So, if your wife is anything like my wife, when your out doing the driveway with the tractor, she thinks she should be doing something as well. We have an 88' driveway that is 19' wide. I use a snow blower to clear the driveway. My wife insists she is going to shovel the sidewalks. We have a lot of sidewalk, a double wide lot means the crosswalk is nearly 60' long plus the 25' from the street to the house. The 10' closest to the house of the 20' from the crosswalk to the house is a pita to do with the blower. I will make a couple passes on the driveway then do the cross walk, the part to the street, and the first 10' towards the house before I return to the driveway and finish it. By the time I'm done with the drive, she has the sidewalks done and is putting down salt if needed. She feels better, and frankly, I'll accept her help. She is 67.

There is no way I could get her to operate any kind of snow blower when she does the sidewalk. I'd have to start it for her, and the first time the blower blew the snow back at her face, she would be done with it. If you are concerned about her health doing the shoveling, maybe you should invest in a good snow blower, do your sidewalks before you do the driveway, and have her clean up the stuff the blower misses, or can't get very easily, with the shovel. Snow blowers always miss some stuff. The trick may be finding the point where you feel comfortable sharing the snow removal with her, expecting her to not do any wouldn't work at my house.

When we first moved here, I cleared the driveway with a plow truck. Unless the snow is near a foot deep, or really heavy wet, the snow blower does the job faster then the plow could, and I don't have to shovel the sidewalk like I did with only the plow truck. Gene