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After last years snow, we were thinking of buying one just in case West Yorkshire is turned into Lapland again .
Any one got one they could recommend?
Or can you easily make one yourself for the same money, even if you're hamfisted muppet?
I just use a regular spade/shovel.
Mrs Grips is from a snowy part of the world so last year she ordered one similar to this online:
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It was utterly fabulous. It is probably 50x quicker than using a normal shovel AND much easier. You just plonk it down and push, you can clear a good 6ft strip of clear tarmac in one run at least. I was doing this last year when we had a foot of snow; if you only had a few inches you'd be able to just run along with it clearing tyre tracks probably. When it gets full you turn the handle to dump it out and go again. A driveway would be clear in a few minutes. It's better because the handle is a lot longer (so you don't need to bend over) and the end is more of a scoop so you can pick up more snow. Normal shovels are designed for heavier stuff like gravel or sand so the end is smaller.
Re ice, it obviously doesn't clear the ice being plastic, but metal ones are available - in any case our plastic one didn't break.
[url= http://www.haroldmoore.eu/products/snowburner/snowburner.html ]Harold moore Snowburner[/url]
G/f grandparents have had one of these for years, I usually snear at plastic shovels (use a metal one myself) as they fall apart when you hit something solid (like ice). Cleared their path with their last year using it, the path had re-frozen numerous times, it was ****in ace & worked a treat.
They moved into a (managed) retirement appartment over the summer, I've managed to aquire their shovel 😀
Basically, if you're shifting soft fresh snow, any old rubbish will do (I used a wheeliebin lid last year) but, a big flat flexible shovel is really good for path clearing, since it'll flex along the ground. But, a lot of these shovels are useless at compacted or frozen snow, just can't break it- ie pavements, snowplough heaps. Digging out our driveway last year after the big snow was more like shovelling dirt than snow.
So, I use a standard issue steel spade, since it deals fine with the fluffy stuff but can smash up the hard stuff too.
Given that most of the snow I tried to shift last year was frozen solid then a plastic shovel would have been useless. That looks a bit big to stick in the boot of the car too.
Even fresh snow was solid by the morning.
I made one out of a old hockey stick nailed to a plank of wood from a bookshelf last year!
Its the best tool I have ever made, it also happens to be the only tool I have made!
My neighbour stood in awe of my tool last year, she said it was the best tool she had ever had up her passageway in years!
My best tip would be to leave it alone!
If you move the snow the bits you leave behind then melt slightly and your left with ice.
Much better to leave well alone then you have lots of nice deep snow which provides plenty of grip for walking and driving on.
I found that untreated snow soon was compacted into slippery ice. Clear it quickly before it freezes!
I got one of these bad boys with a metallic edge.
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My best tip would be to leave it alone!
No, don't. If you leave it then the first few cars make compacted tracks in the snow which then melt and re-freeze really hard. We had two strips of ice on our hill long after all the soft snow had gone.
You need to get out and clear two tracks BEFORE it freezes.
But if its cold enough to freeze snow then you're going to get ice on the road anyway.
Nalpam?
Compacted snow ice takes longer to melt when the thaw comes.
If you shovel the snow you are left with just dust on the road which isn't enough to coagulate into a layer of ice. Trust me I've done this.
My neighbour stood in awe of my tool last year, she said it was the best tool she had ever had up her passageway in years!
behave!
i don't care what she uses so long as she's not late with my tea.
Yeah it's coming 17c up here today any minute now then
Give it five weeks Drac...
Yeah there's plenty of time.
Here's what happened when deciding clearing it wasn't a great idea.
[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5216860433_e4ceed64ab_z.jp g" target="_blank">
Took 2.5 hours to get it out.
Give it five weeks Drac..
Hahaha it's been 5 weeks and ah shit you win.
😆
I have been working in Penzance this week and i have been walking around outside in a t-shirt on thursday and friday.
What a difference being 600 miles south makes! 8)
Ok it's not proper snow but it would bring the south and Edinburgh to a stand still causing media panic.
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6485984595_56ebec3b36_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/leecollis/6485984595/ ]Snow '11[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/leecollis/ ]Lee Collis[/url], on Flickr