The day of breaking your back shoveling snow is a thing of the past. Your father, and fathers, and fathers father, all used antiqued shovels and laborious hours to clear the driveway. But its 2011 and the times have changed. Not only do we have better shovels, but the age of the internet has spurred many rich and prosperous ideas to rid your property of snow. Although snow removal will always be somewhat intense, there are some helpful hints you can use to save your back a lifetime of pain. However, it is really common that people that work with shovels constantly face back problem issues. You can visit New York Pain Management Doctors treating back pain that will guide you how you can avoid such spinal problems. Besides that, here are some tips that you can follow to avoid back pain as you use shovel.
One of the mistakes people make is by hiring a snowplow. This isn’t a bad idea. However, as a former snowplow driver myself, I can tell you it’s financially better to flag down a plow truck than it is to hire one. As a hired truck driver, I would charge $35 per driveway, and come back every 3 inches. However, many times during my time out, I would often get flagged down and be offered $20 for a quick sweep of a person driveway. As a consumer, it’s in your best interest to wait until the snowstorm is on its last leg and flag down a snowplow truck for $20.00. However, don’t take it personally if a truck or two ignore you. State hired trucks will not stop. You’ve got to flag down a truck that is doing driveways and not streets.
If you can’t wave down a snowplow truck, you still have a few options. Walk into any Loews or Home Depot. Department stores or large retail chain stores only carry a limited number of shovels. However, the large do-it-yourself stores usually carry a large assortment of shovels. Try purchasing a push shovel. These shovels are basically walking snowplows. They’re shaped so that little to no bending is warranted. And all you do it push the shovel into the snow, as a snowplow would. When you get to the area where you want to put the snow, forget about picking it up and dumping it. What you do is tip the shovel handle all the way up, and then give a hefty kick to the bottom. This impact will crush the snow together and it will not fall from its place. The negative part is that any snow over 3 or 4 inches, it could be difficult to move it. And for the wet heavy snow, it’s best that you don’t allow it to accumulate over 2 inches. This may take going out every hour, but its better than a lifetime of back pain.
One of the worst parts of a winter storm isn’t shoveling out your driveway. It’s dealing with the dreaded snow berm. This is the pile of snow at the end of your driveway that plows leave after they run the streets. These berms are often full of ice, salt, and sand. Although most berms will require some shoveling, due to their size, there is one tip you can use to reduce the labor. Your car. People forget that your car is a great tool for keeping your driveway and the snow berms clear. If you take your car out of the driveway every two hours, this will greatly reduce the amount of shoveling you have to do. The trick to drive your car over all the snow in your driveway, resulting in crushed snow. It typically takes 5 minutes to drive your vehicle back and forth over the snow.
Lastly, I don’t use this often, but when I’m in a jam it always works. Hot water. Boiling hot water will quickly melt down snow in your driveway and large snow berms. Immediately after you use the water though, you must throw down some salt. Ice can be just as much a problem to deal with. However, it’s a quick easy solution when you need to get somewhere quick.
Using these tips and techniques, you should be able to save your spine and walk upright for a few more years.
