Snow Removal Calculator (Shovel vs Blower vs Plow, Time, Weight & Salt)

How it works

snow weight = area × depth ÷ 12 × density (powder 5, average 10, wet 20, compacted 30 lb/ft³) · time = area ÷ (base rate ÷ depth factor ÷ density factor) + 5 min; base ft²/min at 6″: shovel 12, single-stage 40, two-stage 60, plow 400 · rock salt ≈ 3 lb per 100 ft² per application · blower cost/yr = price ÷ 8 + $60

Clearing snow is a materials-handling job whose size is set by the volume and, above all, the density of the snow — an inch of wet snow weighs four times an inch of powder — so the time for any method rises with depth and wetness, and the weight explains why shovelling heavy snow is a recognised trigger of heart attacks. Each method has a productive range: a shovel for small areas, a single-stage blower for light falls, a two-stage machine for depth and the plow berm, a truck plow for long drives that have room for piles. Salt is dosed by area and temperature and works best applied thinly before the snow, and the buy-or-hire decision comes down to how many storms a season and what your hours are worth.

Worked example

A 900 ft² driveway plus 200 ft² of walks under 8 inches of average snow is about 7,300 lb of snow — 3.7 tons. A two-stage blower clears it in roughly half an hour; a shovel would take about 2.1 hours and 490 lifts; a plow does the driveway in minutes but the walks still need shovelling. Each application takes about 33 lb of rock salt (roughly 240 lb, five bags, a season); twelve storms at $45 make a $540 plow season, so a $1,100 blower pays back in about 2.3 winters.

Frequently asked questions