Snow Wolf 2351070 Gravel Wheels Accessory

ORIGINAL REVIEW, 2012: Well, as others here have noted, the push-on nuts are not nearly secure enough for a rugged gravel area, and do not suffice to keep the wheels on. It hasn't snowed since I bought my Snow Wolf (but it will very soon) however, even in the process of assembling the gravel wheel bracket and shaft, the nuts will work their way loose. Taking a hint from liberal warrior's review here, I decided not to wait for a snow to force my hand.I used an M6 die (in a die wrench, with a portable table vice to keep the shaft still) and threaded the ends of the shaft, then used flat washers and nylock nuts to secure the wheels to the bracket. I'll try to remember to update my review in a month or so, after I've put it all to use!UPDATED, 2/6/2014: So, again last year, there was not enough snow to get an authentic feel of the Snow Wolf and the gravel wheels accessory unit, nor make a judgment on its capacity and functionality. That has all changed this year! Only yesterday I removed a lot of snow, and not just any old snow either. Visualize 5" of heavy snow with the top 1/4" of it being an ice crust. The driveway itself is uphill at a steady medium incline, 140 feet long. At the bottom-- the garage is in the rear of the house-- is a level turn around area of about 20'x 20'square, which also needed to be cleared.The entire unit worked well enough, even more so once my clumsiness with it lessened and I got the hang of the motion. The wheel assembly hung in there great, and the modification I made (per liberal warrior's review from a couple of years earlier) held up perfectly. Also, as another reviewer noted, there is more than one way to attach the wheel shaft bracket to the shovel blade. The way I have it mounted, it left a mere 1/4" to 1/2" layer of snow on the gravel, enough to see the grass in places where it had grown through and to see the tips of the gravel (limestone B) without digging the surface up or dragging my efforts. I only got "stuck" once or twice in all of that, and it's mainly because I haven't had a fresh dumping of gravel on this driveway in about six years, so the surface is very uneven and gets a lot of weeds in spots during the warmer months. (Yes, shame on me.)Bottom line, now that I've used it in some of the worst conditions I will get, I can happily recommend this unit and the gravel wheel attachment to anyone who is pondering the purchase. Just be aware it will take some tinkering to get the wheels mounted just right for your needs, and that the push-on (hammer/tap on) end caps may indeed fall off. But if you can get someone to put threads on the shaft (or take it to a real hardware store and ask them to do it) then you'll be sooo thankful the next time you have to get rid of all that white stuff.I wish I could put the picture up I took of the finished driveway yesterday, but I see only a tab for a video review. Forget that.

Using the Sno Wovel on a gravel driveway is a pain without these wheels. The wheel bracket can be attached to the frame in 4 different configurations (bracket on front or back of frame; wheels forward or backwards of bracket attachment). The position that has the wheels furthest back results in a higher shovel edge, and wheels positioned forward results in a lower shovel front edge.Update: 1/30/2019: I still have and use what they now call the Snow Wolf. I used if for the last 8 years...and the wheels have stayed on all this time without a problem!!! I don't remember if I had those nylon self locking nuts....good if you ever wanted to take them off, or just regular nuts that have rusted on. No matter. They work and my snow wolf is still being used to shovel my long gravel driveway. Good exercise...and not tough on your back.As others have noted...there is an issue with the press-on nuts that hold the wheels on the metal bar that functions as an axle. If you are shoveling 4 inches of light fluffy snow...no problem. However, with 8 inches of heavy stuff one morning...both wheels eventually came off. After the first came off...I took the metal bar axle down to my basement...held it in a vise and proceeded to use a die on it to put threads on one end (I believe it was 1/4 in diameter). There was an extra nut that came with the Wovel and I used that. I did not do the other side at that time as I have a long driveway and figured I would need another break from shoveling with the Wovel before my driveway was done. Sure enough, 30 minutes later the other wheel came off. I had to fine another 1/4 inch thread size nut in my stash...I did and proceeded to cut the threads and was soon back to work. I will add that the threaded nuts hold a LOT BETTER than the press on nuts that come with these wheels. Maybe some day Wovel will wake up to this issue!!!

These work well but I gave it a 3 star because the wheel caps that are supposed to keep the wheels on the bar are flimsy. This is such a high quality shovel and the rest of the parts to this attachment is high quality I don't understand why the wheel caps are so flimsy. Before you put them on drill a hole in the rod on each end and put the wheels on then put a cotter pin in the hole to keep the wheels in place. This fixes the problem of wheels staying on. This solution works perfectly. Used this all winter in heavy wet snow up to 1 ft deep. They never came off. I made them 5 star.

We have a limestone gravel driveway and turn-around area between our house and garage. The wheel accessory helps keep the Sno Wovel from digging into the gravel -IF- I flip the wheel assembly before attaching it. Which means I install it upside down (front to back) from the standard position. This helps the wheels raise the edge of the shovel off the ground sufficiently for it to pass above most of our gravel. It will leave 1 to 2 inches of snow cover, which is fine with me. Thank you for a product that, so far, is performing as advertised.

After I put 1/4 inch threads on each end of the axel and screwed a locking nut on these threads it was useable. Without my modification the wheels would fall off with those dumb press on nuts which were useless. Now I'm just waiting for the snow so I can try the whole contraption out. If it works like on your video without giving me a sore back I'll be satisfied.

I do like the snow wolf. It takes a load off my back and is easy to use. On flat concrete it's just great. Not so good on a gravel based road. The wheels help, but for me it is awkward to use.

Excellent product. Easy to install. The wheels will make the shovel last a lot longer for gravel or pavement. Unlike some of the reviews, my wheels did not fall off. I mounted the wheels upside down so as to leave about 2" of snow, which the sun melted .

The addition of these wheels to the wovel really helps to glide through snow and adds some stability in handling...I'm glad I purchased this even though we still have trouble with the actual use of the wovel. Haven't had any issues with loss of nuts, bolts or wheels as in some reviews.