Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ben on January 10, 2022, 09:57:34 AM
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These snow shoveling related health injuries were surprising to me. It's USA Today, so I take some of it with a grain of salt. They do mention that it depends on your overall fitness related to your age.
I've only been shoveling snow for a few years now, but I find it an enjoyable change of pace from my regular workouts, and at my place it takes just about the same amount of time as I spend on "boxing/TRX workout" days, and to me, doesn't seem as hard as the workout. It certainly seems like smacking the MMA bag would be more likely to give me a heart attack than shoveling snow would.
Of course I don't really "shovel", I push the snow with a Manplow instead, and only bring out the shovel for corners and to move piles of snow if there are large accumulations. I also try not to let it get more than a few inches high before I shovel, even if that means doing it twice in a day. Even the wet snow goes fairly easy if I don't let it get too high. I also try to look at it as an activity instead of work. I don't rush it, and often stop for a minute here and there to look around or watch some wildlife or something.
Anyway, for myself I couldn't see giving up on it due to health risks at 45 let alone my current age of 62. It's just too much fun. :laugh:
https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/8632105002
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It's just too much fun. :laugh:
WTF is wrong with you. =D
I've been living in the snow belt for 47 years, probably forced to shovel at 7 or 8 years old as conscripted labor for my parents. So that means I'm close to 40 years of shoveling snow, there isn't anything fun about it any more. I've also had a snowblower for the last 20 or so years to do most of it, but it still sucks. I still need to hand shovel every where the snow blower can't get to and the back patio. We mostly get the wet heavy stuff here.
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Never been a big fan of shoveling snow, or snow in general, that crap is cold. And, the weather pretty much has to be cold for snow to be an issue, not a fan of cold.
In January of 2011 we had a what was for this are a major snow event. 2 blizzards 6 days apart. The first storm dropped about 14" of fairly heavy, wet snow and then the temps drop to single digits. At the time I was working nights for AT&T. My work van was just not capable of getting out of our lot. About 50' from my parking spot to the gate to enter the alleyway that the city hadn't cleared yet. My boss told me I would need to shovel it out so I could travel.
My question to her was: What part of having a middle aged office worker shoveling heavy snow, at night, alone, in sub-zero temperatures really sounded like a good idea to her?
It was 2 days later before the company got the lot cleared enough I could get out. 3 days later we got the 2nd of the storms, snow was deeper but not as wet. Boss didn't even suggest me shoveling it out.
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WTF is wrong with you. =D
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I might have a different opinion if I lived where you do. =)
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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I might have a different opinion if I lived where you do. =)
You're fortunate since you really don't have to go somewhere like work every day, so you can do snow removal on your own schedule.
All you need is one winter where it snows every 3-4 days of 8" of more snow for a 3-4 week period and doesn't melt until mid April. You start running out of room to put snow and even when it goes back to a normal snow event of once every 2 weeks for the rest of the winter you go all Jack Torrance at the sight of a single snowflake.
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. . . I've only been shoveling snow for a few years now, but I find it an enjoyable change of pace from my regular workouts . . .
WTF is wrong with you. =D
I've been living in the snow belt for 47 years, probably forced to shovel at 7 or 8 years old as conscripted labor for my parents. . . .
charby has the right of it and it sounds like his childhood and mine had something in common. I grew up in Chicago, grad school in Rochester, NY, worked in Minnesota for 17 years before moving to Central Texas, so I had 40 years in snow country.
Someone put his feelings about snow shoveling into words . . .
https://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/2606/The-Diary-Of-A-Snow-Shoveler
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I strained something in my left hip hiking the dunes. It was slowly getting better until this last snow we had. Did some shoveling of my moms and and her neighbors place and reinjured it ...
After over 50 years in the Midwest, shoveling isn't much of a novelty :lol:
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My preferred tool when I must move snow.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50899537803_98116e9b69_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kxPrgZ)
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You're fortunate since you really don't have to go somewhere like work every day, so you can do snow removal on your own schedule.
All you need is one winter where it snows every 3-4 days of 8" of more snow for a 3-4 week period and doesn't melt until mid April. You start running out of room to put snow and even when it goes back to a normal snow event of once every 2 weeks for the rest of the winter you go all Jack Torrance at the sight of a single snowflake.
I was actually expecting a lot more work when I first moved here. Late last FEB was the only time that I had so much snow piling up that I was ready to break out the tractor, but that was the last snow of the season, so weather took care of it.
I had also figured I would be using the loader bucket to clear my entrance road and stuff as well, but have not once done that. It's never gotten higher than a foot on my road (and usually only 4-5"), so I just drive right through it. I'm kinda bummed that I haven't had a need for the tractor yet. =)
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Be careful what you ask for ...
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Can we please explain more about the Manplow? This is the first I have heard of it. How does it compare to a conventional snow shovel?
