apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think I need a video demo to see how it actually works. My mom just turned 88, lives in NH, and still shovels her drive the old fashioned way! (But she doesn't let it accumulate to more than 2" before shoveling).

That thing looks like it would last about 1.8 seconds here in Northern Ontario.

That would NOT work. I enjoy shoveling snow (of all depths) and as soon as it pushed a pile of snow big enough that it couldn't be pushed further, it would be incredibly cumbersome to then lift that shovel and move the pile of snow out of the way. Maybe it works in small areas, but it is certainly no replacement for a snow blower. Nice try.

P.S. - snowblowers are for people who don't take initiative to shovel before it all accumulates to an excessive degree....or are too impatient to wait for it to melt. :)

I'd LOVE to try one of these but I live in New
England and I'm afraid my neighbors will laugh at me!!!! But it looks like fun.

I hate shoveling and it's all fine & large to say "don't let it accumulate" but when the snow starts at 8 a.m. and you leave for work and come home at 6:30 and it's been snowing all the blame day, you are going to be shoveling accumulated snow. In the dark for added extra pleasure.

Fortunately I live next to the nicest guy in the world who snowblows my walk on days like that.

don't ignore its semi-steamshovel action. You don't lift the entire thing, you instead lean down and watch the shovel rise, then you pivot. It only needs a cable operated release to be true lift and dump shovel.

I live just south of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and use a snow scoop http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41P8nuOClwL._SS500_.jpg

I use the scoop as much as possible (easier than a regular shovel, great for clearing off the back deck).

I also have a snow blower. They are not for people who are lazy and don't want to shovel constantly. They work great for when you wake up in the morning after 2-3 feet of snow fell in the evening (it can come down at a few inches per hour sometimes).

I also use the blower to keep a path clear around the house, incase of a fire or something, since the snow in the yard will get to over 4 feet in spots during the course of the winter.

I don't use it to clear the driveway, it's over 700 feet long (have a guy who plows it).

I clear a spot where I park on the side of the house, near the wheelchair ramp with the snow scoop, it's just faster and easier to just slide it all the way across that parking areas.

But when the plow comes in, the snow banks can get packed down, that's where the blower comes in handy.

Anyone who thinks a blower is a waste, come help me shovel this winter ;)

But, I do agree for most suburban residents, a blower is not needed most of the time, yet people use them since they have them.

I thought it looked silly in the picture, but the video on the website is actually pretty promising.

I use a regular shovel, an ice scraper and a broom. A snow blower would probably replace (and improve upon) the broom but not the actual shovel. Therefore, I'm not sure how the wovel would replace a snow blower. City bylaws insist you get your sidewalk 100% clear (not even a flake left) and this is why so many people use snow blowers. The women in your photograph isn't getting her walk completely clear with the wovel.

To commenter above who says that it's only a matter of getting to it soon enough: when you work full time and come how at 6:30 when it's been snowing all day and people have walked on the sidewalk compounding the snow into ice, it is *very* difficult to remove completely. My retired neighbours will shovel and sweep every hour during a snowstorm but most of us do not have that luxury.

I bought one, last year, but pretty late in the season, so I only used it once or twice.

It's good for clearing a wide path, but can only fling the snow a few feet up, so if you need to throw it over a hedge, you still need a shovel to get the vertical height.

I'll add to the comment about snowblowers only being for people who are lazy: While I certainly am lazy ;-) there's also the fundamental problem that the city snow plow likes to leave a 36 inch wall of heavy wet snow across my driveway. It can be a long haul to dig out of it by hand.

There aren't actually a lot of green snowblowers out there other than the shovel and the wovel. Honda has a hybrid that you can't buy in the US, and Ariens is coming out an electric model that they claim is as powerful as a two-stage gasonline snowblower. (more info here: http://www.snowblowers.net/green-snowblowers)

My guess is that there's not more innovation because people don't use snowblowers very often, so their aggregate impact on the environment doesn't compare with refrigerators, cars, etc, which have seen tremendous "green" innovation.

Oops, the link broke. Try this: http://www.snowblowers.net/green-snowblowers

Check http://www.wovel.com/
They have a flash video