Shoveling Snow

I moved to New England from California 15 years ago and have been shoveling snow from December to March ever since.   Managing snow, especially this winter with over 5 feet of snow fall in Wellesley, is more complex than it seems.

There are many different kinds of snow  - light powder, wet/heavy gluelike snow, wintry mix of rain/sleet/ice, the "crud" left by snowplows, and the corn snow leftover from freeze/thaw cycles.

I'd like to say that New Englanders have even more words for snow than the Eskimos, but the whole notion that any language has a vast number of words for snow is an urban myth.

Here's my recommendation for the equipment you need to shovel snow in New England

1.  An Ergonomic snow pusher .   When snow first falls, you need a shovel to push it down the driveway.   I typically cut a path to the street and then use the pusher to move snow to the sides of the driveway.  Then, I can use my scoop shovel to move it into piles.

2.  A Scoop Shovel .   A pusher is great for moving snow but not so good for picking up chucks or larger amounts of consolidated snow to create piles (actually, it looks more like a canyon at this point in Wellesley) next to the driveway.   Scoop shovels were originally invented to move grain, but they work perfectly for snow.     I highly recommend Aluminum scoops because the poly shovels bend and break.

3.  An Ice Chipper/scraper  - Freeze/thaw cycles create a consolidated mixture of ice and snow that's as hard as concrete.   An Ice Chipper is create to break up the chunks as well as scape the ice/snow that sticks to asphalt and creates a hazard.   Of course you can salt your driveway to soften the ice before chipping it.

4.  A Spading Fork - Although it seems like an odd tool to use for snow management, a Spading Fork helps break up the large frozen piles of snow, ice, sand, and salt that the snowplows leave in your driveway.   I use a spading fork to turn the snowplow mound into smaller, manageable pieces, then the scoop shovel to move them to the piles.

5. A Sno-Broom -  Using a shovel, a chipper or a fork on your car is a really bad idea.  A Sno-broom enables you push ice and snow off your car without scratching the finish.    An ice scraper for the windows is also a good idea.

Some of you may be thinking that a snow blower or thrower would be a better idea.     But where's the fun in that!