When Your Old Shovel Isn't Tough Enough, High-Tech Gear Is Easy On Driveway, Joints
The makers of the Snow Joe, the Sno-Thro, the SnoBoss, the Sno Wovel and a bevy of other products say clearing snow off the driveway doesn't have to be so darn hard.
From shovels and snowblowers to self-melting walkways, the latest ergonomic and low-maintenance gear is designed to ease consumer's backs and joints, be less taxing on the heart and less stressful to operate. Strong sales and heavy snowfall since Christmas have sent Toro Co. back into production for its plug-and-play electric snowblowers and its "Power Shovel," a $100 motorized vacuum-like device that sucks up and spits snow away, no lifting required.
"With a lawn mower, if it doesn't start you can put off cutting your grass," says Toro's Matt Medden, senior marketing director. "But if a snowblower doesn't start, you're late for work."
Home Depot Inc. says December sales of snow products were up double-digits at the retailer over the previous year, including strong demand for gas snowblowers with electric start buttons (no yanking cords in the cold) and heated hand grips. The company projects similar growth for January.
Removing snow safely is of mounting concern, particularly to the 76 million aging baby boomers. Shoveling snow places extraordinary demands on the cardiovascular system, raising heart rates to dangerous levels after only two minutes, and risks injury to soft tissue, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. One culprit: non-ergonomic shovels, the study finds.
For 75-year-old Walter Bearse, clearing snow off the driveway is a matter of pride. "I'm strong as an ox," he crows.
But recently Mr. Bearse's sons have been hounding dad to drop the shovel and invest in equipment less taxing on his heart and body. So he bought a $200 electric Snow Joe snowblower—it starts with the push of a button—and used it to clear his Toms River, N.J., property of more than two feet of winter mess left by recent storms.
The verdict: "I found out there's an easy way of doing this," says Mr. Bearse, a former butcher and turnpike toll collector.
Joseph Cohen, CEO of Snow Joe LLC, said sales of both electric shovels and snowblowers are up 30% over last year.
One pitfall with some machines: the cord. Jon Hoch, who runs snowblowersdirect.com, notes that using extension cords in winter presents challenges. "It can freeze up, and trying to uncoil it is hard," he says. "But the bigger challenge is you are like a dog on a leash."
For those wanting to get unplugged, new this winter is the $1,499 battery-powered AMP Sno-Thro from Ariens Co. Fully charged, the snowblower handles snow up to 10-inches deep and runs for about an hour, the company says. Plus, there's no gasoline, oil or spark plugs involved, a selling point "for people heading to work who don't want fumes on clothing," says Ariens spokeswoman Ann Stilp.
Even the humble snow shovel has evolved. Today, many models are designed with deep scoops crafted from light polyethylene and curved handles for less back strain. Also popular: snow sleighs or "pushers" that can move large amounts of light, fluffy snow without lifting and tossing.
Take Ames True Temper's SnoBoss shovel, a deep dish, dual-handled device designed to push or shovel snow with less exertion. While the company has been making shovels, scoops and ice scrapers for the past century, the SnoBoss is its "most successful snow tool, period," says Joe Saffron, director of marketing and product development.
Barbara Krashnak of Mountain Top, Pa., recently bought seven $35 SnoBoss shovels—three for herself and four to give as gifts. The 68-year-old, who lives alone, says she has a gas-powered snowblower but finds it to be a "big pain in the neck" to operate. With a regular shovel, it took hours to clear her 200-foot long driveway. The SnoBoss, she says, accomplished the same task in 30 minutes. "I like to shovel, but as you get older, you get tireder."
For digging out the car, Ames True Temper just rolled out its AutoBoss, a two-pound folding yellow scoop with multiple hand positions that collapses to 13-inches and fits in a trunk. Oxo, the company known for ergonomic can openers and graters, this fall introduced a snow brush for cars that has an extension handle and rotating head.
And by month's end, Structured Solutions II LLC expects to be sold out of its $120 Sno Wovel—a shovel that uses a large wheel as a fulcrum to reduce body and heart stress.
For those wanting the true no-sweat route, self-melting driveways are a hot option these days. "You could call it a luxury item," says Bryan Morris, sales manager of Warmzone Management LLC of Salt Lake City, which sells the systems.
In a typical design, cables or tubing lie under the driveway and sidewalk and are heated by electricity or hot water. A typical setup costs between $14 to $24 a square foot to tear up an existing driveway and install a system. So a 500-square foot heated driveway would cost from $7,000 to $12,000 to install and about $1.85 an hour for the average homeowner in the Northeast to operate, Mr. Morris says.
Richard Silverstein of Chappaqua, N.Y., says he paid a "couple of hundred thousand dollars" to rip up his home's steep 8,000-square-foot driveway, the walkways and outdoor hot tub to install a Warmzone system. The 60-year-old neuro-ophthalmologist, who works out of his house, says he was concerned that patients and visitors might hurt themselves and wanted to be "stress free" during the winter.
Temperature and moisture sensors turn the system on automatically when it snows. "It looks like there was a blizzard all over—except where I live," says Mr. Silverstein, who used to depend on an armada of plows and snowblowers to clear his property.
"Now I go to sleep and watch TV and don't think about it."
Those craving cheaper alternatives sometimes turn to electric stair and walkway mats, such as those sold by HeatTrak LLC of Patterson, N.J. The stair mats ($39.95 per tread), and walkway mats ($99.95 per five-foot swath) connect with cords but have shut-off protection if punctured.
Now is when outdoor tool merchants typically turn to warmer weather products, but many are mindful of last year's pre-Valentine's Day "Snowmageddon" blizzard. Says Ames True Temper's Mr. Saffron: "We could be chasing snow into February."
