What digging fork have you found to be the sturdiest?

I'm a powerlifter (i.e. 500 LBS deadlift), and have noticed that I need to restraighten the tines every few digs, and have been wondering which one you would recommend replacing it with. I know Ames has lifetime warranties, but have noticed that they're not really meant for someone incredibly strong. What have you found to be the best one for going at a reasonable pace without needing to restraighten the tines (it's for digging up plant roots).

Silage forks move 4-10x the amount of woodchips than a pitch fork. A shrimp fork is similar. Both moving silage and shrimp is done by pretty sturdy folk. My fork has moved hundreds of yards of chips, and was at least 20yrs old when my neighbor with back problems gave it to me. I think it is black locust and iron. Newer ones have lasted 5yrs so far being used by volunteers weekly at the public food forest I helped start….edit, just caught back end of post. Bulldog digging forks have served me well and are sold in the US through Red Pig tools, which are also great tools.

Hey Kevin. There are probably very few digging forks that can stand up to the tasks you are doing with the strength you can apply.

As an alternative, have a look at the Radius Root Slayer. I have one (bought on sale) -- these things are absolute tanks, seriously overbuilt. Might suit you.

I'm old and weak and pretty useless, but even I wouldn't attempt to dig with a pitchfork - if the tines don't bend then the handle will break.

The secret is to choose a proper digging fork and learn to use it in such a way that skill does more than strength.

For digging up roots i use an all metal heavy duty spade with a tiny 4 inch blade and step-on. I remove the dirt and then identify if i can cut the root with a battery powered, jig-saw with extra long blade or use the battery powered scrubsaw with an f-ed up blade. Depending on the rootsize. But wherever i can i just let roots die down in the soil as they form deep mulch and pathways for new trees to colonize quickly.

Hugo Morvan wrote:For digging up roots i use an all metal heavy duty spade with a tiny 4 inch blade and step-on. I remove the dirt and then identify if i can cut the root with a battery powered, jig-saw with extra long blade or use the battery powered scrubsaw with an f-ed up blade. Depending on the rootsize. But wherever i can i just let roots die down in the soil as they form deep mulch and pathways for new trees to colonize quickly.

Right tool, right job. I want to take as much of the roots as possible when I dig the plants up.

I wonder if there's a misunderstanding with the terminology.

In my mind a pitchfork has long, pointy, not very sturdy tines, maybe only two of them, and a long handle. It's for pitching (lifting and moving) things like hay.

Like the one in the American Gothic painting...



It's for this sort of job...~



Personally I'd only call them pitchforks if they had two tines and if they had more I'd call them muck-forks, which are better suited for moving used animal bedding. The long pointy tines mean it's easy to slide them into heaps of stuff and they are strong enough to lift hay or animal bedding with manure, but they aren't suited for digging.

What sort do you have? Can we see a photo?

And what are you trying to dig into? Hard, compacted soil that hasn't been disturbed in forever? Or loose garden soil? What size roots are you trying to dig out? Is it essential they come out intact or are you trying to just get them removed completely? Getting the right tool and technique for the job is important. Especially for those of us who aren't as strong as others, and also for preservation of your tools. I've watched three grown men attempting to dig a hole in my land using my perfectly good spade with a seriously bad technique. They drove it down as far as they could, then all three of them piled onto the handle to push it back and lift the soil, which obviously didn't want to come up as it hadn't been disturbed before. And with enough effort they eventually succeeded in snapping the blade in half. If they'd started with a less ambitious attempt they could have dug out just a few inches, then moved the spade back and done another couple of inches behind it, then a few inches deeper, and they could have managed perfectly well, a lot faster, and left my best spade intact!

A digging fork (which also seems to be called a spading fork these days) would look more like this.



It has a shorter, sturdier handle. Stronger tines, closer together. But it would still break if you relied on brute force. Even when my other half is digging something out with a back hoe he will only go full tilt at the job if the ground is soft, otherwise he will nibble away at it rather than break stuff or fail.

And having said all that, when I was browsing amazon trying to find an image of a good digging fork, I see that most of them these days have 'pitchfork' in the description. So it's no freaking wonder that people are getting confused. Pitchforks are for pitching stuff, not for digging, despite what Amazon sellers seem to think.

What Burra said! English is a much divided common language and many of us didn't grow up on a farm where we would have learned the difference!

We bought a smaller and larger heavy duty digging forks from Lee Valley Tools over 2 decades ago, after Hubby kept bending the tines of the typical garden fork I'd bought before we married. They have lasted well, never bent, but I'm not sure that quality is still available.

The closest I could see was this Lee Valley digging fork.

Many of their new tools are stainless steel, which can actually be more brittle than some alternatives, however, their guarantee used to be excellent.

Even with my sturdy one, technique is important:
1. I would make sure to moisten the soil starting several days in advance and adding a bit of water daily or twice/day.
2. I would push the fork in, they wiggle it back and forth and side to side, then lift it straight out, and do the same again beside your first plunge.
3. I wouldn't try to use the fork as a lever until I'd loosened the dirt all the way around in a complete circle, but I'm working in heavy clay.
4. I would also, as suggested above, consider that a transplant spade might be the better choice. If you want more roots, you just make the circle of digs further from the base of the plant

Here's an image of the heavy duty transplant spade from Lee Valley. I would read up about sharpening tools also...

