About the Inventor Zane LaVell Asay was born on November 24, 1938 in Price, Utah. After graduating from high school in Salt Lake City, he married Karma Lee Mecham and together they raised five children: two daughters and three sons. LaVell and Karma now have eight grandchildren. Lavell loves playing with his grandchildren and supporting them in whatever activities they are involved in. He is also active in church and community affairs.

All of his life he has always looked for a better way to do things. No matter what it was-welding, sheet metal working, carpentry, roofing, shoe repair, mechanics or any of the other occupations/hobbies he was involved in-there had to be a better way and he always looked for it.

LaVell invented the first model of the Snow Pusher Plus in about 1967. He had a large frontage at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. Shoveling the snow was very hard on his back and he decided there had to be an easier way to move snow than with a shovel. He experimented and designed a device which he mounted on two lawn mower wheels and used the lawn mower handles.

This was a great improvement in moving snow. LaVell could now clear all the walks around an entire city block in less time and with less effort and stress than it had taken him to just clear his own frontage with a shovel.

LaVell continued to use this device for many years. In the meantime he moved his family to Roosevelt, Utah and obtained employment as a custodian.

After a while, LaVell took his snow remover to work to remove the snow there. His co-workers used it and were so impressed that it gave LaVell the idea to perfect it and put it on the market.

LaVell's wife, Karma, became involved in the project and together they worked on improvements. Many trips were made to Salt Lake City, Utah to seek professional advice and to find and purchase materials.

After much work and the designing of several different models, it was felt that the unit was ready for some serious testing. People were chosen to test the snow plow extensively, finding any weak points or any way to change it for better efficiency. When Lavell asked his friend, Arvin Bellon, to test the Snow Pusher (shown in the picture) the need to be able to change the height of the handles became very apparent and the unit was modified accordingly. Industrial and residential persons, both male and female, including children and senior citizens used and tested this unit. Every response was very positive. People really liked the way the machine cleaned right to the surface. Parents especially liked the lack of motors and dangerously moving parts so their children could use it.

The name, The Snow Pusher Plus, was chosen because it indicates that additional things (besides moving snow) can be done with these machines. Some of these are moving leaves into piles, cleaning gutters, cleaning up grass after power raking or plugs after aerating your lawn, etc.

After building a business and getting his invention on the market, LaVell says that " Inventing is the easy part!!!"