A snow shovel that’s too narrow, for example, will double the length of time it takes to clear your path. So if you want to avoid injury and get back to the more important things, like propping your feet over a warm fireplace, investing in one of the best snow shovels is essential. Nowadays there are plenty of snow shovels designed with comfort in mind. Most measure between 18 and 24 inches too, and some are handy push versions that are good at clearing large areas. Likewise, electric snow shovels give an extra kick of power to get the job done. For an easier snow shoveling experience, you’ll want to strike a balance between an affordable price tag and an efficient design. Whichever is your priority, we’ve sifted through some of the best snow shovels out there to find the models that get the job done, from spring loaded ergonomic designs to help soften the blow on your lower back, to comfortable snow shovels with curved shafts and nylon grips. If you’re dealing with very deep or compacted snow, consider calling in the best snow blowers (opens in new tab) to clear it faster. For further garden maintenance jobs, also take a look at our guide to the best chainsaws (opens in new tab). For now, here are the best snow shovels available to buy now…
1. True Temper 18-inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover: Best snow shovel overall
The True Temper 18-inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover, as the name suggests, is a powerful snow shovel that does it all. This offers a sturdy build with comfortable curved aluminium shaft and strong steel handle. It remains lightweight thanks to the plastic scoop that is big enough at 18-inches but not overly large, making it ideal for all users. The nylon edge to the scoop ensures that even if you’re scraping your deck this won’t do any damage to the material it’s working on. Use this to scoop up snow and move it or flip it over and that ergonomic design will keep the strain off your wrists as you scrape away a walkway, for example. The fetching yellow design is eye catching which actually works well if you’ve left this to be potentially buried under snow. Despite all these excellent features, the price of this snow shovel remains super low making this a very accessible and high-quality unit for all snow battlers out there.
2. Bully Tools Combination: Best snow shovel on a budget
The Bully Tools Combination snow shovel is a fantastic budget option for anyone that wants both a snow shovel and a scoop for scraping all in one. As such you don’t get the ergonomic shaft, in favour of a straight fibreglass shaft and D-grip handle that both work well even when working without gloves. The scoop is a mighty 22-inches of plastic width. That means this is a fast working scraper but can also move lots of snow at once, if you have the strength to use it to its full potential. The longer-than-usual shaft does help take the load off your back by cutting down on bending over. All that and this also offers a limited lifetime warranty, showing just how well made this snow shovel is, despite that low price.
3. Snow Joe SJ-SHLV01 Shovelution: Best snow shovel for reducing back strain
The Snow Joe SJ-SHLV01 Shovelution is the snow shovel to use if you want to take it easy on your back. This is thanks to a unique spring-loaded ergonomic design which uses dual handles to allow for a more even spread of the weight when shovelling. It does take a little getting used to but is worth it if protecting yourself is important to you. Essentially, less bending over is required, meaning a lot less strain on your back as you shovel. The 18-inch scoop helps to keep weight loads down while those handles stop excessive leaning, for a fast and efficient action for snow moving. Somehow, this also comes it at a very low price, offering you lots for your money.
4. Ryobi 12-inch 10 Amp Corded Electric Snow Blower Shovel: Best electric snow shovel
The Ryobi 12-inch 10 Amp Corded Electric Snow Blower Shovel is a great option for anyone that wants to clear their driveway with the minimal amount of effort. This works like a small snow blower, sucking up the snow in front of it and firing that out, up to 25 feet away. This does require mains power and will top out at snow piled up to six inches high. You can clear a path of a foot wide by simply pushing this along, much like a lawn mower, with a similar amount of effort. If you’ve got the space to blow the snow away and want to make sure you clear snow effortlessly, this is the option for you. While this is more expensive than the other shovel options, it more than justifies its price by how much it removes effort.
5. Garant True Temper 24-inch: Best snow sleigh
The Garant True Temper 24-inch is a snow shovel in the sleigh style which means it’s built to move huge amounts of snow at a time more easily. The 24-inch scoop is attached to a handle built for two handed use, much like a mower, allowing you to scoop and push around the snow. A push-and-clear style can be faster but does mean more weight on each move. This is great for clearing large amounts of snow at a time but does require some effort making this an option for those that don’t mind putting their back into the work for a faster end result. That said, the ergonomic handle shape should help to keep effort to a minimum without strain on the wrists. The scoop is solid plastic with a metal blade on the front to help cut through the snow and ice while protecting the scoop bucket itself.
6. Snowcaster 30SNC 36-inch: Best snow pusher
The Snowcaster 30SNC is a 36-inch scoop toting beast that is built to clear large areas of snow in a short time. Despite using a push to clear technique, this requires less effort than some thanks to built-in wheels and a rigid metallic build. You’ll still have to push, sure, but this stabilizes your efforts for greater results. This will top out at four inches of snow before the amount becomes too high for that scoop. But anything under that will be fast cleared with relative ease thanks to the durable wheels and dual-hand friendly handle system. The downside is that this model is far from cheap, and you can expect to pay around $140. Make sure you really need something this large before you invest.
7. Hopkins Subzero Auto Emergency: Best car snow shovel
The Hopkins Subzero Auto Emergency snow shovel is the ideal companion for a potentially snowy car trip. This snow shovel is made to live in the car, but equally can be used at home on the driveway to clear a path. Featuring a telescopic shaft this is able to pack down to 6.8-inches but extends out to a back-friendly 36.5-inches, making it one of the larger portable models out there. The handle is D-shaped to give good purchase and there is a foam grip on the shaft to allow for supported and comfortable two-handed snow shoveling. Everything feels strong from the twist extender to the thick plastic scoop, making this a fully functional snow shovel despite its compact and car-friendly portability.
