Where to find good Garden Tools

[kadsy]

Hi All,

Im going to start my new allotment plot this year and im looking for good quality garden tools.Ive been told by a friend that the wolf garden tools are a good brand.

Can anyone recommend a good brand/website that has the best prices?

Kind Regards,

Adam.

[alex-adam]

May I suggest that you don't rush out and spend a fortune on new tools right away.

Good tools can be had inexpensively from farm sales, second-hand shops, carboot sales etc.,

I am an advisor to a community growing project and am ofen asked about the basic requiements for allotment gardening.

One can easly obtain, secondhand, the 'basic kit' of spade, fork, rake, hoe, trowel and watering-can for less than �20 the lot.

If you do want to go for new tools, you cannot do better than Bulldog - still make in England

Link: Quality Garden Tools | Bulldog Tools - the whle range is available from Quality Garden Tools Ltd - Link Quality Garden Tools - Silky Saws, Tina Knives, Bulldog Tools and more!

a-a

[Aberdeenplotter]

If you do want to go for new tools, you cannot do better than Bulldog - still make in England

I'm gardening for a living and won't buy anything else Bulldog. Not because its English . I bought a couple of Bulldog hoes fairly recently. Ergonomically, they are brilliant but the steel is so soft that they lose their edge very very quickly.

If you can get hold of some old tools, as Alex says, farm sales, second hand shops, car boot sales etc are excellent sources. Old steel is very hard and keeps its edge. Stainless steel looks good but is also soft

[veggiechicken]

Where do you live Kadsy? Tools for self reliance Tools For Self Reliance Cymru | Working with African Artisans sell some refurbished old garden tools at Seedswaps and similar events. There are other branches throughout the UK.
Here's a link to the events where tools will be on sale http://www.tfsrcymru.org.uk/archives/929

[super trowel]

Don't know why, but just recently have taken too wolf garten myself.
And I have been trying my hardest to break them
I managed to get a whole load of it on ebay a few months back.
Second hand and obviously a few years old and still going strong!! I think its worth the money

I am now topping my collection with new bits

[zazen999]

Mr Z broke my wolf bulb planter the first time he used it.

My bestest tools believe it or not [and those not broken by students] have been from Wilko. 5 years in and still using the original ones - and all have been used in schools regularly over the last 2 years.

Failing that, I'm a Joseph Bentley's gal. Marvelous tools.

[VirginVegGrower]

I bought WolfGarten and have always found them very good. Albeit very heavy to wield. They do have a cheaper range which is not the same as the interchangeable stuff.
I am now a convert to PKS Bro nze tools. Light as a feather, sharp as a cut throat razor and never loses its edge - doesn't need sharpening. Expensive but worth their price IMO. They have a copper appearance but are a copper alloy and not soft at all. New tools I find lacking in quality these days, so look for old tools through eBay if you can't afford to lay out on new. Better to buy old cheap than new cheap.

[Scarlet]

Failing that, I'm a Joseph Bentley's gal. Marvelous tools.

Yep I agree they are great! I use the garaduate fork and spade as they are smaller than any others that I have seen, although I wouldn't be without my Falco secateurs that I have had for years.

[alex-adam]

As mentioned in my earlier post, I advise new gardeners in community allotments on tools etc., and what they should buy to start with.

The picture below is a basic kit I put together for one of the groups - the whole lot cost a little under �20.

http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/...asictools1.jpg

For new tools, I agree with other contributors that Joseph Bentley tools are good quality, as are their 'sister company' Yeoman.

a-a

[SimonSez]

I really like Wolf Garten and the Wilkinson Sword tool range. Although my spade is Spear and Jackson which I bought because of the guarentee that comes with it. I would say in the long run its best to get tools with guarentees as they have to be of quality to last