Sno Wovel
As a Montrealer who has shoveled more snow than you can shake a very big stick at, I was intrigued when I first came across a video of this wheeled shovel in action. I live in the suburbs south of Montreal, on a street where there's a popular bus route; the snow plow can pass my house several times a day during heavy snow falls, repeatedly depositing a compacted mound of snow in my driveway entrance.
I bought a Wovel, and what was once a dreaded exercise in futility has now become a looked forward to workout! Thanks to the Wovel's design, all the snow's weight gets transferred to my arms and legs. The fulcrum at the center of the big wheel effectively allows the Wovel to do the heavy lifting for me. After becoming proficient in its use, I was able to master the natural seesaw action and launch the snow surprisingly high. Now, after a season and a half of use, I can consistently build snow banks up to five feet high. It's like having my own little nonnmotorized bulldozer.
I've been using mine to shovel my walk/driveway as well as my neighbor's for more than a year, and I’ve been beating the crap out of the thing. It won't quit. It’s made from a thick-gauge steel and is covered by a lifetime warranty. What was once about an hour of back-breaking work has been cut down to about 20 minutes, which makes this purchase one of the best expenditures I have ever made.
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by Structured Solutions II
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A cool tool is anything useful that is superior to comparable items. If you think this tool is inferior suggest a better one. You are welcome to insult a tool, but comments containing insults to individual people will be deleted. Corrections of fact are always welcomed, if stated politely. Recommendations of better tools are dearly wanted and may be elevated to the front page.
sasha Lawer
btw... i bought one last year and love it too.. but that is an older model you are showing on your site.. the new one isnt quite so geeky.. less so...still hard to say one looks cool using it, but I agree, it works great...
Russ
How is it at scraping up snow that has been compacted, and/or thawed/refrozen? You know, the kind where you are usually having to jam the shovel into the pavement to break it up?
Wm. Beasley
I live near Cleveland, Ohio and have been using one of these for two years now. I love it. It doesn't scrape an irregular surface quite as clean as a shovel because it has a wider blade, but it dramatically reduces the time and effort needed to get the job done. In response to Russ's question, _nothing_ works well on compacted/refrozen material... I did add a metal strip to the front of the Wovel blade, and that helps a bit with the icy bits. (One note -- it's long enough that it does not maneuver well in tight spaces; I still need a shovel for the small parts.)
Billy Zavos
I have to disagree with Mr. Beasley's assessment here: the best way to get rid of compacted snow/ice is to lift the wovel handle to the point where the wheel isn't touching the ground anymore and all the shovel's weight is on the blade.
As soon as you find a weak /open spot in the compacted snow and ice you'll find that it tears through the stuff quite handily using the technique mentioned above.
Also I suggest NOT buying the blade attachment. I've found, as with most plastic bladed shovels, that normal wear makes the blade sharper and thus better. If any serious cracks appear you can always buy a replacement blade. I've beaten the crap put of mine and no cracks yet.
Robert
@ Beasley: Get ready to break that bad boy out tonight...
brad
This really looks awesome, and perfect for my needs. I also live in Montreal, and our snowbird neighbours allow us to use their driveway in winter (we don't have our own driveway or garage), in exchange for keeping their walkway and driveway clear of snow. We thought that sounded like a good deal until we got 11 feet of snow the first winter in our house, after a long stretch of winters with below-normal snowfall. Shoveling out the driveway by hand after a decent storm takes two hours; it looks like one of these Wovels would make much shorter work of it.
Billy, I assume you got yours at Home Depot? It looks like they're the only dealer in Canada.
Oliver Holloway
I have owned this device for three years. It is outstanding.
I live in Michigan, with a driveway that is two cars wide and three cars long, and the Wovel lets me clear it in the same time as the guy across the street who uses a medium-sized blower. Light snow, heavy snow, wet, dry, whatever.
In my humble opinion, the primary benefits are two: first, my back is never sore after moving snow; second, it's pollution-free, baby, gotta love it.
The company is very responsive - when I called to complain that the blade broke under relatively low stress, they sent me a new one, no questions asked.
If your driveway surface is dirt or gravel or otherwise severely irregular, get the attachment with the little wheels that keep the blade a bit up from the ground.
If I have a regret, it is that this darn thing is so well-built that I can't yet justify buying the new model :)
SteveO
It appears that Canadians can now order it directly from the manufacturer's website and have it shipped to Canada:
http://www.wovel.com/Home/ShippingRate.aspx
walkerp
Want!
CareForAPint
I live in Virginia and I just ordered one. I was supposed to get it before the 20-30" hit, but the shipping company called back all their trucks before I could get mine. I'm very excited about this! I have a friend in Cleveland that has used one for years and loves it. I can't wait until mine arrives!
Billy zavos
@brad: I bought of the Home Depot online- I'm not sure that any of the retail stores have it in stock.
As mentioned above, it may now be cheaper to order directly from the manufacturer-- not to mention the fact that you'd get the latest model --which is collapsible-- A HUGE bonus when it comes to storing the thing.
Shop around and see what best suits your needs.
nipsip
You can buy a used single stage 3-3.5hp snow blower for ~$200.
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/grd/1591976125.html
PGrainger
I bought one of these last week based on the recommendations I saw on this site and elsewhere. I used it for about 1 hour and was loving it. Then the plastic wheel snapped in half. I felt like that plastic wheel was pretty lame when I was assembling the unit. The rest of the frame is strong steel. Why would they make the wheel plastic?!?
elon
@PGrainger:
Sorry to hear that. Please keep us posted as to how good the manufacturer is at honoring the warranty. I hope it gets fixed and returned quickly. --es
knickerbocker
Just bought one based on this site's recommendation and it is awesome. I might also add that the instructions are weak, so I'd recommend a careful examination of all parts before assembly. They take a completely visual approach to the assembly instructions, though it does come with a DVD that has a partial explanation. My opinion is that it is well-made and should last for years. I also think this will revolutionize snow removal.