We had about 10" of fresh snow this AM. I was unable to get the 48" UHMW pusher through it. That beast is like my transitional jointer with the 2 5/8" blade -- gets it done fast... in some cases. Today I had to bring out the classic steel 24" pusher. That's like my #5 with a heavy camber. It does a good job of rough clearing, but can't get it up and off the drive. So I followed with the scoop shovel. I suppose that's like a #4.
Three inches of powder is like working green wood. Today's snow had an inch of slush at the bottom. That makes it more like working maple. Happily, I did not need the ice chipper today. That's only needed for frozen slush, like a scraper on reversing grain.
I was working my way across the driveway much as one would work across a board. I typically skew my pusher, about the same as a jack plane and overlap my cuts just as I would work my way over a board. No tire tracks today. They are like knots.
I also find it easier to get out there a couple or few times, taking light cuts, rather than waiting for the snow to finish and trying to take it all in a single pass.
I have been known to sharpen a shovel, and I certainly file off the curled up corners of the blade. At the beginning of the season I will also put some ski wax on the shovels. Can we call that fettling?
As I was finishing, my neighbor was firing up his riding mower with snow-thrower attachment. I prefer to do my driveway using Neanderthal tools and techniques. But there are times I would like to have him do the rough dimensioning with his power tool.
Let it snow!