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Can we please explain more about the Manplow? This is the first I have heard of it. How does it compare to a conventional snow shovel?
https://www.amazon.com/Manplow-PRO42-PRO-Snow-Pusher/dp/B01G3OO5MK/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1IQVA4C705RZE&keywords=manplow&qid=1641839568&sprefix=manplow%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-3
Pros: Much easier than a shovel (usually). The width lets you get done quickly. More comfortable to hold the bar and push than to hold a shovel handle.
Cons: If you have a rough surface, it can "snag" on protrusions. The replaceable blade will wear (I have a new blade coming today, actually). You either need some muscle, or with wet snow, you need to take smaller bites with the blade, because snow weight will add up quick.
I still end up needing a shovel in corners and tight spaces, but for quick and efficient manual snow removal on smooth surfaces, I'm sold.
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Anyway, for myself I couldn't see giving up on it due to health risks at 45 let alone my current age of 62. It's just too much fun. :laugh:
I will agree with you. When I lived in Spokane we seldom got big dumps of snow and what we did get was usually light powdery stuff. I actually enjoyed getting dressed and going out early when it was nice and quiet and shoveling the drive and sidewalks.
In 2008 and again in 2009 Spokane got a total of 100+ inches of snow each winter. I shoveled every bit of it by hand. That spring I bought a nice big snowblower on sale and it didn't snow like that again before we moved. After getting it my hand shoveling went down but my area of snow clearing expanded quite a bit. I would do a few blocks of sidewalks and several driveways for the neighbors.
We had snow here last winter, it dumped about 4 inches on us on the floor of the valley. The roads self cleared by 2pm and the snow was gone within 2 days. Now the most snow I see is on the mountains around us.
I do not miss snow.
bob
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I use a shovel only to clear a little in front of the door if needed. Once I get the barn doors open and the tractor warmed up I do all snow removal from the seat of a kubota grand L3010. 66” bucket up front and a 72” rear blade.
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I'm not a fan of snow, except in the mountain wilderness. (It's pretty there, and nobody has to shovel it.) But shoveling snow is about the only exercise I get in the winter and it is pretty good exercise. I take it slow enough to raise my heart rate a little but not get out of breath. If I get too cold before the job is finished, I go in the house and get some coffee, then get back to it after I'm warmed up.
Sometimes if the snow is sticky I have to wax or grease the shovel so I don't throw my back out, pitch a shovelful and it stays on the shovel and tries to pull me forward. Paste wax works pretty well, but last time I used a thin film of Crisco shortening and that seemed to work better.
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NO. Just NO! Glad to be away from it...
My wife, Terri, shoveling the walkway/driveway at our house in Staunton, VA because I couldn't.
(http://herohog.com/images/family/Terri/091219-snow-07.jpg)
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My favorite method of snow removal is patients. I wait on the Sun. [popcorn]
The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.
Woody
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NO. Just NO! Glad to be away from it...
My wife, Terri, shoveling the walkway/driveway at our house in Staunton, VA because I couldn't.
(http://herohog.com/images/family/Terri/091219-snow-07.jpg)
Was that 2010? Big one for Christmas. I live an hour west of Staunton so when it snows we get around but the roads go potato in a hurry.
As the only person in the household over 45 I think I will print this study out so the younger women there can better assist me in staying healthy.
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Was that 2010? Big one for Christmas. I live an hour west of Staunton so when it snows we get around but the roads go potato in a hurry.
As the only person in the household over 45 I think I will print this study out so the younger women there can better assist me in staying healthy.
2009 at the latest. That's when we headed back South to Louisiana.
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Lot's of snow shoveling hate here! :laugh:
I may change my mind in the future, but I like shoveling in the Winter 10X more than lawn mowing (power push mower) in the Summer.
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I'm saddened that so many people over 45 are unable to preform some manual labor without inquiry. Throughout history, famine and disease were constant threats to humans. Now, it seems that obesity and sedentary lifestyles are! Food is so abundant, and so little is physically required from most that we eat ourselves to death.
Because yea, shoveling sucks. When I moved out of the city, I decided I needed a better snow solution for our driveway.
I found a non-running plow truck for sale...
(https://imgur.com/KniC7LN.png)
Grafted that plow onto my truck...
(https://imgur.com/RBHgEiF.png)
And now I deal with snow from my heated cab!
(https://imgur.com/q0EqzXs.png)
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Hey, could you use some help with those bags of ice melt, after I run the five gallon buckets of hydraulic fluid out to the truck? No, I'll take two at a time - I can balance easier...
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My father was shoveling some snow and ice off the back patio so that the heating oil people could get to the fill tube without killing themselves. He picked up some ice and it shifted on the shovel and torqued his arm in just the right way to cause a full avulsion fracture of one of the ligaments in his elbow. He had to have surgery to reattach it.
