I keep breaking tools!!

[JimmerG]

This weekend I broke a spade - tubular shaft just folded - it seemed a little cheap. Then I snapped a stainless steel fork right at the base of the shaft where it meets the 'fork' I also keep bending stainless steel fork tynes.

What do we think are the strongest types? Is wood any good? Should I go for carbon steel over fancy looking stainless steel?

Howsabout these worryingly lightweight but very expensive tools - do they last?

How much should I be paying - prices vary dramatically!

Time I got some decent bits of kit!

J

[vicky]

You can get some tools that have lifetime guarentees - well worth the extra money - I tend to go through them too!

Wooden handles can be replaced quite easily, I find wood last just as long as metal

[esrikandan]

Your tools shouldn't be breaking that easily - can you return them to the store and get a refund? I've just had a fork replaced when one of the tines bent on it's first outing.

Stainless steel should be better than carbon steel, although I suspect stainless steel is a little more brittle.

[oldie]

I've only been gardening for two years but already concluded that whilst sometimes cheap can be o.k. it's better to pay for quality. The best fork I now have was cheap - bought at a boot fair but it's about 20 years old and good for another 20. Others have challenged the budget but worth it. (IMHO).

[davefromthechipie]

I think when buying tools the term "Buy cheap Buy twice! fits I use a stainless steel with plastic base/handle, Yet still have wooden tools some over 30years old :P Stuff just isnt made like it used to be its just made lighter and more breakable.
Not sure well i am i wouldnt spend anything like harrodhorticultural seem to charge for tools

[Pumpkin Becki]

Is you're true identity Uri Geller by any chance?

[JimmerG]

Is you're true identity Uri Geller by any chance?

Uri Geller on steroids - that's me!

Couldn't believe it... these broke literally within minutes of each other! I was in a bit of a hurry - daughters aged 2 and 4 were beginning to run low on patience! And the soil here is very heavy - these two factors coupled with my apparent hurculean strength resulted in my tools turning into balsa wood!

UG

[PoshCloche]

I sympathise. I get mine second hand from car boot sales and our local tip which also sells salvages items. It seems the older the spade / tool the stronger it is! Al.l the shiny new ones I have purchased have broken in the first season

[Pumpkin Becki]

Uri Geller on steroids - that's me!

Couldn't believe it... these broke literally within minutes of each other! I was in a bit of a hurry - daughters aged 2 and 4 were beginning to run low on patience! And the soil here is very heavy - these two factors coupled with my apparent hurculean strength resulted in my tools turning into balsa wood!

UG

Heehee! See, you've even changed your signature!!

Like everyone else, I find old tools are the strongest, but we've bent prongs on really good quality forks digging our new garden (clay/chalk) and our builder managed to snap the handle of my ancient but much loved rake the other day. I do get fed up with hand tools that bend in half at the first whiff of a stone as well.

[Norm]

I bought a fork from a place called 'Grandad's Atic' in Masham, North Yorks, about 10 years ago. It's all steel construction and has a 'utility' mark on, which means it was made in the 1940's. With enough leverage, it'll uproot trees!

[coreopsis]

Spear and Jackson-I've got their fork,it has 10 yrs guarantee

[snohare]

Buy an azada or a mattock, you don't get cheap ones but you also don't get breakable ones !
If you have stoney or heavy soil, they are what you need anyway. You will save a third of the energy you would use digging with a spade. I kid you not. There's a reason Third World peasants don't often use spades...

[amandaandherveg]

So far I've bent two forks, and snapped the wooden handles on my rake and my spade and it's still only March.

[Demeter]

I tend to go for Wilkinson Sword as I've never managed to break or bend any WS tools yet. My trusty WS fork* has dug its way through plenty of heavy clay soil with ease. Only been gardening seriously since last year so I hadn't given it much of a test before last March but it doesn't look like breaking any time soon and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them! I would not buy a wooden tool as I wouldn't trust it not to snap. I would not buy cheap hand tools for anything as they are a waste of money - OK for digging in loose compost but bend or break as soon as you show them a bit of real soil!

* this one - Wilkinson Sword Power Digging Fork 601572W

[esrikandan]

That's interesting - last year I bought a WS fork - the funny shape one with the centre tread that's meant to be more ergonomic. using it this year one of the tines bent ans then snapped off when I tried to straighten it. I went out and bought another one and as per my previous post, went and bent another tine on first use.

So, I wonder. I would have thought to be fit for purpose a fork should be able to handle most allotment digging tasks.