I wonder if anybody remembers someone posting here about a year ago about
*Adzes* or* adzers* for digging/turning soil. They are spades or forks with
the spade bit at a right angle to the handle. I have done a google search
with no luck and wonder if anyone knows where I can buy one?
Thanks in advance,
Kathy

In message , Robert Bacon
writes
I wonder if anybody remembers someone posting here about a year ago about
*Adzes* or* adzers* for digging/turning soil. They are spades or forks with
the spade bit at a right angle to the handle. I have done a google search
with no luck and wonder if anyone knows where I can buy one?

I know of the Chillington Hoes, which are similar.

Their website is at:

http://www.chillington.co.uk/

AFAICS thye don't supply direct to the public, but a Google on
'Chillington hoe' turned up one supplier such as :

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/erc/erc36a.html

I have seen them advertised elsewhere as well.
--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html

On Sun, 29 Dec 2002 22:23:59 +0000 (UTC), "Robert Bacon"
wrote:

I wonder if anybody remembers someone posting here about a year ago about
*Adzes* or* adzers* for digging/turning soil. They are spades or forks with
the spade bit at a right angle to the handle. I have done a google search
with no luck and wonder if anyone knows where I can buy one?

British nomenclature might be different from N. American, but to
my understanding, an adze is a wood-working tool. The
corresonding gardening tool is a "mattock".

I will refrain from mentioning the word "froe".


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Malta, Spain.
I have bought in both countries, and the daft thing is the one I bought in
Malta is made in UK by Chilington, cost M£4.35, that's around £6.80
I always look at tools when I go on holiday and have picked up a few
interesting things that you don't find in UK

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

Forgot to say that I go along with Rodger it is a Mattock for the ground
Adze for wood working

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

Kathy wrote in message
I wonder if anybody remembers someone posting here about a year ago about
*Adzes* or* adzers* for digging/turning soil. They are spades or forks
with
the spade bit at a right angle to the handle. I have done a google search
with no luck and wonder if anyone knows where I can buy one?

I bought my Mattock from one of those cheap tool shops whilst visiting
Cornwall, both the head and handle, sold seperately, only came to £5.
Often see them on those cheap tool stands at summer shows etc.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

In message , david
writes
Forgot to say that I go along with Rodger it is a Mattock for the ground
Adze for wood working


I would generally agree, however, do you get one-sided mattocks though?
All the mattocks I have ever seen have had two sides to the head, a wide
blade on one side for digging etc. and either a pick head or another
blade at right angles to the first for cutting roots etc.

I have a feeling that I have seen/heard these single sided hoes or
whatever to call them called adzes in other countires
--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html

Chris French and Helen Johnson wrote:

I would generally agree, however, do you get one-sided mattocks though?

Mine is one-sided, with a blade perhaps 5 inches (125cm) wide at the end of
a stout handle. Just the thing for transplanting mass quantities of pine
seedlings: whack it into the ground, lift the handle to open a hole, drop
the plant in, and tramp shut.

Since I got the rear-tine rotovator (Troy-Bilt, I think not exported from
the U.S., alas), I haven't done much heavy digging. Except for that big
rock smack in the middle of the garden. But that's another story. Suffice
it to say that it has its only entry on the computerized garden map
template I use each year to plot what I planted where.

In the northeastern American colonies, it's picture postcard pretty with
thick layer of snow over everything. I could get tired of it pretty
quickly...

Cheers!


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

In article , Chris French and Helen
Johnson writes
In message , david
writes
Forgot to say that I go along with Rodger it is a Mattock for the ground
Adze for wood working


I would generally agree, however, do you get one-sided mattocks though?
All the mattocks I have ever seen have had two sides to the head, a wide
blade on one side for digging etc. and either a pick head or another
blade at right angles to the first for cutting roots etc.

I have a feeling that I have seen/heard these single sided hoes or
whatever to call them called adzes in other countires

FWIW Chambers defines an adze as 'a cutting tool with an arched blade
which is set at right angles to the handle' and a mattock as 'a kind of
pickaxe for loosening the soil, with cutting end instead of a point'.
I have a miniature mattock (or adze) about the size of a large hammer
also a full sized one. They are both very useful for soil work - I use
carpentry tools for woodwork and a bill-hook for hedging etc.

