A few weeks ago I wrote a column about my love for snow removal. In it I pontificated on scraping, scooping, sliding and shredding with my 2-foot plastic blade.

My lightweight snow shovel fits and suits me. Finding the right implement is crucial. Metal ones can be too heavy. A metal tip or blade can stick and stop you cold. You want a combination of light and strong. Mine’s perfect. Or so I thought.

I looked online for snow removal innovations and the most interesting thing I found was a Japanese-made robot that ate snow and shat ice bricks. Now that is real breakthrough technology but not coming to Murdoch’s any time soon.

Little did I know that a “Shovelution” had taken place right here in the USA..

I was contacted by inventor Howie Rosenshine about a revolutionary shovel breakthrough called the Shovelution. This simple apparatus attaches to almost any snow shovel and makes the job a lot easier.

I told Howie I’d be glad to honestly evaluate his product. If it sucked I’d have to tell my readers.

He sent two Shovelution attachments. I kept one and gave one to a friend with a sensitive back.

I have to say that Howie really cracked it out of the park with the Shovelution. He describes his product as “a spring-loaded, ergonomic shovel handle attachment that attaches easily to any straight-shaft shovel, or similar implement.”

I hooked this bad boy right onto my shovel shaft. It really was simple and took only about five minutes to strap it on. The materials are relatively Steve-proof. I can break anything, but so far I have not destroyed the Shovelution. It’s bomber.

You grab the extra handle with your left hand and you don’t have to bend over to fling snow. It’s that simple. A springy bar thingie with a handle on it makes it so you don’t have to bend over. Thanks to the Shovelution my bending over days are behind me.

The Shovelution saves energy, too. You’d be amazed how so much bending over wears you out. Now that I’m not bending over all the time I have all kinds of extra energy for playing with the dog and even hanky-panky when I get the chance. This thing has improved my love life!

Must be the spring, taking the edge off.

Howie explains it best:

“The spring absorbs the kinetic energy left over after my throw and returns it back to the starting position,” he explains in his demo video.

The video is classic. It features colorful commentary from Howie as he whips heavy snow around like an Austrian. At one point he is seen scooping up 7-inches of icy glop and flinging it over his head backwards and off the deck. Good thing no one was walking by because Howie might have knocked them out with his rapid fire flying ice scoops.

My first test of the Shovelution was right here in Fraser on about six inches of old, crusted snow. This was nowhere near as heavy as the stuff that Howie was slinging over his head but It was the kind of snow that makes you wish you had cleared it right after it fell.

I got to work. Getting the hang of it was no big thing. It’s ergonomic. Working with the new handle is a piece of cake. I was done with the deck and the walkway and the path to the woodpile and was considering shoveling off the entire experimental forest before I decided it was time for a beer.

Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations or silly knock offs. I think the shovels you see with the curved shafts are based on the Shovelution concept. But they do not have the spring-back action that you get from the steel band on the Shovelution.

Google Shovelution and watch the video. You’ll be mowing down the snow banks all over the neighborhood lickety-split.

I even thought of a jingle. Sing to the tune of “Revolution” by the Beatles.

You say you want a Shovelution well you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s Shovelution
We all want to change the world

 

OK, the jingle sucks but try to get it out of your mind.

 

Steve Skinner finds this new technology Shovelutionary. Reach him at nigel@sopris.net.