Haven't used one of them. But I have considered using dynamite like the professional avalanche busters do on our neighborhood bad neighbor's house to remove snow on their roof and maybe even their house.
Never have been a fan of roof rakes. Have tried them over the years a couple times and don't find them useful at all. They always seem to work well on the vids of them being used but I have never seen a vid showing how they would work on the deep wind packed snow that is common. It seems the whole purpose of the rack is to use it after every snowfall and not let any accumulation gather on the roof. Our roofs are only cleared a couple times a year. Would you really need one down in Texas?
I been using one for the last 2 years and I love it. It helps me eliminate the ice dams I get when everything freezes so I don't get water in the house once the gutters fill with ice.
Only ever seen it in action last year, and it was impressive. These "pros" used it on neighbor's cape at the height of our snowfall with a looming rainfall in the forecast. Everyone was in panic mode, I shovelled mine. It looked to work very well for some pretty nasty icy accumulation of 2' plus.
They're calling for a wet /snowy winter and the fact that Amarillo is at 3600 ft I ordered the Avalanche roof rake/cutter system. I really want to have my snow removal equipment ready this winter, still need to find another snow blower.
Been using one here for 12+ Winters now on my humble, little, ranch house dump. My house is a single story ranch, with a 4/12 pitch roof..............pretty easy to take a roof rake to it with only 1 of the extensions......................although I usually only do the lower 3 feet of the "eaves" as they hang out of the "box" of the house and are more prone to freezing and causing potential ice dams than the roof over the "box" of the house. My neighbor with the "raised" ranch borrows it and needs 2 of the extensions, and I make it a point to rake the roof of the elderly folks behind me to the East if it's required. Great, great tool....................and cheap insurance against ice dams.
I've got one of those. It's a bit heavier than the cheap aluminum ones, but once you get the hang of it the job goes pretty quick. I've only used a roof rake on my house a handful of times. Once was in December 2001 when we got 50+ inches of snow in a week, and in November 2014 we got 30+ inches in about 4 days. I'm hoping I don't need it at all this year.
Oh yeah! We got one down in Harbor Springs MI a couple years back after seeing one in use and asking about it. Works great. Especially if you have a bike with a plow to push all the snow away afterwards.
