What digging fork have you found to be the sturdiest?

Thekla McDaniels wrote:  The pipe-sleeve allows you to exert the bending force on a very specific location… as opposed to the bending being spread generally over the whole piece of metal...

Yes - that was the effect my neighbor achieved when he stuck the fork between 2 parts of his skid steer. He was concentrating the pressure as close to where the "bend" appeared to have been made when the tool was damaged.

The best forks I have used are broadforks with full metal handles. Meadow Creature are very popular in the US, or in Australia, F D Ryan makes great ones.

That is a GREAT idea - the number of uses for a length of pipe is growing....  I will look in my stash of odds and ends to see what I can find - thank you for the suggestions!