Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q ones
and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so to
speak. thanks

"Ben Short" wrote in message
...
Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so to
speak. thanks


Boot fair and get some proper old fashioned tools made when tools were made
from real steel and iron on quality handles and not thrown together in
dodgy furrin factories by cheap labour and badged up for the sheds.,


You might think they feel a little heavy, but they last more than a
lifetime.

"R" wrote in message
...

"Ben Short" wrote in message
...
Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so
to speak. thanks


Boot fair and get some proper old fashioned tools made when tools were
made from real steel and iron on quality handles and not thrown together
in dodgy furrin factories by cheap labour and badged up for the sheds.,


You might think they feel a little heavy, but they last more than a
lifetime.


spot on advice, at Chelford in Cheshire, at the 1000 engine rally they were
giving away 2nd hand gardening hand tools for club funds/donations. I have
enough tools, but the average was a quid a tool. I expect they get sick of
carting them round shows. I wonder if a local blacksmith would make 1 offs.
that would be good business, now there ain't many horses to shoe... There
was a lot of people there from uk.rec.engines.stationary they seem to be in
the know for proper old stuff, you could ask there if they have anything...

"Ben Short" wrote in message
...
Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so to
speak. thanks


Because you say your soil is hard, I imagine it's clay, and compacted clay
at that. Since it is likely to be hard and sticky for some time, I would
suggest a stainless steel spade and fork, which are so much easier to clean.
My trowel and hand fork are stainless steel too. I haven't focussed on one
brand, as I select for weight, balance and comfort, but my large spade is a
Bulldog brand, my border spade and fork (smaller heads) are Spear & Jackson,
my two hand tools are Burgeon & Ball. I love their (B&B) round-tined hand
fork, and won't touch the flat-tined sort.

I would advise anyone to avoid the 'neverbend' variety. I've used a couple,
but never again. They certainly don't bend - they snap. If a tool bends,
you can straighten it, but not when it's just snapped off! They may just
serve on a light soil, but for clay soil (and soil full of rubble) they are
not worth the price.

Spider

"Ben Short" wrote
Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so to
speak. thanks
My best Spade and Digging Fork (I'm on heavy soil) are stainless steel hand
forged in the UK, Bulldog brand. They don't make them any more here but
their stuff is still pretty good. You may be able to pick up a second-hand
one of the originals (they eventually cost £100 each new) but you will know
you are using it, they are a lot heavier than the modern stuff.
My day to day digging fork is a Spear and Jackson with a rubber
shockabsorber in the shaft, not stainless but has stood up to lots of use.
For a hoe I would always go for the smaller of the two Wolf Push Pull
Weeders in their Multi-star range, excellent tool, stands up to lots of work
on our allotment where there are a lot of stones and you can buy the handle
length that suits you as they come in different sizes. Also good if two
people of different size want to use the same tool, just buy two handles.
The other stuff in their Multi-star range is of good quality too.
http://www.wolf-garten.co.uk/index.php?id=850

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

Bob Hobden writes

"Ben Short" wrote
Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so to
speak. thanks
My best Spade and Digging Fork (I'm on heavy soil) are stainless steel hand
forged in the UK, Bulldog brand. They don't make them any more here but
their stuff is still pretty good. You may be able to pick up a second-hand
one of the originals (they eventually cost £100 each new) but you will know
you are using it, they are a lot heavier than the modern stuff.

Interesting to consider what is 'best'. I use a smaller sized
lightweight spade - I wouldn't be able to manage with a heavy one. So
'best' for me is not the same as for you or the OP.
--
Kay

"K" wrote ...
Bob Hobden writes
"Ben Short" wrote
Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so
to
speak. thanks
My best Spade and Digging Fork (I'm on heavy soil) are stainless steel
hand
forged in the UK, Bulldog brand. They don't make them any more here but
their stuff is still pretty good. You may be able to pick up a second-hand
one of the originals (they eventually cost £100 each new) but you will
know
you are using it, they are a lot heavier than the modern stuff.

Interesting to consider what is 'best'. I use a smaller sized lightweight
spade - I wouldn't be able to manage with a heavy one. So 'best' for me is
not the same as for you or the OP.

Quite, that's why I wrote "My best spade".

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

"Spider" wrote in message
...

"Ben Short" wrote in message
...
Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so
to speak. thanks


Because you say your soil is hard, I imagine it's clay, and compacted clay
at that. Since it is likely to be hard and sticky for some time, I would
suggest a stainless steel spade and fork, which are so much easier to
clean. My trowel and hand fork are stainless steel too. I haven't
focussed on one brand, as I select for weight, balance and comfort, but my
large spade is a Bulldog brand, my border spade and fork (smaller heads)
are Spear & Jackson, my two hand tools are Burgeon & Ball. I love their
(B&B) round-tined hand fork, and won't touch the flat-tined sort.

I would advise anyone to avoid the 'neverbend' variety. I've used a
couple, but never again. They certainly don't bend - they snap. If a
tool bends, you can straighten it, but not when it's just snapped off!
They may just serve on a light soil, but for clay soil (and soil full of
rubble) they are not worth the price.


I'm not sure about a stainless steel spade. My partner's auntie died and we
inherited some of her garden tools, including a ss spade. The first time I
used it in our dry and rather heavy soil, it went 'sproing' and bent in the
middle. I never thought a stainless steel tool would do that. Anyway, I
don't trust it now, and have reverted to a good old heavy steel spade. We
do have a ss trowel that we bought about 30 years ago and it has never bent
or gone wrong in any way.

Secateurs: We had a great pair of Wilkinson's for many years, but they
broke (the spring went) and I spent a fortune on another pair of Wilkinsons
(about £30) and they were useless. They had changed the design so that the
secateurs pinched your finger when you bit through a big twig, and the jaw
was either too big or too small.

I get all my secateurs from either Aldi or Lidl now, 99p each, they've been
great, I buy about 3 at a time for our home and allotments, and have only
used 2 in the last couple of years.

someone

I work as a jobbing gardener. Both my spade and fork are made by Wilkinson Sword. They are great. Strong and pleasant to work with. I use them both every day in all weathers and they look as though they were bought yesterday, not 3 yrs ago. About £25 each.
Yes, Secateurs should always have Felco written on them, marvelous things. Expensive but worth every penny.
I also use the Wolf Garten range of tools which are excellent if not a little pricey. Their push/pull hoe is one of the most used weapons in my armory!
Kind Regards
Ben
Blackbird Gardening.

Try 'Billington tools' or 'Get digging' for a different way to dig without getting backache. 'Get digging' will show you how the tools work, both will take mail order on line. I wouldn't dig any other way now,and neither would anyone in my family. Bigal