Print this Article
RSSMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
By RICK BARRETT
At first glance it looks like an antique garden tool, but a snow- removal gadget called the Wovel (rhymes with shovel) has found a place in some Wisconsin garages right next to the rock salt and ice chipper.
The Wovel consists of a 34-inch wheel attached to a long shovel. As you roll the wheel down a snow-covered driveway or sidewalk, the shovel picks up snow. With a flick of your wrist, the Wovel is supposed to dump snow where you want it.
Tom Boyce of Baraboo uses a Wovel to clear his sidewalk. A Texas native, this is his first Wisconsin winter.
"When I moved up here, I had seen all of a half-inch of accumulated snow in my entire life," Boyce said.
Boyce has a physical disability that makes it difficult for him to use a conventional shovel. He did not want to spend $600 for a motorized snow-thrower, so he bought a Wovel for about $120.
"I can clean my sidewalk in five or 10 minutes and hardly ever work up a sweat," Boyce said. "At first, my neighbors and friends all kind of laughed at this thing. But now they're interested in it."
The Wovel was created by Mark Noonan, a Connecticut inventor who hurt his back while shoveling snow. Noonan put physics to work and came up with the snow shovel that uses leverage as its strength.
The Wovel has a big scoop that carries up to 60 pounds. Its skinny wheel rolls through fairly deep snow, according to Noonan, and the wheel's tall height helps when going over curbs.
"It's like having a car with bigger tires," he said.
In developing the Wovel, Noonan experimented with several prototypes. He tested one in the middle of the night, clearing snow for his children's ice rink.
"It was really cold out," Noonan said. "I was talking with my wife on a cell phone and said she really ought to come outside and take a look at this. She said, Are you nuts?' "
Noonan persevered and finally went back to his first prototype for the Wovel's design.
"We just happened to hit on a lucky configuration," he said. "Last year, we test-marketed it, and this year we have gone national with sales."
The Wovel is available direct from Noonan's company, Structured Solutions II LLC. It's also sold through catalogs, such as Skymall, and it has been featured on cable television shopping channels.
Popular Mechanics magazine wrote that the Wovel was "a unique alternative to snow-throwers and conventional snow shovels."
Boyce said he still keeps a regular shovel in his garage, as the Wovel doesn't do everything he needs in snow removal.
"It works fairly well, but there's a bit of a learning curve in flipping snow out of the way," he said.
Like winter itself, the market for snow removal gadgets constantly changes. Besides the Wovel, there are plenty of other non- conventional products to choose from, such as manual augers and the Snowscoop, a two-wheeled contraption.
Snowscoop was the brainchild of Steven Jenkins Jr., a Texas native who moved to New Jersey and had no experience shoveling snow.
Looking for something to clear his 200-foot driveway, Jenkins found an old kitchen door in his garage. He pushed the door down his driveway and watched as it scooped up snow along the way.
"Steve was a pretty big boy, about 6 feet, 5 inches tall, weighing 250 pounds," said Will Foster, office manager for Houston- based Snowmaster Inc.
With a set of wheels and lightweight materials, the kitchen-door shovel evolved into Snowscoop. Snowmaster Inc. says it has sold more than 130,000 Snowscoops in 15 years.
"We got about two inches of snow last year for Christmas, so we are experts on this now," Foster quipped.
Conventional snow shovels work well, too, said Lisa Zidek, director of the industrial engineering program at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
"You are probably going to get just as much from a conventional $3 shovel as one that costs $120," she said.
Zidek has tried bent-handle shovels that are supposed to be ergonomically friendly.
"They seem to help some people, but they're definitely not sized for me," said Zidek, who is 5 feet, 6 inches tall. "I have the same problem with ergonomic garden rakes. They're just not built for me."
Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)
