Shoveling snow isn’t the most fun thing to do. It’s you, outside in the cold, trying to get rid of almost a trunkful of snow. It’s much worse and even dangerous when the snow has melted and frozen to form ice. Then, it becomes a slippery hazard.
Getting rid of snow from your driveway
This isn’t the safest or simplest thing to do. It’s a bit more complicated than grabbing a shovel or getting a snowplow out of the garage and walking majestically outside with heroic music playing. If you’re not physically fit or ‘armed’ with the appropriate material, chances are you’re not going to clear even one area before your back gives out or you fall on your face.
So, what can you do to make your snow clearing a success? For starters, you could stretch your muscles before you pick up the shovel. Clearing snow is a repetitive job of bending and getting back up after scooping some snow. If you don’t stretch, you could pull a muscle.
Also, you should dress in super warm clothes to avoid freezing and having to be shoveled out of the driveway like a piece of a human icicle. And ensure that you wear shoes with great hold so you don’t slip and fall.
As for your equipment, be sure to wax it to prevent it from being too slippery.
Shovel vs. snowblower for getting snow off your driveway
Oftentimes, shoveling is the more convenient option for people who live in a small place. It doesn’t make sense to spend money on an instrument such as a snow blower when you could do the job in half the time with a shovel.
All you need is to get it out and figure out which place to start. Then you put shovel to snow and begin to work your magic.
With snow blowing, however, you need to do a lot more than just turn it on. You have to find a power source, and even move your car out of the driveway, unlike with shoveling where you can decide to leave your car there.
Regardless, there are cases when you must have a snowblower. These include when you live in a large place and have an especially big driveway.
Also, it might be a good idea to buy a snowblower if you have any physical condition that makes you unable to bend frequently.
Snow pushing
Snow pushers are a great way of clearing snow from your driveway. Unlike shovels, snow pushers are designed to push snow over the side of the driveway. You don’t have to pick up the snow and pack it in a separate pile.
This is great news for your back muscles as you are less likely to pull them when you are working.
Snow pushers come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Choose the right snow pusher for yourself and the job will essentially be taken care of.
Unique snow-clearing ‘tool’
Perhaps, ‘contraption’ might be a better word to describe this. Whatever the word or phrase is, the most important thing is that it works.
When Jonathan Schill moved into his new home in Pennsylvania, he didn’t have a snowplow. All he had was a shovel and a load of creativity. He knew the shovel would not be able to do the job, and so he came up with an ingenious way to make it happen. [1]
Schill had one of those lawnmowers you can sit on and drive around to cut your grass. Calm down, this isn’t a story about a guy who uses a lawnmower to cut grass — far from it. Schill did a very effective thing with the lawnmower. He turned it into a makeshift snowplow.
Good thing it happened during the festivities when people were giving each other presents. That way, he was able to find the cartoon for a 50-inch television pretty easily. He then proceeded to attach the box to the front of the lawnmower. Then, he got on the lawnmower like a boss and drove it around his driveway, clearing snow in his path. [2]
His fiancé, Kaitlyn Toporzycki, shared the video on Facebook where it went viral and got over 200,000 shares.
Click on the link below to watch the video
People on Facebook went gaga over Schill’s innovation
While some people were awed by his creativity, others weren’t as thrilled. They felt it wasn’t practical.
One such comment by Nelita Bartolomeu read, “Will only last so long. Once that cardboard gets soaked it’s over. Haha, should’ve used a piece of plywood.”
However, Dixie Kovach defended Schill saying, “It wouldn’t fall apart that fast. Cardboard is pretty strong.”
Others could relate and had supposedly done similar things previously. According to William Myles, “I did the same thing 10 years ago… but instead of a lawn tractor I strapped the box to the front of my VW Passat.”
Regardless of the practicality of his idea, or lack thereof, it’s still a genius idea and shows that Schill has a knack for making the best of any situation.