How do you shovel your snow?

[ActiveMSers]

Since I live in Albuquerque, when it snows here in town (10" annual average, but 125" in the mountains), it almost always melts by the afternoon. I never shovel. How do you guys do it? Shoveling would push all my MS buttons: heat, fatigue, balance, strength, the works.

[AMFADVENTURES]

Shoveling Snow

Marry well??????

[ActiveMSers]

Niiice. Yeah, my wife does all the heavy lifting around the house. I so owe her!

[Marinadca]

I have an awesome husband

[misspenny]

So much snow this year...

I shovel. It's not that much fun, but it gets done somehow. It's nice when it's the light, fluffy snow like the last storm instead of the wet, sloppy mess that was the last big one. Take breaks, don't over bundle, ergonomic shovel. Like so many things, I'm gonna do it as long as I can do it.

[MSSpouse]

We've been soooo lucky this winter. Not a lot of snow at all, unlike most years. My MSer spouse is still able to handle the snow removal on our very very long sidewalk, knock wood, and all of misspenny's advice applies. In winter it's a big part of the stay-active program. I have two cranky shoulders but know I must be ready to step in if needed.

With respect to shoveling, we have found that Suncast makes a nice flat blue shovel that picks up a fair amount of snow in a scoop, but not so much that it gets too heavy and wears you out too quickly. The shovel itself is lightweight too.

For the big snows, we finally broke down and got a snowblower. These aren't light machines, so they aren't for everyone, but here are some thoughts based on our experience:
1) It's probably worth it to pay up for features like electric start and crank controls for maneuvering the chute. They make life easier if you don't have complete dexterity and/or strength (or even if you do). We'll get these on our next machine.
2) Get enough horsepower, but don't get more machine than you really need. A too-small machine will just get jammed, and one that's too big is a lot of work that could just tire you out unnecessarily. Ours is just right!
3) Consider getting one with multiple speeds in forward and/or reverse. Ours has one forward speed and we must pull it to back up; this works fine for now but down the road it could be nice to be able to slow down when needed and not have to lug the thing backward (not getting any younger here).
4) Never, ever, ever! put your hand or any part of you in the auger. Even when it's off! Must remember this, even when a little fogged.
5) I really recommend a two-stage machine that does not require you to mix the gas and oil. More throwing power and less hassle, which is kind of the point of the machine in the first place, right?

Here's wishing everyone a good rest-of-the-winter!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Shoveling snow

MSSpouse, glad you reactivated this thread because I have an update. A large evergreen tree shades our driveway from the southern sun very effectively. If we get any snow at all, and don’t shovel it before we use the driveway, we end up with a glacial ice formation that won’t retreat until spring.

Fortunately, we have only had one “bad” snow so far this year. My definition of a “bad” snow is anything over 6 inches, 8 if it’s champagne powder. If we get a “really bad” snow, more than 8 inches, we try to shovel out each time it builds to 6 or 8 inches. “Digging out” occurs when it snows 12 inches or more. “Digging out” is generally an all day affair, especially if the snow is heavy and it just doesn’t stop, as is happening now.

Woke up this morning to 6”. By the time we got out to shovel it was up to 8". It was 10” when we finally finished. That was round one. There will at least be a round two and maybe a round three, as the storm is not forecast to end until tomorrow morning.

I don’t mind shoveling the snow, it gives me a good workout, but I am trying to make a deal with DW that when we can no longer do it by hand, we’ll look for a condo. I think we have quite a few more years of shoveling left though.

On couch patrol,
AMF

[AMFADVENTURES]

We ended up with about 20" of heavy, wet snow, more of a spring thing than a mid winter storm. Shoveled 3 times. The bike group is busy reconnoitering training, we were getting way too spoiled.

Been wondering how your broken foot turned out? Glad to hear you're hitting the slopes, was a little worried.

Go Giants!