If there’s not enough to warrant breaking out the Ariens, I don’t shovel, I plow- saves your back in the best way. Best snow pusher ever.

I like the cheap $10 plastic shovels. Snow sticks to metal shovels. Plastic with the metal blade I find the blade falls off easily and then it’s basically useless. The curved handle shovels are nice but don’t seem to come with the cheap plastic blade I like.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
A "what" shovel?

Something people in your parts use to clean out their freezer.

Like most here I have gone through my share of shovels and while some were better than others it really depends on how much snow you get and how wet it is.

I was in our local ACE hardware recently and bought one of these..I will be using it this winter...

https://www.acehardware.com/de...igging-tools/7138555

quote:

Best snow shovel is about 14 years old.

quote:

The very best snow shovel, hands down with no argument from anyone, is the snow shovel in the hands of a teenager getting $50 to clear my walkway and parking area.

Yes, these are the two best answers if you are older than 40. I have a great snow thrower and yet I still like having a some young kid do the steps and so forth.

Outside of that, I am also a fan of the plastic shovels with the thin metal blade.

Shoveling snow sucks.

quote:

Originally posted by mo4040:

quote:

Best snow shovel is about 14 years old.

quote:

The very best snow shovel, hands down with no argument from anyone, is the snow shovel in the hands of a teenager getting $50 to clear my walkway and parking area.

Yes, these are the two best answers if you are older than 40.

"Older than 40?!?!" Seriously? My Lord. I'm over 68 and still clearing my own snow.

*sheesh*

The day I can no longer clear my own property of snow is the day it's time for me to move to a retirement village or old folks home in Florida or Arizona.

quote:

Originally posted by mo4040:
Shoveling snow sucks.

I'll admit that, round about March or so it starts getting old, particularly when you're faced with it while still holding down a full-time job, but it's good exercise.

I very rarely used a shovel in my 5 years in Alaska, and instead used a 2-stage snowblower. However, there were instances it wasn't worth getting out the beast but I didn't want to drive over it and turn the snow into ice that'd last until April. In those instances, I used a shovel similar to gearhounds' except in had a steel edge and a poly handle.

During my 2 years in Can-eh-duh, we experienced mild winters by Canadian standards. I never even put gasoline in my 2-stage snowblower and instead cleared the sidewalks by hand (driveway was only 2-feet long as garage was off an alley). The sidewalks were a PITA since I was on the edge of downtown and my place was only 3 doors down from the bus stop. People were walking on fresh snow 16-hours a day when it snowed so the polymer push shovel was only good for the sidewalk going to my front door. The sidewalk that all the assholes compacted needed a grain shovel like Johnny 3eagles linked and steel bladed and poly handled ice scraper similar to this:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
"Older than 40?!?!" Seriously? My Lord. I'm over 68 and still clearing my own snow.

How about being 74 before the next snow season is over? As a Catholic priest here used to say, “Be thankful for the snow. Shoveling it keeps us in shape.”
On the other hand, my driveway is so large that I have a commercial plow guy clear it. That’s the easiest way of all. I can clear it by hand, and have, but it’s a several hour job.

A couple of thoughts about the suggestions thus far based on shoveling my deck and walk.
Snow pushers rather than shovels are good if it’s not too deep to push and there’s somewhere to push it. Usually neither is the situation for me, but when it is I use the regular shovel.
I bought a grain shovel for the snow a few years ago, used it a couple of times, and it’s been hanging on the garage wall ever since. Even though I’m accustomed to shoveling snow, if it has any weight to it, the grain shovel picks up too much to heave to one side easily.

I like this one for pushing and ripping up ice. Not so much for lifting since it is heavy. https://www.acehardware.com/de...-and-pushers/7200611

For less than 6" snow fall, I prefer using a sturdy poly-pusher without the metal lip. I wish I knew the brand. Label fell of long ago.

Between 6" & 10", I like the grain type shovel. Mine is aluminum, which I do NOT like. Would get poly next time.

Over 10", then I get the two-stage snow thrower out.
I have a 2000 (28" wide?) 9hp troy-bilt. Works very well.

I have a handheld and a backpack leaf blower. An inch or two of snow and I use a leaf blower. The handheld does a great job on my truck as long as its fresh snow. For everything else, the Ariens or Kubota.

So far my favorite snow shovel is the hydraulically operated one I mounted on the front of my ranger with a closed, heated cab.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
............... Snow sticks to metal shovels. .................

Something I stumbled onto years ago was to spray my shovels with Armor All, or Pam cooking oil. Snow just slides right off.

I have had several, some plastic with metal edge and some without metal edge. I've never felt like the metal edge gave me an advantage. When the plastic edges start to curl up I trim them off with a knife or hack saw. I prefer a straight handle. I had one with a curved handle but it was not as easy to control in heavy snow.

quote:

Originally posted by BigJoe:
Something I stumbled onto years ago was to spray my shovels with Armor All, or Pam cooking oil. Snow just slides right off.

I've long wondered about that. Thanks for the info!

After thinking about it for a couple days I think I'm going to buy a pair of those shovels member JasonATI pointed out. I'm thinking a 28" The Snowplow, for doing the driveway when the snow's too light for even our smaller snow thrower, and a The Snow Dominator for narrower areas, the end-of-driveway stuff with which the county snow plow regularly gifts us, and for clearing the area around the mailboxes out on the road.

but make sure you get the one with the metal edge on the front blade
https://www.farmandfleet.com/p...mic-snow-shovel.html

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
but make sure you get the one with the metal edge on the front blade

The problem with those is scraping flat to the ground eventually wears through the rivets and the edge falls off. That's what happened to the shovel the next-door-neighbour girl borrowed.

The reviewers of the shovels I plan to get claim the plastic is so tough you can actually chip ice with them. I'll have to see if for myself to believe it, but that's what they claim.

The one that’s in some else’s hands.

quote:

The problem with those is scraping flat to the ground eventually wears through the rivets and the edge falls off. That's what happened to the shovel the next-door-neighbour girl borrowed.

My shovel is on it's sixth year , so $20 .00 every seven years is pretty ok , I guess

quote:

Originally posted by AKSuperDually:
So far my favorite snow shovel is the hydraulically operated one I mounted on the front of my ranger with a closed, heated cab.

Mines not hydraulic but I wholly agree. Mine has tunes as well as heat!