I also have a hoe with a blade at right angles to the handle, one side
of which is flat and the other side pointed. For fine seed drills, I
draw a shallow trench with the flat side, then a central groove with the
pointed side. Once the seed are sown, the flat side draws soil back over
the seeds and I finish the job by lightly tamping it down before
watering the newly sown bed. I don't know if there is recognised name
for such a tool, I made it myself after having seen a market -gardener
using one and I call it a seed hoe. I've never seen one being sold.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

"Gary wrote in message
In the northeastern American colonies, it's picture postcard pretty with
thick layer of snow over everything. I could get tired of it pretty
quickly...

Just like I'm getting tired of the constant rain.
Already some floods locally again too around Chertsey, roads closed, houses
pumping out, and from what I saw this morning I suspect at least two local
schools won't be opening after the break. :-(
--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

Chris French and Helen Johnson wrote:

I wonder if anybody remembers someone posting here about a year ago about
*Adzes* or* adzers* for digging/turning soil. They are spades or forks with
the spade bit at a right angle to the handle. I have done a google search
with no luck and wonder if anyone knows where I can buy one?

I know of the Chillington Hoes, which are similar.

Their website is at:

http://www.chillington.co.uk/

AFAICS thye don't supply direct to the public, but a Google on
'Chillington hoe' turned up one supplier such as :

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/erc/erc36a.html

I have seen them advertised elsewhere as well.

Yep Chillington's make Crocodile Hoe's which are shipped/sold the world
over,.. they are pretty hefty, come in 3 sizes and you have to buy the
handle seperatly (or make your own). Also make various other things
including slashers and various other implements..

Try also looking for Hoe, Pick and Mattock.. Adze is likly to bring up
green woodworking tools, at least in the UK. I believe you might use one
to make a handle for a chillington hoe tho!-)

There are also other manufacturers try LBS-group.co.uk or a good farm
suppliers.
//
Jim

Thankyou very much to everyone who replied. I have been to the permaculture
site and bought a big hoe. This is similar to what I have seen used in
Spain , Portugal and Ghana..They just seem more energy efficient (mine),
than spades and I would like to give it a go.
Thanks again.
Kathy

"Jim W" wrote in message
news:1fo2sra.jl5rwo76ucl0N%00senetnospam@macunlimi ted.net...
Chris French and Helen Johnson wrote:

I wonder if anybody remembers someone posting here about a year ago
about
*Adzes* or* adzers* for digging/turning soil. They are spades or forks
with
the spade bit at a right angle to the handle. I have done a google
search
with no luck and wonder if anyone knows where I can buy one?

I know of the Chillington Hoes, which are similar.

Their website is at:

http://www.chillington.co.uk/

AFAICS thye don't supply direct to the public, but a Google on
'Chillington hoe' turned up one supplier such as :

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/erc/erc36a.html

I have seen them advertised elsewhere as well.

Yep Chillington's make Crocodile Hoe's which are shipped/sold the world
over,.. they are pretty hefty, come in 3 sizes and you have to buy the
handle seperatly (or make your own). Also make various other things
including slashers and various other implements..

Try also looking for Hoe, Pick and Mattock.. Adze is likly to bring up
green woodworking tools, at least in the UK. I believe you might use one
to make a handle for a chillington hoe tho!-)

There are also other manufacturers try LBS-group.co.uk or a good farm
suppliers.
//
Jim

Robert Bacon wrote:


Thankyou very much to everyone who replied. I have been to the permaculture
site and bought a big hoe. This is similar to what I have seen used in
Spain , Portugal and Ghana..They just seem more energy efficient (mine),
than spades and I would like to give it a go.
Thanks again.
Kathy

Some of the places Croc hoes are shipped to, if Chillingtons blurb is
accurate!;-))
//
Jim

On Sun, 29 Dec 2002 22:23:59 +0000 (UTC), "Robert Bacon"
wrote:

I wonder if anybody remembers someone posting here about a year ago about
*Adzes* or* adzers* for digging/turning soil. They are spades or forks with
the spade bit at a right angle to the handle. I have done a google search
with no luck and wonder if anyone knows where I can buy one?
Thanks in advance,
Kathy

I'm a bit late into this thread, but in addition to mattocks you might
look under grub axes. These are used a bit like a pick axe, but with a
heavy axe-type blade on one side and a heavy mattock blade on the
other. Good for heavy work getting out tree roots etc, and often seen
on Time Team.


---
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net