Snow Wolf

Originally after buying this item, we didn't have snow for a while so I assumed like any great snow removal product, buying it ensured that we wouldn't have any snow this winter. Well I guess the honeymoon period is over - we got nailed with serious snow this past week.Having had horrible luck with snowblowers throughout my life, I finally gave in and bought one of these. I've had my eye on it for a few years, but already had a snowblower. When the snowblower broke during the first snow of the season, I finished shoveling, then marched inside and ordered this immediately. It's definitely a well-built tool. I expect it do well against some serious snow. It's intuitive to use and adjusts easily for any height. I'm 6'2" and found a comfortable setting. Putting it together is straightforward, but there's more to put together than you'd probably expect by looking at it. Probably because they fit it into a rather small box to ship considering its size. The wheel frame comes in two halves, which then require the rubber to be attached once the frame is together. The rest is pretty easy if you have a socket wrench set.After a few light snowfalls where the Snow Wolf didn't even flinch, I finally got some serious snow to test it out. So here's the deal... it works great - just like you see in the video. However, like all things - it has its limitations. The so-called "historic" blizzard that dumped over a foot of the light fluffy stuff was no problem. The snow wolf ate through that snow with little effort. It even helped in the hard-to-reach places where I could never get a snowblower before. It took me about a half hour to clear my whole driveway, walkway and steps. And no exhaust fumes! Pretty good. This morning, however, we got good blast of the heavy wet stuff with a nice ice/rain topping. The snow wolf would've worked, but my ability to push and toss large sections was greatly diminished, and it would have taken me much longer. I had to clear it up and get to work, so I gave the snowblower a try and it worked just long enough to clear the driveway. So the moral of the story is - the Snow Wolf is a great tool, but wet heavy snow is still wet heavy snow, and the Snow Wolf is still a shovel.All that said - I never expected to be able to move mountains with the Snow Wolf, so I'll leave it at 5 stars because it truly is the best evolution of the shovel that I've found. As long as you're realistic about what you try to clear with it, you'll be very happy. Aside from this one deep heavy snowfall, the Snow Wolf has handled anything else I've thrown at it. If I were inclined, I could probably have used it today too, but I was in a rush to get out. If I'm feeling athletic, I might try to back patio with it this afternoon when I'm home. Enjoy.

I am a user of the "Wovel" for a few seasons now. I purchased this unit after hearing from my sister that she bought one for her husband who has a fused back. I have back issues, as well. Prior to the "Wovel" purchase, I used a snow blower and shovel to move the snow. My complaint with this method was that the snow blower had to be prepped(gassed, oil checked, lubricated, started). After using the snowblower, I felt like I had wrestled this thing and it had won. Yes, the job was 90% done, but, now the slushy part where the driveway meets the road had to be done. The snowblower always jams up in this stuff, meaning you have to stop the engine and dig out the slush and re-start the motor. Usually, this has to be done more than once. Almost always, I resort to using the hand shovel to finish this section. Afterwards, I am "done for the day"!Well, along came this "Wovel". I used this unit along side the snowblower in the first year. I found that I could do my driveway and sidewalk along with 2 neighbors driveways and their sidewalks, in the time that I could only do my driveway and sidewalk with the snowblower. I also move the slushy stuff effortlessly. I felt more physically spent with the snowblower( I chalk this up to: turning the snow exit snout back and forth to direct the snow deposits, turning the two wheeled snowblower back and forth on the driveway, and refueling when the gas ran out).The greatest aspects of this "Wovel" are: you can direct move wet/heavy/slushy snow easily, all while depositing it where you want to deposit it(the snowblower method scatters the snow all over the place), no more use of petroleum products to do snow removal, no more noisy snowblower engine sound(I actually had conversations with neighbors while using the "Wovel"), quick snow removal, easy to store the unit.When it snows frequently, I found that this unit is better than the snowblower because I can deposit the snow and "stack it up" in areas that the snowblower cannot blow to.I highly recommend purchasing all of the accessories because you will not only use them but they protect the unit and enhance its performance. The wheels keep the snow shovel a little off of the driveway or walk surface and allow for quick, controlled rolling of the unit. The ice chipping blade is good for protection of the shovel edge if you run the shovel blade into a wall to stack up snow on the shovel(this ice blade sticks out in front of the shovel edge). New for 2010 is a plastic clip-on plate that extends the height of the bucket of the shovel. This allows more snow to be carried in the shovel. This is no problem, because alot of weight can be carried and moved in this unit with minimal effort(merely push down on the handles of the "Wovel" and the "see-saw"/fulcrum action takes the weight away).An interesting observation that you may encounter upon using one of these: As you use it, cars going by will slow down and people will stare at you in amazement. Many double-takes will occur. They know something good when they see it !! , but, they won't know "what" it is.Well, this is winter 2009/2010 and I have not used the snowblower once. I have adapted.(Don't wait, Buy it)