One of the best new products introduced at the recent Outdoor Retailer Winter show was The Dozer™, a new shovel from BCA. They wanted to call it the Hoeback, but didn’t think the association with Jackson Hole’s classic Hoeback runs would survive the translation across the Atlantic.

The Dozer™ is only the third snow shovel that converts into a backcountry hoe for excavating large amounts of snow quickly, because it reduces shoveling from a three step process, to only two. So says Bruce Edgerly, BCA’s VP of Sales and Marketing. He’s right.

A normal shoveling operation requires driving the blade into the snow for the first step, then lifting it up for step two, and finally, taking a third step to toss it. When you’re using it like a hoe, you first swing the blade in to grab hold of the snow, then pull it sideways in a stroke that simultaneously tosses the snow backwards. It allows you to move more snow, faster — waaay faster. In effect, it allows you to become a human backhoe, efficiently scooping and throwing snow in a what can become a repetitive windmill like motion that moves snow with relentless, machine like efficiency.

So far, the only other light weight aluminum shovels that do this are K2’s Rescue Shovel Plus, and the Kodiak by Ortovox. The Dozer™ looks fairly beefy, thanks to an ovalized shaft and a solid T-style handle that doubles as the critical right angle to transform a straight shovel into an angled hoe blade. One side of the T-handle goes into the ferrel welded to the backbone ridge of the blade. The other acts as a horn to place one hand on for steadying the blade as you pull the snow. A small rubber sleeve at the opposite end of the shaft provides a small hook so that you won’t lose your grip at the far end of the shaft. The blade is not only heat treated, but also “coined” for greater strength and rigidity.

In truth I’m not looking forward to ‘testing’ this shovel. Shoveling is a load of work. But I’m confident once I put it through the paces on one of the more common test pieces available in Truckee — a berm of frozen slush blocking me in to my driveway, courtesy of the local plowman — the Dozer™ will make short work of that impasse thanks to its hoe function. That and my trusty HS928. 😉

Backcountry Access
The Dozer™
MSRP: $79.95
Weight: 33 oz. (936 g)
Blade Dimensions: 10″ x 11″ (25 x 28 cm)
Handle+Shaft Dimensions: 18½” (47 cm)
Assembled Length (Hoe mode): 24.6″ (62.6 cm)
Assembled Length (straight): 31.9″ (81.1 cm)

Related Posts:
Strategic Shoveling: Human Snow Conveyor
Ortovox Kodiak Review

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