and too light. Same as gearing, and it'll vary between people.

[Davey]

For the really serious, there is this:

used to make an engine-powered margharita mixer, too.

[Fred]

Thanks for the replies.

I hadn't realised that plastic had non-stick properties; that's a good point.

[polygonum]

Agreed - I was surprised quite how tiring a metal shovel was. Didn't seem that heavy, for each load, but after a while it was very tiring. Both the weight of the load and the shovel itself contributed. Am quite convinced I could move twice the amount with the light one before giving up.

And yes, the non-stick side is a benefit.

Think I'll give the teaspoon a miss, thanks. :-)

[Steve Firth]

Much the same.

I use one of these:

I got it after being stuck in a fairly big snowstorm in Switzerland. We managed to make it to a motorway service station in time to bed down for the night, but in the morning the snow came up to the base of the windscreen. Of a Fiat Ducato. I managed to borrow a shovel and dig my way out but I made a note to get a shovel like the one I was loaned. Telescopic is useful for a shovel to carry in a car.

[Jules Richardson]

We have three here; a big scoop type that's about 2' wide (plastic scoop, adjustable metal handle), a plastic flat-blade type that's about 16" wide, and a metal flat-blade type (also about 16" wide) that has a wooden handle.

The scoop's quite good on the right type of snow, although deep snow tends to fall off the back long before I hit the point where I couldn't physically push any more; I keep thinking I should add some form of 6" high wall at the back of it so I can move more snow with it.

The flat metal-bladed shovel is probably many decades old; it's rusty and dented, but it's bloody brilliant for cutting and lifting the kind of heavy, ice-laden snow that the scoop doesn't like shunting around.

The flat plastic-bladed shovel is an utter crock of cheap shit. Don't buy one if you can find a metal version. I suspect that the plastic doesn't like the cold; every one of that type we've had has eventually cracked around the point where the blade attaches to the handle.

Oh, we also keep metal (wooden-handled) shovels (maybe 8" wide) in the car and van just for emergency use during winter.

One of our elderly neighbours up the road has a 4x4 quad bike with a blade on the front, so when it gets really deep he always ends up coming over and ploughing (it's about 100' from the road to our garage - I've hand-shoveled it a few times, but it's a sod of a job)

cheers

Jules

[ss]

Well I live in central scotland and for all the snow we actually get I made my own out of a rectangle of ply screwed to a piece of 2 x 2. Does the job around the house. cost me £0

[Nightjar]

I had a shovel and snow chains for the car, but no snow.

Watching a groundsman clearing snow from football pitch lines on the news yesterday, it seems as though the best way to use the large scoop is like a snow plough; pushing it along the ground so that the snow gets thrown off to the side, rather than using it to lift the snow.

Colin Bignell

[Old Codger]

On my gravel drive, and also on concrete and paving, I use the scoop as both a plough and a shovel.

Using a lightweight builder's shovel it used to take me most of a day, with a lunch break, to clear my drive (long, wide and "L" shaped). It took around 2 hours with the scoop, and I cleared a footpath all around the house and cleared the snow off two cars in that time.

Give me a scoop anytime.

[Dave Liquorice]

And it will vary with the snow. Nice light dry powder is not a problem to shift with a large shovel/scoop, apart from the fact it blows about all over the place bit like tidying leaves in a breeze... But heavier wetter sticky snow and a large shovel is almost too heavy to lift.

What is important is the handle, a plain straight stick is OK for just ploughing through a couple of inches of none too sticky snow. However if you need to lift and the load isn't balanced on the blade it makes it harder work as the plain round handle rotates in your gloves, a proper T or D end to the handle is a great help.

We have the cheap red plastic blade straight handle type for general clearing around the house and a plastic one with a D handle. They last two or three seasons before either breaking or wearing out. In the car I carry a proper metal shovel. Bear in mind that you may have to deal with ice as well as snow, plastic just doesn't cut it with ice.

A folding/collapsable shovel might be OK provided it is full size and rigid when assmebled. A short handled shovel is harder work than a longer handled one as you lose the mechanical advantage the longer handle gives you.

[Bill Wright]

We have some home made ones. They are basically a board about 16" wide by 12" high, fixed onto a stick. They work perfectly and last year after year.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

When you move the snow you also move yourself. Most of the effort is in moving yourself. So move as much snow each time as you can shift comfortably, without overloading yourself.

Bill

[Andy Champ]

> TIA

Been strongly recommended to one like this.

to work better than the spade which is all I have.

Andy

[Cash]

If you want to make a metal shovel non-stick to shift snow - simply use the high-tech way!

Warm the shovel blade with a blow torch and rub a candle (or plumbers tallow) over the blade to leave a layer of wax on it.

Used this method on a very good quality builders shovel for years on both soft and heavily compacted snow - and IMO, a metal shovel is far better at shifting the compacted snow you usually get stuck on, than a plastic one.

Cash

[Jules Richardson]

Yes, nothing wrong with that approach, either. I do have a homebrew snow- rake (for dragging snowfall off the house roof) which I also rustled together using scrap wood; I expect it'll last a few years, at which point I'll build myself another.

It's been an extrememly warm winter here (northern Minnesota) - normally it's about -20F (-29C) at this time of year, but today it was up around

45F (7C); I was up in the workshop in just a t-shirt. We've only got about 6" of snow on the ground; usually it's a couple of feet deeper than that by now. At least the heating bills aren't as horrific as usual! :-)

cheers

Jules

[Jules Richardson]

Yes, that's the way the scoops are really designed to be used (at least the ones sold around here) - pushing rather than lifting... although you can get a quite good lifting motion going if you set the handle at its lowest level and grasp the back of the scoop with your hand, a bit like a human excavator, swinging it and dumping it off to the side.

The problem I found with ours, as mentioned in another post, is that unless the snow is really heavy I can physically push more than the scoop can contain, so modifying the scoop so that it was deeper would be useful (I've just never quite got the tuits together yet)

cheers

Jules