# Do You Shovel a Straight Path in the Snow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909 "2022-01-16T22:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/21 "2022-01-17T13:53:27Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Shovel??? Fuck that Shit! Snowblower, Baby Snowblower? Fück that shit!! I’m gonna plow with my gf’s Arctic Cat, Baby. My gf’s Arctic Cat. Heh. She paid for it, but the steering is tight and she’s not comfortable driving it. I’m taking off work today and I’m going to “learn” how to plow, trial/error style. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/22 "2022-01-17T14:54:37Z")
Man - another difference between my wife and me. For me, there are only a limited number of options - all of which involve straight lines and methodical clearing. Depending on the depth/weight of the snow, you either go down the center of the drive, or down one side or the other. On walks, you go along one edge, then clear the rest. Similar with using the blower, tho you figure in wind direction, and blow all the snow in the same direction. OTOH, if my wife gets out there before me, she’ll shovel some meandering path willy-nilly all over the place. Pretty impressive demonstration of how differently our minds work. Oddly enough, in nearly every other aspect of our home maintenance, she is far more organized and orderly than I. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/23 "2022-01-17T16:37:51Z")
So, I just plowed our driveway/lane with my gf’s Arctic Cat. Way easier than shoveling snow or manhandling a snow blower. Plus it was sorta/kinda fun. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/24 "2022-01-17T16:45:29Z")
My driveway is itself just slightly curved, so no, not so much, even if I wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/25 "2022-01-17T16:49:21Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Shovel??? Fuck that Shit! Snowblower, Baby! Yeah, you have to have the tools for the job. We get tons of snow and have a steep driveway. I plow about 100 yards of our road too, depending on how on top of things the county plows are. They use 6 wheel drive graders on our road. They have a front plow, the grader blade and the wing plow off the side, they can do about 16 feet in one pass. I’ve a Kubota loader chained up on all 4. Plow truck chained up on all 4. I have to get out today and use the tractor to move some snow so the truck has a place to push it - Snow storage. It’s still a lot of work. I’ll need to suit up in my NorthFace overalls for the tractor. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/26 "2022-01-17T16:57:27Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Pretty impressive demonstration of how differently our minds work. Oddly enough, in nearly every other aspect of our home maintenance, she is far more organized and orderly than I. Someone in the neighborhood recently painted their house a vastly different color. The painter did not start in one place and work around, they did a patch here and a patch there until the patches started becoming whole walls. It drove hubs crazy while I understood perfectly what was going on. The painter was moving with the shade and it didn’t matter because the whole house was going to end up the same color anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/27 "2022-01-17T17:22:48Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > My driveway is itself just slightly curved, so no, not so much, even if I wanted to. Or as my drunk uncle used to explain to people when he got sidetracked, you can’t go straight anywhere because the world is round. ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/28 "2022-01-17T21:46:29Z")
Our neighbor shovels our driveway and sidewalk with his skid-steer or snow blower depending on how deep and how wet the snow is. I have to hand-shovel a path from the driveway to the LP tank so the gas guy can deliver. There is no way either the snowblower or skid steer will fit between the various obstacles on the way to the tank. It would be shorter to make that hand shoveled part straight and angular. But I make it sort of “swoopy” so the LP guy can drag the hose from his truck to the tank and back without getting hung up on chunks of ice/snow. I would hate to have his job so I try to make it as easy as possible for him. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/29 "2022-01-17T23:08:56Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Similar with using the blower, tho you figure in wind direction, and blow all the snow in the same direction. I always start in the center, and go in ever increasing cuts counter-clockwise. I never have to adjust the discharge chute, and always blow to the outside of the driveway. Keeps the storage area even on both sides. Wind is always swirling around here anyway. Can’t be helped. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/30 "2022-01-18T00:03:26Z")
Frankly it sound like some people here haven’t heard that shoveling snow is good exercise… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/31 "2022-01-18T01:57:30Z")
Clearing the driveway _as quick as possible_ so you can go ski is better use of snow for exercise. Works the legs, too. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/32 "2022-01-18T02:00:29Z")
I just did another pass on our lane with the Arctic Cat to test the headlights. I’ll try it sober next. WoooHeeeee!! After plowing I raised the plow up and switched out of 4WD, then raced around our meadow. I can see why there’s a roll cage. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/33 "2022-01-18T03:40:39Z")
I don’t shovel anymore, and rarely did before. But if we would get enough snow I like to make snow goons or other weird figures. I did a snow Dalek once. My previous dog, a long hair dachshund actually liked to play in the snow. He’d put his nose down and plow through it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/34 "2022-02-06T08:25:09Z")
What is “snow”? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/35 "2022-02-06T09:14:54Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Shovel down the middle, straight as an arrow, and then either shovel off to the appropriate sides from the widening middle, or do the same with the electric snowblower if it’s light. When you say “shovel”, do you mean “run a snowblower”? Because otherwise I’m wondering if you really start in the center and throw each shovelful all the way to the edge, or if you shovel the same snow over and over as you move out. I start near the edge, so i can walk with a full shovel to the edge, before i throw each shovelful. (My driveway is below grade, so it all needs to be thrown, i can’t just push it towards the edge, as i have on other driveways.) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/36 "2022-02-06T12:57:31Z")
I’ll bulldoze down the center, and push it off to the side every 15 feet or so for convenience’s sake. Shoveling from the center line to the edge is far easier, and you get a full shovel’s worth with each swipe. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/37 "2022-02-06T14:11:20Z")
Ah. If we have so little snow that it takes half the width of the driveway to get a full shovel, we just scrape some lines into the snow and let the sun do the rest. My husband did that yesterday, one line down each side. I love my driveway that slopes to face the sun. If we are shoveling at all, we are not moving half the width of the driveway in one motion. Thus, my rectangular pattern. Start in a corner, clear a shovel full. Then move towards the center, clear another shovel full, repeat until i hit the center. Then back to the edge, one shovel width farther from the house. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/38 "2022-02-06T14:36:15Z")
That’s great. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/39 "2022-02-06T15:13:32Z")
The other day I got out first and shoveled a path down the walkway to the drive. I shoveled along one side, then over at right angles to where I dumped the snow. My wife came out and commented, “It looks like a game of Tetris!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909/40 "2022-02-06T19:34:33Z")
I can throw snow pretty far, and my driveway is about 2.3 cars wide at the top but narrows to about 1.5 cars at the bottom. So, yes I start in the middle and throw it to the sides with a shovel, and have for years (decades?). I also was given a little electric snowblower about five years ago that can’t actually reach the edges. The last big storm I snowblew with it down the middle in about 8 or 10 swaths, and then shoveled the piled-up sides off the driveway (all of this twice!). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-shovel-a-straight-path-in-the-snow/957909.md?page=1)