Best shovel for clearing snow? Odd wheeled device stands out
When The Dispatch published a story in 2011 describing alternatives to traditional snow shovels, many readers wondered how well they worked. A few weeks ago, Reporter Jim Weiker found out.
Weiker met two volunteers at the site of the former Kmart store at Bethel and Olentangy River roads to test six snow-removal devices.
Helping him were Carl Conner, 65, of the Northwest Side, who is retired from Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceutical company; and John “David” Huddle, 72, of Westerville, a structure analyst with Chemical Abstracts Service. Both were seeking easy ways to remove snow.
Conner has had quadruple bypass surgery, and Huddle said he can wear himself out lifting snow with a traditional shovel. All agreed the Sno Wovel was physically the easiest device to operate, although perhaps the oddest. “It’s the stupidest-looking thing I’ve ever seen, but you know what?” Huddle said. “It works.”
After testing all items, they concluded that some work best for certain functions. As Conner put it: “No one thing is best for all jobs.”
Here is their take on the devices.
Traditional shovel
• Description: a blade and a handle
• Cost: $10 to $25 at assorted retailers
• Pros: low cost, easy to use, easy to store
• Cons: lifting can strain back; moving deep or wet snow can be difficult
Ames True Temper SnoBoss shovel
• Description: a traditional 26-inch shovel with lower handle for lifting and two stems rising from the blade for pushing
• Cost: $31.99 to $37.99 at the Andersons, Lowe’s and other retailers
• Pros: easier to push and lift snow than with a traditional shovel
• Cons: light weight prompts blade to skim surface of snow instead of scraping driveway; can strain back while lifting
Snowmaster Snowscoop
• Description: a 56-by-24-inch orange plastic slab designed to push snow, with handles and, at the bottom, a wheel
• Cost: $69.95 plus $14.95 shipping at www.snowmaster. com
• Pros: doesn’t require bending or lifting
• Cons: bulky to manipulate; snow can only be pushed to edge and not “tossed”
Dakota SnoBlade
• Description: a short, wide metal blade mounted ahead of two wheels and pushed with a long lawn-mower-style handle
• Cost: $92.95 at www.snoblade.net
• Pros: doesn’t require bending or lifting; easy to push; 36-inch blade requires only one swipe down a sidewalk; can be reversed, allowing snow to be pushed to either side
• Cons: short blade struggles to handle more than 4 inches of snow (device is not recommended for more than 5 inches); tends to skim top of snow instead of scraping concrete
Silver Bear Snow Scoop
• Description: a 22-inch metal bin with a metal U-shaped handle; wheels can be attached for rougher surfaces
• Cost: $78.50 plus $14.99 for wheel kit at www.silverbear.biz
• Pros: deep bin can handle large volume of snow; relatively easy to push
• Cons: difficult to empty snow from scoop, either by tilting or thrusting; difficult to navigate on sidewalks; bulky to store
Sno Wovel
• Description: a standard shovel blade attached to a 3-foot wheel with a long handle
• Cost: $139.90 plus $18.50 shipping at www.wovel.com
• Pros: the large wheel makes pushing effortless even through heavy snow; requires minimal strength to use and to throw snow
• Cons: cost; odd shape makes storage tricky; requires a bit of practice to throw snow; not as easy to maneuver on narrow surfaces such as sidewalks
