shoveling snow

what would you do about shoveling snow if ou had to do it, this is being done with a 3 foot tall shovel that i myself have to hunch over to use, and by the end my back is in aggony no matter how much snow i must move its just the length of time i am being hunched over a shovel.

the snow is coming down medium and the area is a 2 car driveway and a sidewalk 30 feet long and has to be completely cleared (fined if not cleared, we get ice here easily) the sidewalk is high traffic because is on same street as a highschool so ice forms fast under the snow.

Buy a new shovel???

i want to get a new shovel (stay with a metal blade not a plastic for the ice)
but we are going to wait till after the snow season for a sale.

i would choose the fourth option... hire the 75 year old man next door to do it with his snowblower while you sit inside nice and comfy. :biggrin:

move to hawaii

Wait till the snow stops, preferably as late in the day as possible, that leaves less to shovel in the morning if there's any overnight snowfall.

Get one of these:

http://www.hitachi-c-m.com/images/products/excavator/face/gallery/ex3600_5.jpg

Hitachi EX3600

Operating weight 348 000 kg
Engine rated power 1 400 kW (1900 PS)
Bucket Capacity 22.0 m3

Get one of these:
Hitachi EX3600

Operating weight 348 000 kg
Engine rated power 1 400 kW (1900 PS)
Bucket Capacity 22.0 m3

You don't even need to shovel, you just drive over it.

^ Funny pic Toksin.

Well this is the reason I bought the snow removal machine this year. I cannot take it any more with a aching back the next day.

If its only an inch or two, I would do the shovel (metal not plastic). My driveway is not the problem, its the sidewalk where every one wants to walk where i have to clear it every hour or so cause if I do not, The constant walking will compact the snow and it will be harder to remove. But then again with the snow remover machine, its not a problem.

TS out

Just buy a very old lawn tractor and put a snow plow on it. That's what I did a couple years ago when we moved there was no way I was gonna shovel our driveway it's huge. I only paid a total of $25 and that includes the plow.

i want to get a new shovel (stay with a metal blade not a plastic for the ice)
but we are going to wait till after the snow season for a sale.

I didn't realise my wife posted here..........

.....so you are going to struggle on with your broken ass shovel for the rest of the winter,just to save yourself a few bucks by buying one when nobody in their right mind wants one?

Please,spare us the complaints about the agony.The solution is simple.Buy the new shovel. If you don't think that you are worth the extra 10 bucks,why should we?

ya i know but all the sotres up here are sold out of the metal blade style shovels so for now i will deal with the aggony.

on second thought are there any neighborhood kids in your area? hire one or two of them... kids are chumps, throw em 5 bucks and a cup of cocoa and they will be your snow shoveling slaves. :evillol:

on second thought are there any neighborhood kids in your area? hire one or two of them... kids are chumps, throw em 5 bucks and a cup of cocoa and they will be your snow shoveling slaves. :evillol:

Hire 5 year olds and you don't even have to give them money, they'll work for cocoa.

i want to get a new shovel (stay with a metal blade not a plastic for the ice)
but we are going to wait till after the snow season for a sale.
Ha Ha an after season sale on snow shovels? I wish we had those here in NY, instead most if not all of the GOOD shovels are scarfed up before Thanksgiving. I made the mistake of waiting for a sale ONCE...NEVER AGAIN!!!

Hire 5 year olds and you don't even have to give them money, they'll work for cocoa.

Hire 5 years old and you'll get some time in jail... you won't have to shovel snow in there! :biggrin:

Hire 5 years old and you'll get some time in jail... you won't have to shovel snow in there! :biggrin:ummm, why would the hiree go to jail for hiring some young kid to shovel some snow? Its like having your kid do it for an allowance. Its not like its on a daily basis which would constitute a permanent job. That would then be breaking the child labor laws. Or am I wrong.

TS out

get a snow blower and only chip enough ice so that you can walk to your car and back and like a foot wide path on the sidewalk...then try the ice melter stuff and wait til spring.

snowblower is a good investment..

ummm, why would the hiree go to jail for hiring some young kid to shovel some snow? Its like having your kid do it for an allowance. Its not like its on a daily basis which would constitute a permanent job. That would then be breaking the child labor laws. Or am I wrong.

