DIY snow shovel - overview, features, types and reviews

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Snow shovel - a tool in the winter in a country house, of course, necessary. With the help of such a device, in bad weather, they clean the paths in the yard, the space in front of doors and gates. There are several types of snow shovels. And almost any type of such a tool can be made, including with your own hands.

What are the types of shovels

Inventory of this type may differ:

• by size;
• by the type of material used to make it.

Snow shovels can be narrow or wide. These tools also differ in the diameter of the handle. The working part of the shovel can be made of plywood, plastic or metal.

Wooden shovels: advantages and disadvantages

The main advantage of this type of tools is, of course, primarily their low cost. Also, wooden shovels are the easiest tools to make. The only drawback of such inventory is not a very long service life. Plywood is a durable material. But onmetal, of course, it is inferior to reliability.

Reviews of country house owners about wooden shovels

It is this tool for clearing snow in the yards of country houses that is used most often. Wooden shovels have earned good reviews from summer residents, primarily for their low cost. Even buying a ready-made tool of this type costs the owners of country houses literally a penny. The price of a snow shovel of this variety usually does not exceed 150 rubles. A self-made wooden structure may not cost anything at all.

Another advantage of such tools, the owners of country houses consider their light weight. Working with a wooden shovel is actually very convenient.

Metal tools

Such shovels are somewhat more expensive than wooden ones. But, in comparison with plywood tools, they have one important advantage. These shovels are much more durable and strong than wooden shovels.

If you have to clear very large areas of snow in the yard in winter, it is best to purchase or make a metal tool with your own hands. A plywood shovel in this case will not last too long. In addition, only freshly fallen soft snow can be cleaned with a wooden tool. It is better to remove the caked-on one with a metal shovel.

Tin Tool Reviews

Such devices, of course, are also quite popular with summer residents. Making such a snow shovel is somewhat more difficult than making a wooden one. But such a toolin the manufacture of the owners of country houses is considered quite simple.

Metal shovels deserve good reviews from summer residents for their ease of use. It is necessary to clean snow with a plywood tool with a certain degree of caution. Metal shovels have no such disadvantage.

Tools of this type weigh a little more than wooden ones. However, you can't call them too heavy either.

Plastic shovels

Such tools have recently also been quite often used by owners of suburban areas. Like a wooden shovel, you can remove mostly soft snow with such a shovel. Plastic structures weigh a little heavier than plywood and lighter than metal.

Most often, the owners of suburban areas use purchased plastic shovels. However, if you wish, you can, of course, make such a tool yourself.

The opinion of the owners of suburban areas about plastic tools

According to gardeners, plastic shovels, like plywood shovels, are only suitable for cleaning soft snow in not too large areas. The advantages of such devices include, first of all, low weight, the disadvantages are not a very high degree of strength.

The advantage of such shovels, among other things, is the strongly concave shape of their working part. This design improves the usability of the tool. When buying such a shovel for snow removal, the owners of suburban areas are advised to definitely look at the cutting edge of itsworking part. It must be upholstered with a strip of tin. If there is no such addition, the shovel will quickly fail in the future. The edge of its working part will simply “wear out”.

Snow shovels on wheels

With the use of such devices, it is, of course, the easiest way to clean the yard in winter. But shovels of this type are quite expensive. Snow is not thrown away with such tools, but shifted. The reviews from the owners of suburban areas of shovels of this type, of course, deserve just excellent.

In another way, these tools are also called wheeled snow shovels. When using such structures, it is possible to clean simply huge areas in a short time. Also, the advantage of shovels of this variety is ease of use.

Sometimes tools of this type are even supplemented with motors. Such snow shovels on wheels are, of course, the most convenient to use. However, devices of this type cost, of course, much more than tools of any other design.

How to make your own plywood snow shovel

It is this design that will be the easiest to make on your own. To assemble a tool of this variety, plywood with a thickness of at least 6 mm should be used. A handle for such a tool can be purchased at a store or simply used to make it from a pole available on the farm or a flat, bark-free tree branch.

Besides plywood and cuttings, for makingsnow shovels in this case will be needed:

• a piece of tin or zinc;
• bar 2 cm thick and 7-8 cm wide;

Also, to assemble such a device, you will need a bolt with a nut and a wide washer.

The answer to the question of how to make a plywood snow shovel is this technology:

1. A piece of 50 x 50 cm is cut out of plywood. You can, of course, make the shovel narrower. The yard with such a shovel will have to be cleaned longer. But it will be a little easier to work with a narrow tool. A narrow shovel is better suited, for example, for a pensioner or a woman.
2. The edges of the cut piece of plywood are cleaned. Further, a hole is drilled in the center of the future working part of the shovel.
3. The upper edge of the prepared bar is turned with an arc. Previously, a slot for the handle is cut in this element.
4. Plywood is attached to the bar from the side of the arcuate edge by 3-4 nails.
5. The lower end of the handle is cut at an angle. Next, a hole is drilled in it.
6. The handle is inserted into the slot in the bar and pressed against the plywood through the holes with a bolt through a wide washer (should be located from below).

At the final stage of making a wooden snow shovel with your own hands, the working edge of the plywood should be beaten with a strip of tin bent twice. Also, with this material, the handle should be fixed in the slot of the end bar. It is advisable to beat with tin and the arcuate place of attachment of plywood to the bar.

How to make a metal shovel

To assemble a tool of this kind, you can use, for example, an old, no longer used for cooking, baking sheet. In this case, the snow shovel will turn out, although somewhat heavy, but durable and inexpensive. A baking sheet for such a tool is best suited with a size of 40 x 60 cm. Also, to make such a shovel, you will need to prepare:

• bar with a length equal to the width of the baking sheet without sides;
• stalk.

You can make a shovel from a baking sheet, for example, like this:

• the bar is bolted to one of the short edges of the pan;
• the side is cut off from the other short edge;
• the end of the handle is cut at an angle;
• the handle is attached to the cross bar and the center of the pan.

Shovel made of polypropylene pipes

A shovel from a baking sheet will most likely last a long time. However, the tool is in most cases actually relatively heavy. If the farm has an aluminum sheet, it is better to make a shovel using it. In addition to such material, in this case, polypropylene pipes will also be required for the manufacture of the tool.

The assembly technology of such a snow shovel looks like this:

• a square of the most convenient length and width is cut out of a sheet of aluminum;
• along the edge of the working canvas, as in the manufacturewooden shovel, mount a reinforcing strip of tin.

The stalk of polypropylene pipes is assembled as follows:

• one segment is separated from the pipe along the length of the handle itself and two short ones, the length of which should be slightly less than half the width of the shovel;
• short segments and long are combined into a design in the form of the letter "T" using a tee;
• two more pieces are cut from the pipe with a length equal to half the length of the aluminum sheet;
• The lengths are attached to the short "T" tubes with angle fittings.

At the final stage, the aluminum sheet itself is attached to the handle assembled in this way.

How to make a plastic shovel

A DIY metal snow shovel will last as long as possible. But if desired, such a tool can be made independently and from plastic. Shovels of these varieties are often made, for example, from large canisters or plastic barrels. The assembly of the tool in this case will look like this:

• using a jigsaw, a scoop-shaped base is cut out of a barrel;
• the cutting is applied to the base and fixed using self-tapping screws;
• steel or aluminum strips are superimposed over the handle and fixed with rivets.

If desired, you can fix the handle to the canvas of such a shovel and simply usingnails and wire. But in this case, the design will not be so reliable.