The carolers are busy singing, "Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!" but getting rid of the white stuff isn't always such a jolly experience.
Even if you have a snow blower, odds are you still have to shovel because most machines will not clean the driveway down to the pavement. Shopping through three different hardware stores for snow removal equipment proved a frustrating challenge because there are so many options. But if you are wanting to test drive a shovel, the best thing to do is get it off the shelf and actually try pushing it along the corridor in the store – even if the floor is carpeted. Snow shovels can cost anywhere between $14 and $100, but the trick isn't so much in trying to buy expensive quality. Instead it's about finding a tool that fits your body size and hands and theoretically matches your own lifting capacity.
In the Canadian Tire store, the shovels are conveniently on a shelf next to the Ice Melt. To test the potential weight, I put a small jug of Ice Melt down flat on top of the shovel blade, and tried to lift it. Of course the balance was wrong, but I soon figured out that shovels with wooden handles were too heavy for me and some plastic handled shovels bent under the weight, just as I did.
"It depends whether you want a shovel to lift the snow or a shovel to push the snow," said Canadian Tire manager Gord Fletcher, who suggested most people probably need at least two shovels to get the job done.
Even the so-called ergonomic shovels are not perfect for every snow shoveling need. The shovels with a bend partway down the handle make it easier to lift snow. A shorter handle changes the leverage when you lift but also changes the dynamics of twisting and tossing the snow. To twist, and lift an ergonomic shovel, you need fairly strong wrists.
If you don't want a whole new shovel, attachments are now available to make your old straight-handled baby a little more ergonomically friendly. The attachments cost less than $20.
"I've tried both the ergonomic shovels and the handle attachments," said Morinville Home Hardware manager Mike Porlier.
"They make it easier because it doesn't stress your back as much. You aren't bent over to lift. But if you have the attachment, which is portable, you can transfer it from tool to tool."
The size of the shovel's scoop should be considered and in this case, bigger is not always better. If the scoop is extra large, obviously it will move more snow but it will be heavier and it could be more difficult to control. With an extra-wide blade you may find yourself using your foot to help shovel and the snow tends to fall off the edge. A narrow scoop is best when lifting wet heavy snow. A shallow scoop works well for pushing light snow but once you collect it in a pile, you may want to change to your ergonomic model to lift it.
Plastic is light, but will deteriorate more quickly.
"You might find the fiberglass handles are light enough and last better," said Fletcher.
Sweepers and blowers
Most snow blowers cannot clean your sidewalk down to the bare pavement.
"You wouldn't want them to because then the auger could be damaged and the concrete could be destroyed," Fletcher said.
At the same time, even the most powerful machines are fairly manageable.
"Most drive themselves," Fletcher said.
The ease of moving them depends upon whether they have the ability to be put into reverse or whether you have to manually pull the machine backwards.
Consider the width of the snowblower, Fletcher advised, because if it is wider, it will clean a bigger pathway. Check how far the machine will blow the snow.
A Power Shovel, at Home Depot costs slightly more than an expensive shovel, but it will throw snow 20 feet. The biggest snowblowers throw snow 50 feet.
Neither snowblowers nor shovels do well with ice. Ice or the heavy pile at the end of the driveway that's left behind by road graders could break the sheer pins on a snowblower.
"If you have ice, the only thing to do is use an environmentally-friendly melter like Ice Melt," said Porlier. "It won't damage your concrete or your grass."
