Can anyone recommend a really strong fork - I've just snapped my second one.
This one was stainless steel and the steel snapped (it was a Senator) - is
SS softer than the black stuff (can't remember it's name)? My previous one
snapped through teh handle so an not having much luck

Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without snapping
forks?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend a really strong fork - I've just snapped my second
one.
This one was stainless steel and the steel snapped (it was a Senator) - is
SS softer than the black stuff (can't remember it's name)? My previous one
snapped through teh handle so an not having much luck

Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without snapping
forks?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)



Stainless steel is only what it says just stain less...........it is a
relatively soft material which when stressed (bent) once becomes weaker. You
are better off with a high strength carbon steel fork end.

You are experiencing a typical scenario, stainless forks are nice but bend
easy and break...... hard steel forks are tough but the shaft and handle
suffer.

I found a hard carbon fork end on a refuse tip (broken wood shaft) and then
welded a galvanised pipe shaft and handle to it...........bloody lovely
instrument but you know you have got hold of it............it weighs about
10 pounds.

In article ,
H Ryder wrote:
Can anyone recommend a really strong fork - I've just snapped my second one.
This one was stainless steel and the steel snapped (it was a Senator) - is
SS softer than the black stuff (can't remember it's name)? My previous one
snapped through teh handle so an not having much luck

Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without snapping
forks?

Don't use a fork?

Go to a decent agricultural supplier, and get an industrial strength
spade and a grub-axe (pick-mattock), if you haven't got them. They
are designed for iron-thewed labourers and will take that treatment.
Garden centre kit is designed for feeble townies, like me.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Stand Up Old writes



Stainless steel is only what it says just stain less...........it is a
relatively soft material which when stressed (bent) once becomes weaker. You
are better off with a high strength carbon steel fork end.

You are experiencing a typical scenario, stainless forks are nice but bend
easy and break...... hard steel forks are tough but the shaft and handle
suffer.

I found a hard carbon fork end on a refuse tip (broken wood shaft) and then
welded a galvanised pipe shaft and handle to it...........bloody lovely
instrument but you know you have got hold of it............it weighs about
10 pounds.

I snapped a Spear and Jackson tine - but the ss S&J spade has a flexi
bit in the middle of the shaft, so if you put too much pressure on it it
bends and then snaps back into position, rather than breaking.

As to digging up bushes - spend more time excavating and digging, and
don't rely so much on leverage.

--
Kay

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend a really strong fork - I've just snapped my second
one.
This one was stainless steel and the steel snapped (it was a Senator) - is
SS softer than the black stuff (can't remember it's name)? My previous one
snapped through teh handle so an not having much luck

Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without snapping
forks?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)



Stainless steel is not a good metal for garden spades or forks. It looks
pretty and does not rust but that's about it.
Any metal fork should be OK for digging up perennials but don't use it for
trees and big shrubs you *will* bend the tines.
I am a bit cack-handed so I break forks and spades on a monotonous basis. I
have found the cheapo things at around £8 to be just as good, if not better,
than £50 jobs.
Final suggestion is that you should be more lady like in your digging and do
not go at it like a bull at a gate :-)

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
H Ryder wrote:
Can anyone recommend a really strong fork - I've just snapped my
second one. This one was stainless steel and the steel snapped (it
was a Senator) - is SS softer than the black stuff (can't remember
it's name)? My previous one snapped through teh handle so an not
having much luck

Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without
snapping forks?

Don't use a fork?

Go to a decent agricultural supplier, and get an industrial strength
spade and a grub-axe (pick-mattock), if you haven't got them. They
are designed for iron-thewed labourers and will take that treatment.
Garden centre kit is designed for feeble townies, like me.

I don't really like SS tools, apart from my trowel and hand fork. In any
case, normal gardening operations shouldn't overstress tools of ordinary
quality. Trying to bite off more than the tool can chew is waste of time
and effort -- and, as you have seen, of money. You wouldn't do it to a
decent chisel or kitchen knife, so why do it to a garden fork? I've only
ever broken one chisel, and examination of the break showed that there
was a flaw in the steel (one of Mr Marples's very rare slip-ups).

--
Mike.

thank you all for the very informative replies.
I will from now on use a spade and will replace my SS fork with a carbon
steel one - however can not see myself becoming more ladylike until I can
afford an army of gardeners - then I shall just potter around with a trug
and some scissors )

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Stand Up Old" contains these words:


Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without
snapping
forks?

The aim is to move the shrub with a firm unbroken rootbal, with all
the soil as firmly attached to roots as possible.

Use a spade to slice down through soil, the depth of the blade, in a
joined -up circle right round the shrub. The aim is to cut cleanly
through any roots in that soil, so don't make the circle too close to
the shrub or it won't have enough roots left.