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"Was that 2010? Big one for Christmas. I live an hour west of Staunton so when it snows we get around but the roads go potato in a hurry."
Christmas 2010 we didn't have much in the way of snow.
Christmas 2009? That was the first of our two 20+ inch snowfalls that winter.
I had to postpone my trip to my Mom's for a couple of days because of that storm. IIRC 23 inches at my house in Fairfax.
The next one that season was in February. And additional 20+ inches, and 3 days later ANOTHER 10 inches on top of it.
That was the winter that finally broke my brain snow wise.
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I have a friend who lives about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester.
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At the end of January, 1982, we had "thundersnow" that left a 4.5' drift in my driveway behind my '82 Toyota 4WD longbed. It took me almost 4 hours to be able to get my truck out, then I went to the rental place in town and got a 8 hp 2 stage blower with 5 fwd speeds and 2 reverse. The mouth was about 24" x24" with driftcutter bars sticking up another foot.
After using it to clean out my driveway, I did the same for 4 other neighbors as I wanted to get as much use out of it before I had to return it.
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By my mid-forties, I had got back down to my fighting trim of around 165. Snow shoveling (lucky me) was not much of a problem. But then I rented a house on a corner lot, and that was a real annoyance with two sidewalks to clear.
(I recently broke 200 pounds going downward. Sure is easy to gain it.)
Only other time I had trouble was when the plow cleared the parking lot at my present Senior Apartment and left a pile in front of my car. That was more than a mere annoyance, and I advised them of the problem, nicely, and now they kind of shift it off to the side.
Still, if there's snow due, I park it heading out so the rear wheels will have ten or twelve feet of dry surface to grab onto to power out if I have to, or need to rock it back and forth.
I kind of plan things out now, supply-wise, and let the sun clear off my car. "Facing out" means facing south so the sun has a good chance to warm up the windshield and interior.
Also, the two parking spots to my east are visitor's spots, so the morning sun usually has a chance to hit my left windows so the snow slides off.
I haven't used the supermarket delivery service, but it's an option if needed.
Terry, 230RN
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When I took the pic I posted above I spent about 3 hours moving snow to clear my driveway and the neighbors drive so we could get to the county road.
I put the tractor away about 1/2 an hour before sunset and went into the house to start getting ready for work. The county came along plowing the roads and pushed a 3' berm of ice and snow across my driveway. :facepalm:
I just pushed through it in my 4X4 Cherokee, took 3 attempts and it was damned annoying.
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"Was that 2010? Big one for Christmas. I live an hour west of Staunton so when it snows we get around but the roads go potato in a hurry."
Christmas 2010 we didn't have much in the way of snow.
Christmas 2009? That was the first of our two 20+ inch snowfalls that winter.
I had to postpone my trip to my Mom's for a couple of days because of that storm. IIRC 23 inches at my house in Fairfax.
The next one that season was in February. And additional 20+ inches, and 3 days later ANOTHER 10 inches on top of it.
That was the winter that finally broke my brain snow wise.
Maybe it was 09 then. I just remember a pretty ridiculous trip with a small child who took it well considering. Means she was two then.
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I lost my job in 09 due to my disabilities and we left the state through that mess. Not a happy time. Well remember it.
Headed to Louisiana with our cat, Lil' Blue:
(http://herohog.com/images/pets/Lil%20Blue/Lil%27%20Blue.jpg)
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Out at the lake, we have about 100 yards of driveway from the house to the generally not plowed road. With a foot on it, that takes a bit. Then the hill up to the machine shop is probably 150 yards. Sometimes it is just easier to walk through the woods.
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My parking lot is shaped like an L. I park on the first spot on the bottom of the L, which means that when the plow trucks come they leave one hell of a lot of snow behind my car. They generally do their best to mitigate that as much as possible, but it's inevitable that if we get a lot of snow I'm going to be digging to get my car out. I don't like it, but life is life. You deal.
One of the residents in my community (I've mentioned his wife before, she's a horrendous bitch, and he's not better), parks on a section where the plows leave a snow V beside his car. Usually not much, maybe a foot wide and a foot high if we have a lot of snow. Plows shed snow. That's a given. A good plow operator can minimize that, and we had a good plow guy.
A few years ago he sent the board a note absolutely losing his *expletive deleted*it about his car "being plowed in!" and what were we, the board, going to do about it.
So, next relatively big snow that year (we had a lot of snow that year) I monitor his car and the plowing and take pictures.
At no point was his car ever plowed in, he could have easily driven through the snow V and gotten out.
He sends the inevitable note, this time losing his *expletive deleted*it even worse.
So, I send him a response, with the pictures I took of his car, explaining how plows work.
But I offered him a solution... I told him I was more than willing to come down and dig his car out if he would extend the same courtesy to me... and I attached a picture of my Subaru with a 4 foot wide, 2 foot deep bank of snow behind it.
Never heard from him on the subject again.