The Best Tool Combination To Easily Remove Snow And Ice

If you live in the suburbs, there's a good chance you have to shovel your driveway, and if you live in the city, you probably have to remove ice from around your car. Yet plows push snow in front of driveways and cars, creating a wall. These walls of snow can freeze and turn into thick ice that's almost impossible to remove without tools. Snow can also become compacted into ice if you walk on it enough or drive over it. The ice crystals cling to porous asphalt and concrete surfaces, which is why a regular snow shovel might not do the trick. Plastic shovels are sometimes flimsy, and metal shovels won't necessarily break up the ice. That's why you should also use a pickaxe.

This tool comes in handy because you can swing it over your shoulder, generating momentum to crack the ice. Pickaxes have a chisel end that you can use to scrape and pry ice plus a pick end that you can use to crack it. Other snow and ice removal hacks include using a blow torch to melt the ice, a plank as a wood as a scraper, and a tarp as a barrier for your driveway pre storm. 

How to remove ice with a snow shovel and pickaxe

It's important to maintain control of your pickaxe, especially while swinging it around your car. Also, be careful not to accidentally hit someone who's standing near you. While you're working on the ice, you need to make sure you keep a sound footing. One of the best ways to do so is to put down sand or gravel to increase traction. You can also put down salt to melt the ice.

Use the pickaxe up the ice into manageable pieces before shoveling them off the sidewalk or driveway. It's best to work on a warm day when the ice is starting to loosen up, but sometimes you just need to get your car out. If you need a little bit of extra weight to exert force against the ice, try using a pinch point bar. These steel tools have a flat end and a spiked end, though their weight makes them difficult to work with.  You can also make it easier and safer to remove ice from your driveway by putting down calcium magnesium acetate. If you find yourself without any of the usual tools, you can use a rake remove snow from a gravel driveway before it turns to ice. 

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