Review: True Temper 1681400 Aluminum Scoop Shovel, One Scoop for Snow, Mulch and Feed

Who this scoop is for

Some households need a snow shovel for six weeks a year and a scoop for the other forty-six. The True Temper 1681400 is built for that household: an aluminum scoop blade on a 27-inch hardwood handle with a D-grip, sold for moving mulch, soil, grain, feed and fertilizer, and for light snow when the walk needs clearing. It is filed with the snow shovels here and it will do that job in the right conditions, but it is a general-purpose scoop first, and that shapes everything that follows.

This review is based on the maker’s published specifications and on recurring owner feedback. We have not run this product ourselves.

What you get

The listing names an aluminum blade, a 27-inch hardwood handle, a D-grip and overall dimensions of 10 by 15.25 by 46.25 inches. That puts the scoop at about 15 inches across and the whole tool at roughly 46 inches long, which is a standard grain-scoop length. True Temper does not state the weight or the aluminum gauge, and there is no mention of a steel wear strip on the lip, which most purpose-built aluminum snow shovels carry. Nothing in the listing suggests assembly; scoops of this pattern ship with the blade riveted to the handle socket.

On snow

An aluminum scoop is at its best on three or four inches of dry powder over a smooth driveway or deck. The blade is light, the scoop is deep enough to carry a real load, and snow slides off polished aluminum better than it does off a plastic blade on a cold morning. It is also a good second shovel for cleaning up the ridge a snow blower leaves along the garage door. Where it struggles is the same place every aluminum scoop struggles: wet heavy snow overloads the handle, the plain lip rolls over when it catches a frozen seam, and ice is simply beyond it. Without a wear strip, dragging it on rough concrete will slowly round the edge. Treat snow as one of its jobs, not its main one.

Around the yard and the barn

This is where the 1681400 earns its keep. A scoop this size moves bark mulch out of a pickup bed, shifts a pile of compost, clears a stall and fills a feed bin faster than a round-point shovel because the blade carries volume rather than cutting. Aluminum keeps the loaded weight down, which matters by the twentieth scoop, and it does not rust when it lives in a damp shed. The limit is density: wet clay soil and sharp gravel are steel-scoop work, and owners who use aluminum scoops for those report bent lips.

Handle, grip and build

A hardwood handle absorbs shock better than a hollow steel tube and stays warmer in the hand, and 27 inches is the traditional length for a D-grip scoop. The D-grip is sized for a gloved hand and gives the control a straight pole lacks when tipping a load. There is no ergonomic bend in the shaft; the leverage comes from the short handle and from keeping the load close to the body. Taller users may find about 46 inches overall short for repeated snow lifting and better suited to the stooped work of mucking out. True Temper scoops have been made to this pattern for decades, and the usual failure point is the wooden handle drying and splitting if it is left outside, not the blade.

Living with it

Store it under cover, hang it by the D-grip, and wipe a little boiled linseed oil into the wood once a year to keep it from checking. Rinse feed and fertilizer off the aluminum, because some fertilizers corrode it if left on. If you do use it on concrete, accept that the lip will wear; a minute with a file squares it up again. True Temper publishes a warranty for its long-handled tools; the term is on the product page.

Alternatives to Consider

If snow is the main job, the True Temper 18-inch Mountain Mover or an aluminum snow shovel with a bent shaft and a steel wear strip will serve the back better. For heavy or wet material, a Bully Tools 14-gauge steel scoop is the sturdier tool. For a wide flat driveway, a 30-inch poly pusher such as the Garant Alpine moves snow with no lifting at all.

Verdict

Buy the True Temper 1681400 if you want one light aluminum scoop for mulch, feed and the occasional dusting of dry snow, and you store your tools indoors. Skip it as your only snow shovel if your winters bring wet snow, ice or a long driveway; buy a dedicated snow shovel or pusher for that and keep this one for everything else.