# Seasonal outdoor chores: Mow the lawn or shovel snow? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714 "2014-03-03T00:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/41 "2014-03-05T01:17:31Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Mowing is a predictable chore one gets to do on a convenient schedule. Snow removal often has to be done before one can leave for work, or before one can return to one’s driveway. Keeping the rest of life functioning often requires the snow removal but never, I think, the mowing. In addition, I can usually chose to mow the lawn on a nice day, or a nicer time of the day. Walking back and forth across my lawn for an hour, on a sunny afternoon just isn’t that much of a problem. Shovelling snow at 6:30AM, so I can come back inside and shower before going to work, hoping that the plows don’t come past again, and re-bury the end of my driveway, is MUCH worse. > [@TroutMan](#): > > When I lived in a place with a lot of snow, I generally disliked shoveling more. But every once in a while there would a night when the slow was gently falling in the glow of the streetlights and the only sound was the scraping of the shovel on the walk, and shoveling was the most peaceful and magical thing. This is the one exception. Nights like that, I try to avoid using the snowblower, and I shovel the driveway. The snow muffles all the sound. It’s like being in a Norman Rockwell painting. Victorian Christmas card. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/42 "2014-03-05T01:29:49Z")
Eh, I like mowing the lawn. I live in a place where shoveling snow is not a worry. So, neither. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/43 "2014-03-05T01:32:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Mowing. You have to do it every two weeks. Shoveling you may need to do six times in a very bad winter. Do you live in a magically protected from storms part of NY? There are some _weeks_ we need to shovel six times\*, and I was lead to believe NY gets as much snow as we do. \*like the week before last when we had three storms that each required shoveling twice ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/44 "2014-03-05T01:38:13Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Fewer people have dropped dead of heart attack when mowing the lawn than when shovelling snow. Do we know this for a fact? Googling “heart attack mowing” brings up quite a few hits. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/45 "2014-03-05T01:55:39Z")
As other people have said, shoveling snow sometimes has to get done in poor weather conditions or early in the morning or late at night. Mowing the lawn can always wait. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/46 "2014-03-05T02:45:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Do you live in a magically protected from storms part of NY? There are some _weeks_ we need to shovel six times\*, and I was lead to believe NY gets as much snow as we do. > \*like the week before last when we had three storms that each required shoveling twice I was surprised by that comment too. I live in NY state, south of **RealityChuck**. I would say I shovel six times in a particularly MILD winter. This year, which has not been a mild winter, the count stands well above six. And believe me, if there is any chance that the snow will melt later on in the day, I delay as long as possible–it’s not that I’m compulsive about GETTING OUT THERE AND GETTING RID OF EVERY LAST FLAKE GODDAMMIT. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/47 "2014-03-05T03:15:27Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Do we know this for a fact? > Googling “heart attack mowing” brings up quite a few hits. My first husband had a heart attack while shoveling snow (he had to be resuscitated numerous times), and when he talked to his doctor later, that doc said the combination of exertion and cold, especially for otherwise sedentary people, was a recipe for heart attack. Anecdotal, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/48 "2014-03-05T04:18:03Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Do we know this for a fact? Maybe not. I found [**this**](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/health/story/2011-12-17/Study-Snow-shoveling-really-does-raise-heart-attack-risk/52012728/1) only after hunting for about 30 minutes and finally using the Dogpile search engine. The story itself says there is little evidence, so the hospital did its own research. But it’s only one hospital. The info [**here,**](http://www.livestrong.com/article/242721-warning-signs-of-a-heart-attack-while-shoveling-snow/) mostly symptoms, turned up in many different stories. I consider shovelling much harder work because of the repeated digging, lifting and heaving of snow that could weigh anywhere from 10 to 30 pounds or more per shovel full (I use a scoop when I don’t use my snowblower), depending on the snow’s moisture content. And as I mentioned above, we’ve had so much snow this year that I had to shovel a path for the snowblower. Cutting the lawn, at least with a power mower, is a walk in the park by comparison, especially if the mower is self-propelled (mine isn’t). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/49 "2014-03-05T22:24:50Z")
I pay someone else to do both. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/50 "2014-03-06T00:51:08Z")
I most of the time love both. There are aspects that I don’t like, but I normally look forward to getting out there in my yard or relocating snow that is out of place. If I had to chose one over the other I would say snowblowing only because of maintenance issues with the equipment, broken shearpin is top on the list. Though mowing happens with too much regularity also which is bad. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/51 "2014-03-06T01:35:40Z")
Shoveling snow can and does kill people my age and up. Cutting grass is safe as long as you keep clear of whirring blades. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714/52 "2014-03-06T03:22:50Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Which of these chores do you dislike more: mowing the lawn or shovelling/clearing snow? what is snow? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-outdoor-chores-mow-the-lawn-or-shovel-snow/682714.md?page=2)