Grow Your Own Magazine

Broke 2 this week!

One of them a SS Spears and Jackson not cheap one, supposed to last for years, only bought it last year.

I can't find one that lasts!

I want one that can be a bit abused, but I'm only 5 foot 6", so I don't need a massive one.

Has a bloke had one that has lasted for a few years? Because I need another one now and I'm fed up with buying new ones all the time

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Which bit is breaking?

I've never managed to break one but I've bent the handle on one before now. I decided that a fork wasn't the right tool for the job so bought an Azada and a long handled spade.

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A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated 14.06.10 - with peas and cake!

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

What would Vedder do?

Look out for old ones at car boot sales- they're cheap, but the wooden handled ones will have good seasoned wood and would be more difficult to break. You could always cut the handle down a bit if it's too long!

It seems to me that over the past 30 years the expensive 'quality' ones seem to have become more flimsy

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"Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

I would certainly contact the company that makes the ones said to last 6 years. You (and now a lot more people!) know it doesn't. They need to know that too.

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Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated July 25th - A Village Wedding

www.henheaven.blogspot.com - June 29th - Foraging

The SS spear & jackson broke at the bottom weld, all the other various ones I've had, I've broken the handle, bent the tines, everything really!

I did think of contacting them Flum, but I'm not sure I can be bothered, I haven't got a clue where the receipt is. Stupid I know, but I thought it was a decent one so I needn't worry about it too much.

I'm thinking about buying a really good one, but I'm scared of spending a fortune on something that I might just be paying for the name and marketing.

Car boot, maybe, but I haven't seen one at a boot yet that I wouldn't break in under an hour.

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

I wouldn't worry too much about the receipt. they might not send you a brand new fork, but they may give you some other form of compensation as a good-will gesture.

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Current Executive Board Members at Ollietopia Inc:
Snadger - Director of Poetry
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Pumpkin Becki - Head of Dremel Multi-Tool Sales & Marketing and Management Support
Jeanied - Olliecentric Eulogy Minister
piskieinboots - Ambassador of 2-word Media Reviews

Well I've written an email with picture to S&J, thanks for the advice.
I'll let you know what happens.

So, can anyone advise of a top notch fork?

Wayne, I've got an Azada, just prefer a fork tbh.

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Womble it sounds like an ordinary fork is just not up to the job you want it to do. The last time I broke a fork I was trying to lever up a seedling ash tree that had sown itself in the wrong place - and the handle went. I should have used a pickaxe.
So what is so tough about your ground? Or are you guilty of fork abuse as I was?

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Binley knows Best
"Fan Of DarkCrow's Manipulation Of Words Society"
Courtier to the Queen of Baking

Jeanied, I know what you mean and yes I probably have been guilty of fork abuse in the past,
The S&J one went when I was digging up a rhubarb, but I do treat them with a bit of care normally!
After I broke it digging up the rhubarb, I finished it off with a 20 year old spade, if that could do it, why can't a one year old fork?

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

BULLDOG carbon steel, IMO stainless is the biggest con after bottled water, its to brittle doesn't flex therefore snaps.

I was bought a lovely stainless steel border fork and spade set a few years ago but they won't do anything remotely heavy, even general digging of undug soil causes them to bend so they spend most of the time just looking pretty in the shed at home.

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Probably the spade worked because you cut through the rhubarb roots with it, thereby making it easier to lift. Rhubarb can have humumgous roots, and the only tool you would be able to lever them out with would be a crowbar, I would think.

Possibly, I don't think so though.

What happened was that I started to put pressure on the fork and it snapped first time, it hardly got any pressure on it.

The good news is that S&J have been in touch already offering to send a replacement. How good is that?

Paul, I have a Bulldog spade and it's been brilliant, but I don't use it very often, that was one option to go for a Bulldog. Having a look round this morning a bit, Freds shed says they are good.

I had a look at harrod Hort, they have Sneeboer for £70, alot? yes but not if it lasts for 20 years. What do I read in a review..... fork bent, now back in shed and S&J neverbend being used again.

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Womble I managed to bend a tyne on my fork but I just jammed it in a peice of pipe and bent it back again something like

I hadnt heard of Azadas so I looked them up on good old Google.
They look like they could clear a lot of ground and quicker than a standard spade.
Any suggestions where I could get one? I havent seen them in B&Q or local GC. Do you have to order them online?

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“If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.”

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Charles Churchill : A dog will look up on you; a cat will look down on you; however, a pig will see you eye to eye and know it has found an equal.

http://weekendwellies.wordpress.com/?p=7&preview=true

Weekendwellies I'm pretty sure mine came from these people
Get Digging - Tools for the Allotment and Garden
And you're right. I can 'rough dig' a weedy patch in half the time it would take me with a spade - but there again I hate using a spade so the Azada is more of a heavy earth shifting tool. I bought it when I got rid of my petrol cultivator.
I ordered mine online and it came through pretty fast.
I think they should pay me for recommending them - that's the second time recently!

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Binley knows Best
"Fan Of DarkCrow's Manipulation Of Words Society"
Courtier to the Queen of Baking

I did that with a Top of the range Wilkinson SS fork 10 mins before I broke the handle.... and that was 10 mins before I broke the S&J.

I wasn't having a good day and there was a bit of swearing flying over the fence I've no doubt.

I only got the S&J because the wilkinson one's tines bent, I have no faith left in a fork who's tines bend, so it went into the back of the shed, till the new one broke, then I got it out, bent the tines back ...... and broke it.

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Thanks for the link Jeanied. Now - Which one to choose? There are so many! I am undecided between the Medium and Light Medium - and the right angle forks look great too. Oh decisions,decisions.

