Well, the Power Shovel works pretty well, and the snow was pretty wet and heavy. It's still manual labor, though, but it does save a lot of time and backache. It's a bit tricky to aim the snow, though, since it shoots it right in front of you. And there's a 100-foot extension chord to avoid, but I'm glad I got it. However, if $1000 fell out of the sky I'd probably get a full-sized self-propelled one.