WEBlue

I need to research a snowblower (or snow thrower?) that will be very easy for a smallish woman to operate. This is not me, BTW, though I am interested in the possibilities for a possible future time when I do need such a thing.

This is an elderly relative who's in pretty good shape physically except for not much arm strength. She really needs a snow remover tool that's easy to turn on/off and doesn't require a lot of strength to do the job.

Someone recommended the Toro Power Shovel Plus, which looks likely. It's not perfect for huge snowfalls, but might work for my relative. Any thoughts?


http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-b...shovel-38361-0

sir_eccles

Give her a $20 bill and the cell number of a local teenager.

WEBlue

Yeh, everybody tells her this.

But she says it won't work, as the few local teens are not very motivated, and the only people who do the job charge "an arm & a leg" (her words) for what is a very minimal drive and walkway.

She wants especially to clear her (small) patio, so that she can keep her bird feeders filled. (The birds really empty it fast in the snow.) She's managing on her own with a shovel, but I'd like to get her something that doesn't tire her out....

Speedwell

The Texan says "No".

Rete

I agree with her. It costs me $40 to have my parking space cleared from our apartment parking lot. Being a tenant and not an owner, the plow will not do my space only adds to the pile already there.

WEBlue

This is about what she is charged too. (Is this the bare minimum for the snowplow guys to roll out of bed?) She calls it outright robbery. She says the plowers do a sloppy minimal job, and she's still left to do the patio on her own.

Rete

Sorry but it is with a shovel and not a plow. I looked on the internet and there are several small electric snowblowers/throwers out there that will do the job for her and they were going for under $200. Only issue is that they need to be plugged in to work if you want the small one and a light one. One was under 25 lbs.

Bob

They tend to burn out pretty quickly too.

The one linked at the top only does a foot widths, so it would probably be about the same time to do it by hand with a metal scoop...but not be as safe. This is probably more aimed at clearing the snow off a balcony deck kind of thing. Would be easy to start though.

http://is.gd/AJNmvC

Might be over kill and it's still electric, but it's $20 more and would be a lot easier to use I'd imagine....that and those shovel/trimmer style ones just don't seem to last very long at all.

Boomhauer

We have a gas one. It will start with a pull start or plugged into an eletrical outlet. I wouldn't recommend it for an elderly person, infact any decent gas snowblower would be a bit much for the average elderly person (over 70 years of age).

Gas ones, atleast the ones I have used are tempermental, they start sometime and other times refuse to do so. Then there is all the fiddling with the choke and engine speed .

Probably best to get a heavy electric one with motorised wheels and one where each wheel rotates independent of the other. If you don't get a heavy unit, as you push the blower forward, it will simply raise its front end up and want to ride over the snow (assuming you have more than a light flurry of snow and have to contend with ice too).

Pulaski

I fear that all blowers are either heavy and temperamental, or lighter, ineffective, and not robust enough to last. My experience is that often what is left behind from shoveling snow is more slippery than the snow was before, so I wonder if boots, possibly "improved" by some strap-on/ stretch-on ice cleats might be the easiest and safest way to cross the patio to feed the birds? Maybe even a pair of snow shoes if she gets snow deep enough and often enough?

Bob

Problem with leaving the snow, it crusts and that stuff is really slippery and really sharp. You don't want that. Plus you get a hot day and some of it starts to melt, it pools up and makes a ice rink in the morning.

You shovel to the ground and grit/salt what you can't clear.

Casual Observer

This has also been my experience but I do not want to go off topic.

Lion in Winter

Well we made it to post #12 before that happened.

BE must be slipping...

WEBlue

Thanks for the input, everyone.

We may have to rethink this. I thought someone here might have found the perfect snow-clearing implement for an older smaller person, but seems not.

She has one of those ergonomic shovels with the long curvy handle. And she actually already has snowshoes and some of those stretchy rubber ice cleats. She likes to tramp in the woods year round so she's pretty savvy about snow.

She just hates waiting around all morning for someone else to come deal (for a price) with the white stuff around her place--she'd love to do it herself.

Nutek