TS out
I was joking a bit. Besides, a child of that age wouldn't be strong enough to shovel snow, I think.
About the law: of course hiring a child on a daily basis would be breaking the laws, having a child do it for an allowance woud not. However, you can't be too carefull. I don't think hiring five years olds would do much for one's good name... :grinno:

Hire 5 years old and you'll get some time in jail... you won't have to shovel snow in there! :biggrin:


you never shoveled a driveway when you were a kid for money? I bet you have never mowed a lawn either.

Shit when I was a kid as soon as it started snowing I was out walking up and down my street with a shovel waiting for the old ladies to call me over to shovel out their driveways... I used to make a killing.

you never shoveled a driveway when you were a kid for money? I bet you have never mowed a lawn either.
There's almost no snow in the place where I was born. In the last 30 years it has snowed at most 10 days. Most of the times less then an inch...
I mowed my share of lawns, however.

you never shoveled a driveway when you were a kid for money? I bet you have never mowed a lawn either.

Shit when I was a kid as soon as it started snowing I was out walking up and down my street with a shovel waiting for the old ladies to call me over to shovel out their driveways... I used to make a killing.
Our area needs more people like you! There have been many "letters to the editor" in our daily paper bemoaning the fact of the lack of kids/teenagers/young adults available or willing to shovel snow. Most people say they are all inside watching tv or playing their video games and just aren't interested.

IMO, you missed the 4th (and best) option in the poll, which is:

Start your Jeep and drive away.

sorry even jeeps get stuck in our snow somtimes!

I hear that! But at least you're out and about while the guy with the lowered HondNissToyMits is sitting home and moping. :evillol:

so you are going to struggle on with your broken ass shovel for the rest of the winter...

ya was just gonna say??? I thought mike was about to say I'm saving up for a snowblower for next year or something. :uhoh: Give me your address and I'll mail you one of our old shovels... lol

Personally I hate the metal tipped shovels - yes they're great for scraping off flattened snow but if you've got any type of interlocking brick or patio tiles (even sidewalk sections) etc... that metal lip will catch everytime. Plus, sometimes that scraping noise/vibration goes right up your arms and into your spine (like when someone scratches a blackboard).

As far as technique for shoveling snow goes, I'll go out two-three times during the night to clear the driveway in a bad snowfall, rather than let it accumulate. When its light and/or a small amount its easy to use just one arm to quickly thrust the snow forward, bit by bit (working your way out from the centre). Doesn't really take than much effort at all. Do that till you pile it up at the edge and then scoop it up and over.

And ya those funny ortho-bent shovels, they're crap!

As a kid I was the only one who would shovel the driveway, its about 4 cars wide by 2.5 deep. Last year I purchased a 20hp yard tractor and a few months later I bought the 42" dual stage Snowblower attachment. Here in Boston we get dumped on quite a bit.. I wait till its done snowing and take out the Blower.. I have tire chains and added wheel weights for traction.I live off of a large corner on a Private road, the front pile is usually up to my waist. the blower chews through almost anything and throws the snow a good 15-25 feet depending on how heavy it is. Its a great investment!! the only problem I have encountered is losing the belt here and there when the pulley's ice over.. It also cuts nice wide paths in the yard for my dogs to play.
-Jimmy

I was the snow removal bitch of my family while growing up too (oldest and only son :mad: ) and I remember begging my dad to buy a snowblower. His argument sounded a lot like the thread starter Mike's rationale that, "oh, we'll wait for them to come down in price, and besides winter is already half over so its not worth getting one now..."

The F'n thing would have paid for itself in the first damn winter! And people talking about young chaps making a few bucks doing other people's driveways on the street?? - ya, those were the little bastards who had their dad's snowblower to use!! :grinno: Makes you feel like such shit when you've already cleared 10ft of snow from half your driveway, and you're proud of your accomplishment and progress so far and take a little break before the second 45 min shift, then down the street some punk tears through his driveway in 10 min with his snowblower. At that point the motivation would fade and it would either take me 120 min to finish the other side - or if I had been stoned before getting kicked out to shovel I'd probably cave and pay the little sob a few bucks to finish the rest of my job lol.