Then go round with the spade in a wider circle, digging out a moat
around your first, inner circle. Now the shrub and its rootball are
standing like an island . Try to get the spade down inside the moat and
slice underneath the shrub, gradually working all the way round until
eventually its root clump is cut free from the soil it stands in. You
may have to get some one to help you rock the shrub and its rootball
from side to side so you can cut right beneath it, using loppers to
sever big roots.

Next you need a big sheet of strong plastic . Rock the rootball to
one side and get the sheet half way under. Rock to the other side and
pull the rest of the sheet through.(The same technique as changing the
bottom sheet on a bed with someone lying in it). Wrap the sheet round
the roots and heave on the sheet to pull the whole caboodle out of the
ground . On a huge shrub you may need some short planks to make a slope
to slide it up.

Don't use a fork because a) its not strong enough and b) its tines
will tend to loosen and break up the soil around the rootball (the
opposite of what's required).

Janet.


That technique is similar to one I use. I find it easier to make one side of
the circular trench deeper and pull the whole rootball into the deeper side.
From then on if the whole thing is to heavy to lift by hand I use ropes
under the rootball and then your sheet method.

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend a really strong fork - I've just snapped my second one.
This one was stainless steel and the steel snapped (it was a Senator) - is
SS softer than the black stuff (can't remember it's name)? My previous one
snapped through teh handle so an not having much luck

Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without snapping
forks?
Hayley

You need to loosen the whole rootball all round the shrub before exerting excess
pressure on the fork. It can take a while..........Don't be tempted to try and
heave it out with pure power of the fork alone. It often helps when there are
two of you. one to dig and one to gently tilt the shrub at eth same time.
jenny

There are many different grades of stainless steel, global knives are
made from one of the hardenable grades and are exremely hardwearing.
Kitchen sinks are made from the soft austenitic non hardenable grades
but probably have a better corrosion resistance.
I usually dig all around a tree as previous writers have described and
chop through the biggest roots with an axe, then rock the stump (which
i have left about 4 to 5 feet log to give me extra leverage) to snap
the remainig roots which I can't get at.
I once used my car to drag out a difficult stump.Any good garden fork
or spade should last a ifetime if properly cared for.
Tony Bull www.caterpillarfountain.co.uk

"K" wrote in message
...
Rupert writes



Stainless steel is not a good metal for garden spades or forks. It looks
pretty and does not rust but that's about it.

It also sheds heavy clay better. I fine this a real advantage.

--
Kay

Yes I have heard that and it's good to receive confirmation of it from you
and your clay :-)
I have noticed that a lot of the stainless spades appear to have a slightly
flatter profile (less dished) than the ordinary equivalents. If my
observations are correct then that would partly account for the extra slip.
As ASDA are doing a very cheap deal on a well known brand I might give
stainless another go.

wrote in message
oups.com...
There are many different grades of stainless steel, global knives are
made from one of the hardenable grades and are exremely hardwearing.
Kitchen sinks are made from the soft austenitic non hardenable grades
but probably have a better corrosion resistance.
I usually dig all around a tree as previous writers have described and
chop through the biggest roots with an axe, then rock the stump (which
i have left about 4 to 5 feet log to give me extra leverage) to snap
the remainig roots which I can't get at.
I once used my car to drag out a difficult stump.Any good garden fork
or spade should last a ifetime if properly cared for.
Tony Bull www.caterpillarfountain.co.uk

my dad once used a van to try and pull out roots from a hedge he was taking
out. Dropped the clutch and lost some rubber on the driveway and nearly
parted the motor and body from the chassis. He did get the hedge out
however.

rob

Mine was a cmpany car so I didn'y reallt orry too much!!!!!
Tony Bull www.caterpillarfountain.co.uk
George.com wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
There are many different grades of stainless steel, global knives are
made from one of the hardenable grades and are exremely hardwearing.
Kitchen sinks are made from the soft austenitic non hardenable grades
but probably have a better corrosion resistance.
I usually dig all around a tree as previous writers have described and
chop through the biggest roots with an axe, then rock the stump (which
i have left about 4 to 5 feet log to give me extra leverage) to snap
the remainig roots which I can't get at.
I once used my car to drag out a difficult stump.Any good garden fork
or spade should last a ifetime if properly cared for.
Tony Bull www.caterpillarfountain.co.uk

my dad once used a van to try and pull out roots from a hedge he was taking
out. Dropped the clutch and lost some rubber on the driveway and nearly
parted the motor and body from the chassis. He did get the hedge out
however.

rob

When i dug up a load of old shrubs i discovered that after loosening the soil around the shrub (ie attacking it for an hour) i began digging about with my hands and cutting roots i touched off one by one, eventually getting right underneath the shrub and those huge roots that seem to go straight down into the core of the earth. Once id gone round the shrub doing that, the shrub lifted off (with help to lift it) and then I could get my fork in and double dig with no restrictions, loosening and removing every last root.

Works for me!