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“If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.”

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Charles Churchill : A dog will look up on you; a cat will look down on you; however, a pig will see you eye to eye and know it has found an equal.

http://weekendwellies.wordpress.com/?p=7&preview=true

This is going to sound really stupid but how on earth do you use them. The ones on the site look like overgrown hoes to me and the only way I can see is that you must swing them and use your arms a lot more than with a traditional spade / fork in which case they'd be no good for me as I have a very strong core but weedy arms. Assume if you use instead of a spade that you can get some real depth with them and am sure there's some real plusses to them but am finding it hard to visualise

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Try this link Alison. I was going to cut and paste bits of it but it is probably better to read in total.

Get Digging with Alternative Tools for the Allotment and Garden

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“If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.”

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Charles Churchill : A dog will look up on you; a cat will look down on you; however, a pig will see you eye to eye and know it has found an equal.

http://weekendwellies.wordpress.com/?p=7&preview=true

I use my Azada like a pickaxe, Alison - so it is like an upper arm workout instead of the legs! It cuts through comfrey roots like butter. The better the swing the more it drives home.

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Binley knows Best
"Fan Of DarkCrow's Manipulation Of Words Society"
Courtier to the Queen of Baking

Alan Titchmarsh Solid Forged Digging Fork: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Might be worth a try? Or any other fork that says it's forged from a single piece of steel. that way there should be no 'weak points'.

We've been through a few stainless steel ones, with the tines breaking. My carbon steel border fork has been going strong for about 5 years now though, no bending or breaking

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Sarah

http://www.hypermobility.org http://wixypixies.blogspot.com/

Ah, was confused by people saying they used them instead of spades / forks. My upper body strength is terrible so don't think I'll look any more, prefer to work from the core

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

I think the Titchmarsh ones are made by Bulldog. I suspect the name add's on money for nothing.

Bulldog have one with a metal shaft that is made specifically for heavy duty work. I think you can get it delivered for about £35 if you look around a bit.

Bit academic atm as S&J have said they are sending me out a new one. Be interesting to see which one I get and how it does.
I'll post when I get it, but atm it certainly looks like S&J customer service is top notch.

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Spear and Jackson ones are guaranteed aren't they. Certainly Wilkinson Sword are. 10 years for standard tines LIFETIME for stainless.

Like Trigger's broom I'm on my third one!...about 4 years for me!!

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

You can use an azada in a kind of upper body 'rotation' (using core muscles). If you use it across your body as opposed to directly in front of you. Use it to break the soil up as you would with a fork, and then 'scoop' it with the azada blade. One tool does it all.

If you lived more local to me I'd let you have a go with mine.

Takes a bit of getting used to, getting your head round a different method of digging - but miwyuns of people across the globe use them apparently (since having one I've always noticed that footage of foreign agricultural workers often show an azada type tool being used).

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A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated 14.06.10 - with peas and cake!

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

What would Vedder do?

Stainless steel is a lot softer than ordinary steel forks, they are only used because the claggy soil doesn't stick to them supposedly.
I get my forks from a second hand tool shop near me, and i always buy the older ones. They could make better steel in them days gone by.

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The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.
~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts"

I had a spear & jackson fork broke the wooden shaft so i took the d shape handle off it drilled out the old wood.Then i got a piece off steel tube slightly longer than the original shaft.I hammered it in to the bottom welded it and drilled a hole for the d.It is the best fork i have ever had stronger,longer and heavier for breaking up soil

I broke the handle on mine (it was my fathers) it was over 50 years old I to forgot to "oil" the handle.
So I bought a new one it was as cheap as buying and fitting a new handle.
PS I still have a pair of shears that my father bought in 1953.

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Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.
Brendan Behan

New fork from S&J arrived today, can't fault them on customer service.
This one comes with a 10 year guarantee and I see Argos are selling it for £14.99, which seem directly opposite to each other.
How can you give something 10 year guarantee and then make and sell it for £14.99, not to mention it's made out of stainless which price is going up all the time.

Well as long as it doesn't break. But I am keeping the receipt that came with it this time

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

You're probably laugh but the best fork I've ever used is a Tesco Finest. It was reduced and of season and I picked it up for about £7. Lasted me for ages and always the first one I'll grab when there's tougher work to be done.

We're not name snobs here you know, if it does the job and it's cheap, all the better.

I did have a couple of very cheap Asda ones (end of sale, £1 each, that sort of thing)........ most expensive £1 I've ever spent. I reckon my 6 year old could bend them.

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Well, I've been using a B & Q fork and spade for (ahem!) a lot of years now. They get a lot of use (especially the fork) and I've never had a problem with either. They were supposed to tide me over until I could afford something better, but I've never bothered because really there's been no need to.
I think they are selling nowadays at something silly like about £8 each?

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Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like bananas.

Have you tried going back to Spear and Jackson with your problem? Im sure they will listen to you especially if you push hard enough. Arent forks supposed to have a guarentee/warrenty just like any other product. They are not cheap so I would expect so. First point of call who be o go back to where you bought the fork in the first place who should actually replace it for you if they had any sense.

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28 year old sufferer of arthritis trying to promote healthy living and arthritis prevention through gardening at www.poplartreegardencentre.co.uk

I shall laugh indeed....I had one from Tesco's...many years back when they only charged a fiver for them and I didn't boycott Tesco's on moral principal.. Thought I 'that's cheap I'll leave it on the plot' ...lasted less than a season before the inner pipe rusted through.


Think the fork has already been replaced

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul