Snow is Coming! Be Ready with the "Sno Wovel" Wheeled Snow Shovel

Dec. 15, 2010 - PRLog -- 3 TIMES FASTER THAN SHOVELING
ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE; HUMAN POWERED; AWARD WINNING;
“THE WORLD’S SAFEST SNOW SHOVEL”

New Canaan, CT, December 15, 2010—As the first humdinger of a North American winter storm causes flight delays—and the spectacular failure of the roof of the TCF Bank Stadium in Minnesota—snow belt homeowners can be of two things 1) more is to come and 2) they’re going to have to shovel it away.  And product developer Mark Noonan of Structured Solutions II, who just got us through fall with the amazing Leaf Loader, has just the product to do it: the SNO WOVEL, the world’s first and only wheeled snow shovel.  

The SNO WOVEL revolutionizes snow removal in the most basic way: while traditional shoveling involves dead lifting of snow at the end of a long stick—exaggerating its weight with pretty much the back doing all the work, the SNO WOVEL takes an ancient principle—the LEVER—and combines it with the WHEEL to reduce the process to 1, 2, 3: scoop, lift, throw.  With vastly reduced effort, “wovelers” can throw snow without twisting or lifting. As this week’s storm moved from the Midwest to the Northeast  the Lansing State Journal captured a local resident using HIS Sno Wovel and getting a lot of attention from passers-by.  And well he should—the Sno Wovel WORKS!

Debilitating treatment for pancreatic cancer left former New Canaan investment banker Mark Noonan unable to lift even a shovelful of snow from the backyard ice rink he built for his children.  Noonan designed the Sno Wovel to reduce physical strain and the risks of back and heart injuries associated with shoveling.  His strange-looking prototype utilized a bicycle wheel, electrical conduit, sheet metal and, of course, duct tape. The crude seesaw action—with Noonan at one end and a snow shovel at the other—allowed him to easily complete the snow removal job and gave him a patented new product idea.  The SNO WOVEL, and a new career for Noonan, was born.

The SNO WOVEL has been homeowner tested, doctor approved and award-winning. Biomedical engineering professor Bryan Buchholz, PhD stated, “The most obvious conclusion from this [independent] study is that the SNO WOVEL significantly reduces the risk of low back pain and injury. Both the results from the biomechanical model and the subjective ratings support this finding. The compressive forces estimated in this study for the SNO WOVEL were similar in magnitude to the compressive forces one would experience when simply walking.”

Time Magazine named The SNO WOVEL one of its Best Inventions, won the Best New Product Award at the National Hardware Show, and garnered an Editor’s Choice Award from Popular Mechanics.  Noonan has added a few touches, like gavel wheels, a powder blade, a chipper plate and wear strip, but its basic principles and product remain.

THE SNO WOVEL offers significant advantages over shovels and blowers. It’s cheaper than blowers, is silent, maintenance and pollution free. It tackles any snow bank and easily rolls over curbs.  The folding frame allows owners to hang it on a garage or shed wall.  It’s portable.

The SNO WOVEL sells for $119.95 and is available online at www.snowovel.com, toll-free by phone at 877.598.2599, through specialty catalogs and, and at Amazon.com.  Retail roll out has progressed with Sno Wovel available from numerous retailers across North America. So next time it snows—and it’s going to--don’t shovel; SNO WOVEL.

Video and downloadable images here: www.snowovel.com

ABOUT STRUCTURED SOLUTIONS:  
Structured Solutions creates innovative products to ease the chores of everyday life.  By applying substantial experience in technology, engineering and design, Structured Solutions gives consumers ever-better ways to complete work faster, safer and easier. Additional innovations from Structured Solutions include the Sno Wovel wheeled snow shovel (www.snowovelcom); Raxstars soft snowboard/ski racks (www.raxstars.com) and PaintGards internal paint can lids (www.paintgards.com).

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