Broke another fork

**zazen999** · 25-06-2011, 09:33 PM

Dig with a little less depth? I've never broken any fork or spade and we're in thick clay. If it starts to strain then the weight of the soil is too much for it.

**Aberdeenplotter** · 26-06-2011, 06:53 AM

I'm a jobbing gardener and my working tools get dogs abuse. I don't have time to be delicate yet I have never ever broken a fork or a spade. I really can't understand how you manage to lose so many due to damage, even taking account of the law of averages, you seem to have been a tad unfortunate. What sort of ground do you have? If you are trying to dig our stones, maybe consider using a crowbar or if tree roots are the problem, have a session digging them out but again, use a crowbar rather than your fork and spade and use an axe to chop roots off rather than your spade.

**Hillwalker** · 26-06-2011, 09:25 AM

Try laying-off that third Shredded Wheat.

**mothhawk** · 26-06-2011, 04:49 PM

Originally posted by Hillwalker View Post

Try laying-off that third Shredded Wheat.

Or maybe it's the weetabix.

I'm still using the fork my mother had 40 years ago - steel tines, wooden handle, lovingly cleaned and oiled every time it's put away.

**PAULW** · 26-06-2011, 06:00 PM

I have managed to bend a tine of my carbon steel bulldog fork but that was under the roots of a large shrub with sixteen stone stood on the handle, stainless is very brittle and IMO not much use for serious digging.

**SarzWix** · 26-06-2011, 06:22 PM

I was just going to say the same thing Paul - my carbon steel fork has had 5 years of abuse, on heavy clay, with stones and tree roots and it's still going strong. Whereas the OH's stainless steel one didn't even last a season.

**Glutton4...** · 26-06-2011, 06:34 PM

Personally I prefer stainless, but that's just me. Carbon steel tools are generally stronger IMHO, and the B*lld0g range are adequate for most jobs. I have worked with 'Landscapers

' who would break just about anything, but that was primarily because they had no respect for the tools, and were not using them for their intended purpose. As Aberdeenplotter said; are you expecting too much?

**green thing** · 26-06-2011, 06:50 PM

They are the top quality tools made by silverline tools
they look good and hanging up in the shed but useless for digging.
The forks are cast and every fork has some contamination in the casting near the point they snap.
The last one snapped when I was digging up some potatoes up in soft fluffy soil didn't get
chance to take wrapping off or put any pressure on it before it went ping.
the spade went when I was digging out some manure
from the bottom of the heap
stainless steel seem to be too soft
I could get my angle grinder out and turn them into a very nice dibbers ?

think I'll give a bullbog fork ago

**Glutton4...** · 26-06-2011, 07:03 PM

Originally posted by green thing View Post

They are the top quality tools made by ...
The forks are cast and every fork has some contamination in the casting near the point they snap.
The last one snapped when I was digging up some potatoes up in soft fluffy soil didn't get
chance to take wrapping off or put any pressure on it before it went ping.
the spade went when I was digging out some manure
from the bottom of the heap ...

Thus proving that they are obviously not top quality tools!

**endymion** · 26-06-2011, 10:33 PM

Originally posted by green thing View Post

think I'll give a bullbog fork ago

I wouldn't bother! Our Bulldog spade is coming apart where the handle joins/slots into the metal shaft.

**Florence Fennel** · 27-06-2011, 06:30 AM

I don't know what make my fork and spade are, but I've had them for well over 30 years and I bought them in the second hand market!

**Glutton4...** · 27-06-2011, 07:41 AM

I had a stainless steel pair as a Christmad present. This was about 6 years ago, I guess. The spade was broken, on site, by a pillock who had been told not to use it

The fork is still going strong - and we have heavy clay. I now use a small border spade, but that is also stainless.

Even the best, strongest, and most expensive fork and spade will twist and break if it is being abused. If the soil is compacted, or full of stones, you need another tool...

**Hillwalker** · 27-06-2011, 09:16 AM

I bought a stainless steel fork from Lidl yesterday. It was one of their weekly offers, not bad for �10

**baldrick** · 27-06-2011, 09:37 AM

my husband and I have regular domestics on this very issue. He too is a tool abuser!!!!! I say to you what I say to him. Just coz you can lift a ton on your little finger doesnt mean a fork/spade can. Just coz you can plunge the thing into the ground up to the handle doesnt mean you should, and if you have to put your weight on it to lever it out of the ground its too deep. Sometimes digging something over 3 times going progressively deeper each time is quicker, easier and less expensive because the tool will not become work hardened from flexing all the time and will be less likely to snap unexpectedly on a simple task, and you will not get a bad back or a stiff neck. Sometimes being a mere 4ft 11 girly with no muscles helps coz you have to use your head instead. Sorry, lecture over I thought I was ranting at him again for a minute. Cant find the smileys to make me sound less harradin ish. x

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