How do you remove snow?

AbbysMom

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For those of you that deal with snow, how do you deal with it? Do you shovel, use a snow blower, plow or have someone take care of it for you?


We do a combination of snow blowing and shoveling. I am the shoveler and take care of the walkways and clean up after the snow blower and get some of the edges, etc.

The snow blower has an issue right now though. My husband was able to rig it to work yesterday, but with more snow on the way for Thursday we are a bit :eek:. :lol3: We clear an elderly neighbor's walk and driveway, so that would be an enormous amount of snow to shovel.
 

Winchester

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We shovel. And shovel. And then shovel. Our driveway is stoned, so a snow blower doesn't really work well. For the most part, if it's less than a foot of snow, we'll shovel it out (I used to say more than 7-8 inches, but Rick has gotten very stubborn in his old age and continues to shovel). Anything deeper than that and we'll call the plow-weenie to plow us out (at $40 a pop). Our driveway isn't overly long, but the top of the driveway is up the hill from the main road, so we have problems getting the vehicles up to the top sometimes. We'll usually shovel about a 10-foot swath up the driveway, and then shovel out enough room at the top of the driveway for both the truck and the car. We shovel Clarence out, too, so that when it's possible I can drive him back and forth (that way he gets driven several times through the winter months).

A couple of times Rick was in Oregon and we got some really nasty February snowstorms. I shoveled the driveway by myself and had to take a day's vacation from work to get it done. Cussing Mother Nature out the whole time, too. I just went out while it was still snowing so that I didn't have to shovel huge amounts at one time. But during the Presidents Day blizzard a few years ago, I gave up and called a friend to plow the driveway. There was no way I could move two feet of snow alone, not without killing myself. 

We usually shovel a wider driveway path at the beginning of winter and then it gets progressively narrower as winter continues. And I remember several years ago, we gave up. We were shoveling snow, it seemed, 3-4 times a week and it just got ridiculous. We said, "That's it, no more". Shoveled a path wide enough that we could walk up and down the driveway and shoveled out enough space for the vehicles at the bottom. And for quite a few weeks, we hauled groceries and everything else up that driveway. We had had it up to "here" by then. We're older now, though, and I doubt I'd make it down the driveway without falling....and that could be ugly, too.

So we are shovelers.

I hate snow.
 
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pinkdagger

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When I lived with my parents in a house, we shoveled. My dad bought a small electric snow blower a few years ago so he uses it when the snow is too high and he just needs to clear a path, but by and large we just shovel it all. In the morning it's usually a team effort to get us all to work on time, but after that whoever gets home first ends up shoveling, and we just take shifts a the snow keeps piling up.
 
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Willowy

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I have a big ol' snowblower for the driveway. But I honestly have a hard time controlling that thing so doing the sidewalks with it is hard. So mostly I shovel the sidewalks unless the snow is really deep or there's a big drift.

I have hired a plow guy a few times but only for really deep snow.
 
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di and bob

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We have a double wide driveway that doubles as a airplane runway, (it's that long, some people think it is another street!
  ) so my husband HAD to get a small tractor 
. I do admit though it has come in great when it's time to till the garden and even for just loading and carrying things like landscaping stone. He even uses the bucket to 'lift' things to the upper loft in the garage to store. Oh, and to dig holes with the post hole digger for fences and even trees!  So I guess that is one 'man toy' that was really needed!  We hand shovel the front sidewalk and our other sidewalks, I wouldn't want any more to shovel.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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I send my husband outside to shovel. 


Ok that's only because our kids have been too small to be left alone in the house during the last shovel-worthy storms.  But yes; we shovel by hand.  I usually sneak out and do the front walk or around the back door.
 

sivyaleah

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We finally broke down and bought a snow blower before this winter hit.  We'd been shoveling for several years but I'm in no condition any longer to help much, and I couldn't bare the sight of my BF, at his age, out there with a shovel in hand.  It's been great so far, much faster and easier.  

I still can't understand why he uses the shovel now and then but I guess when it's only a few inches, it isn't so difficult for him to throw to the side :D
 

twinkles21

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Usually the lazy way. Get in the car and drive over it until it's flat. 
 Every once in a while our neighbours across the street will get use of a bobcat and come in and clear our driveway. 
 

larussa

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If it's a light powdery snow, I just use a broom to push it away and it works.  If it's a heavier snow, I just give the shovel to my SO, I want nothing to do with shoveling.  I will clean off my car tho
 

cocheezie

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Shovel. Rest. Shovel. Rest. Shovel again after the plough goes by. Shovel again after the sidewalk plough goes by. If it's really deep or cold, I can sometimes get the kid to come over and do it. The drive is short and I park as close to the street as I can in the winter. We use the front door only in winter. Less shovelling. The trick is to only brush just enough snow off the car to see out the windows and get the car out onto the street as fast as possible. Then finish the brushing off. No sense brushing off all the snow in the driveway. That's basically moving the same snow twice. And if the plough goes by while I'm still shovelling, my car is stuck in the driveway making me late. I do see a snowblower in my future, once I can figure out where to store it in a place where it can't seen and obviously nicked.
 

jcat

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We shovel - for ourselves and for two elderly neighbors, so it takes forever. If it's deep, I use my Wovel.

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]
 

LTS3

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I live in a condo so part of the condo fee goes to snow removal by a professional crew


My parents' have a long narrow and steep (as in a hill that slopes down from the street) driveway and pretty big backyard/car parking area that takes forever to clear, even with a snow blower. I remember having to help shovel out the driveway and backyard with a shovel alongside my two brothers and it took at least 2 days to fully clear all the snow.
 

kittymomma1122

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Our neighborhood uses the barter system. Our neighbor plows our driveway. We let him use our trailer to haul his quads and we do yard clean up in the summer and fall with an industrial blower. We live in a very small subdivision.
 
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AbbysMom

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jcat jcat I thought of you and your wovel the other day! A local man has one and they had him on the news. Everyone was fascinated by it.
 

micknsnicks2mom

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right now i shovel all the snow off my driveway and from around the entrances to my house. however, this is my last year to do this heavy shoveling. i'm not that old now, 52, but shoveling snow can take it's toll and i'm only getting older each year. so i'm buying a brand new john deere gator with a wonderful hydrolic plow. i'm just waiting for the gator the dealer ordered to arrive there and the add-ons installed before it gets delivered to my house. i may even have it in time to use the plow this winter -- i should get it around mid march.
 

motoko9

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We shovel, and I have never even wished we had a snowblower until oh, about a week ago or so. Normally I even enjoy shoveling - it's a good way to get outside and exercise in bad weather - and try to help my neighbors, but this time around I barely have enough energy to clear my own driveway and paths. I'm glad I don't live alone; I think these last couple of storms would have been too much for me.
 

oceanbreathes

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Shovel, and our neighbor kindly helps out with his snowblower.  Home owner association/city does the plowing.
 

denice

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Best solution for removing snow: move to Florida!
I actually cope better with cold than heat, I get a sick headache when it is really warm.  If I were wealthy enough for two homes, one in Florida for winter and one in the mountains for the summer that would be great.  

I am back to renting an apartment so I don't have to deal with it.
 
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