Let's talk about snow shovels

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by sec304

Why do people steal snow shovels? Someone in my family who lives in a new part of Sage Hill said somebody went by and stole all of the snow shovels from her and all of her neighbors on the street.

Is there some black market for $20 snow shovels? Or are they doing it just to piss people off?

Free shovel with every electrical cord bought.

[edn88]

For almost all snow conditions except deep, heavy wet snow, I find the wide pusher to be the best. I can do my 2 car wide drive way and the sidewalk in front of my house in 5-10 minutes when there is 2" or less.

I have an ergonomic narrow shovel to deal with heavy snow.

Another essential tool is a narrow (4-6") scraper with a long handle for breaking up ice

[pylon]

I'll drop this here. Anyone looking to sell a snow blower? PM me. My dad has a major issue with his back (degenerative disk disease), and shoveling is no longer an option.

Gas is preferred.

[return to the red]

Everyone should do themselves a favour and buy one of these


Best part is when the blade wears out you can buy the replacement blade

We sell a ton of these to towns, school divisions, property managers, etc.

Send me a PM of you want to know our locations. That's as far as I will go for a shameless plug

[Ducay]

Went and bought a pusher:


And an ergonomic scoop.


Cleared the ~3" that fell today with ease. The wide pusher cleared the driveway to the sides very quickly, and then the erogonomic scoop was great for lifting and heaving the snow onto the pile.
The scoop carries a good volume and is nice and flat to the ground, but also has a good size bucket, not too big, not too small. Plus it works as a small pusher for cleaning up after all the chucking

[Erick Estrada]

I've been searching for years for the perfect shovel and my latest which is like the first option (without the ribs) and complete aluminum. It's light, gets right down to the cement and is easy enough to push and the only gripe is that it does catch on edges but that's the price of getting down to the cement.

Plastic ones work really well on fresh, unpacked snow but are useless trying to remove packed snow.

Tried a bent handle shovel and hated it. They cost more but simply don't feel right for lifting snow. I've read that they are better for the back if you lift snow but it just felt too awkward for me to bother changing my technique. I threw it in the garbage after last winter as it just didn't work for me.

Wide pushers are great for pushing but useless for lifting so you will need a 2nd shovel for lifting if you go with one of these.

[XxBIGDOGxX1817]

I bolt on a hard piece of plastic to the bottom of all of my shovels...key if you want to make a plastic shovel 5+ years in Calgary weather. ice chisel with long handle for scraping.

[Wormius]

I have the straight-handled style from Rona or Home Depot or wherever. There was a recent study about it though. I will use it until it breaks or something gives.

I use this for getting rid of the compressed tire tracks and other ice/hard packed snow that the shovel either gets stuck at or slides over. Works like a charm.

Spoiler!

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/study-says...vels-1.1591022

We’ve all had enough of the white stuff already, but a new study conducted by a graduate student at the University of Calgary may have found the best type of snow shovel that does the job and doesn’t sacrifice your back.
The study, by biomedical engineering graduate student Ryan Lewison, was published in the latest edition of Applied Ergonomics.

Lewinson found that for the lifting part of clearing snow, a bent shaft shovel is best.

“We were primarily interested in looking at lower back flexion to see how much bending people were doing when using one type of snow shovel or the other,” explains Lewinson in a release. “What we found is that when you use the bent shaft snow shovel, you don’t bend over quite as much.”


He says that the study only looks at lifting, so it wouldn’t apply to whether or not the same shovel would be useful for pushing, chopping, or throwing snow.
There would need to be further research to determine if straight or bent is the way to go for those jobs.


Studies in the United States show that nearly 12,000 people are treated in emergency departments each year for snow shoveling injuries, and the most common injury reported is to the lower back.

[GGG]

For heavy wet snow I use a narrow plastic shovel with a metal edge, straight handle For Light fluffy snow I use a plastic 4 foot wide rounded pusher. Gets the fluffy stuff done quick. For chipping I have a 4" wide steel straight edge. For packed snow that doesnt need chipping I just use the narrow metal edged plastic.

Everyone in Calgary should have real wide shovel for all of the small snow falls. It turns doing the driveway into a sub 5 minute task.

[Johan Federko]

Just made a post in a thread very similar to this one (steel snowshovel) - perhaps the threads can be merged?

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Johan Federko

Just made a post in a thread very similar to this one (steel snowshovel) - perhaps the threads can be merged?

Huh? You were the one who bumped both threads. One is a year since the last post and the other is two years.

[Johan Federko]

Yes, but the content the same

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Johan Federko

Yes, but the content the same

Sure, but why would mods merge two threads from years ago? If you go through the history of CP there will be multiple threads on almost every topic ever.

[Minnie]

So, dude doesn't like sidewalks?

[Johan Federko]

So, sidewalk shovelling has a shelf life?

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Johan Federko

So, sidewalk shovelling has a shelf life?

Yes. It's called Spring.

[Johan Federko]

Sorry, I am a new user of this site - how does one know when a thread is no longer relevant?

[MRCboicgy]

Ok, the other threads are closed but still searchable for information therein.

If anyone has anything they want to add specifically about shovels or the particular techniques they employ during said act, you can add it here.

[Vulcan]

It's okay to occasionally bump an old thread but two in one day on the same subject has to be a record of some sort.

[Johan Federko]

I'll go for a hatrick