Second the "buy steel" and "have two shovels, a big one for moving light snow and a smaller one for digging out the plow leavings." One tip: if you have a metal shovel, leave it outside before use; otherwise it'll accumulate a big lump of ice on the blade after a few minutes of use, and the snow will stick like the dickens to the shovel. This is because the warm blade will melt the snow, then freeze. It's like licking a street sign.