If you want to exert a lot of force on roots and stuff, I think you might be happiest with a broadfork. Pitchforks and bedding forks (which are the only Ames fork products that I'm seeing online at the moment) are way too flimsy to dig with. Spading forks... I guess some people like them, but I've never had much use for them; I find them a rather unhappy medium between a shovel and a broadfork. Broadforks let you use leverage to pull the tines, which are almost more like individual blades, through the soil. The broadfork is my go-to for getting dense clay loosened up enough to pull out the roots of things I'd rather not have in a particular garden bed.


also, fun fact, if you broadfork underneath a blackberry crown, it often lifts right out of the soil afterwards!

I'm bending a digging/spading fork then, and a broad fork is too big to use in a forest when digging things like rhubarb roots

We've always lived where a pry bar was a necessity for breaking new ground...for removing rocks at least.  I think a good one might hold up to your strength?

I'm confused as to whether you are trying to dig rocks, tree roots or rhubarb roots as you mention in your last post? maybe all of them?

I think that once the tines bend the first time the metal becomes more pliable and bends easier and easier.

re reading your first post I see you are talking about digging up plant roots.
This is in the forest?

If you are just trying to eliminate these roots - not harvest, and the tool needs to be narrow and durable, I have a suggestion.
My Grandpa made a tool decades ago to be used as a kind of Spud (for peeling logs).
He basically welded an axe head onto a solid pry bar.  The thing is rather too heavy for easy use in peeling logs, so it sat for years.

Recently I have been employing it to sever big roots of brambles, dock, milk thistle, tree roots, and other such things.
Its weight coupled with the sharp edge makes it pretty useful for certain chores.
It doesn't get the whole root mass out as well as a sturdy digging fork or broadfork however.

It is tiring to use for my gangly frame, but it sounds like that would not be an issue for you.
I haven't seen tools of its kind for sale, but it wouldn't be difficult to make if you know a decent welder.

A quick shameless plug to remind folks that Permies hosts a Gear Review Grid where permie people review a variety of products like tools.

I've had really good luck with my Metal Flat Shovel tackling really rocky spots on my property. If I really have to pry on something, I will break out a long pinch bar.

Totally depends on what you are going to use it for. I've found a standard bedding fork works best for me, but I use it primarily to transfer wood chips into a wheelbarrow and to flip my hot compost piles. For the compost, I wish it didn't have as many tines as it does, but I need them all for when I throw chips. I'm not buying another one just to save a couple minutes flipping compost. Everything is a trade-off, and you can wind up with a shed full of tools you only use once or twice a year instead of five or six that you use all the time.

Jim

Judith Browning wrote:
I'm confused as to whether you are trying to dig rocks, tree roots or rhubarb roots as you mention in your last post? maybe all of them?
This is in the forest?

splitting rhubarb in an establishing food forest that some chop and drop trees are growing next to, on peatland (not quite a bog due to filling in after the last ice age).

George Ingles wrote:If you are just trying to eliminate these roots - not harvest, and the tool needs to be narrow and durable, I have a suggestion.

I'm collecting rhubarb roots for replanting to eventually have a 4ish acre rhubarb farm to pay me when I retire.

Jim Garlits wrote:Everything is a trade-off, and you can wind up with a shed full of tools you only use once or twice a year instead of five or six that you use all the time.
Jim

What if you use it for a few days every year?

I love my solid steel fiskers shovel and I have a feeling there solid spade digger is probably pretty tough and affordable. Our soil is to hard so any kind of digging spade isnt gonna hold up sadly to the horsepower I want to apply. I grew up with these solid steel style tools and now I break all of the handles off of the wooden handled tools cause I'm used to being able to just use the shovel without having to check if I'm going to break it cause I took a full scoop of dirt. I have managed to break my shovel in our hard as rock heavy clay soil. But the bonus is then we welded it together and reinforced it! Yes my shovel weighs at least 15lbs now but we have a rack with everyone's favorite shovel. (There even all named, Mines called Groundbreaker) So nobody has to use my heavy shovel but I still get my preferred shovel!

That’s a good question. If I was using it a lot during those few days, heck yeah.

Jim

Kevin Stanton wrote:
What if you use it for a few days every year?

Oh I've broken a few forks - usually through misuse (and yes stainless tines are brittle!). I've learnt not to use my digging fork for prising rocks or trees out of the soil. I have a mattock which is a far better tool for that job.



They look like a pickaxe, but have wider heads for cutting and chopping, but are long enough to pry with too. I gather they may also be called a polaski in the USofA.

Nancy Reading wrote: I have a mattock which is a far better tool for that job.

So if Kevin Stanton is trying to get rhubarb roots out of his food forest to use elsewhere, I would picture using this style of mattock to try to dig a narrow trench around the rhubarb plant his trying to move. Once he has most, or all of the circumference trenched, then he'd use a fork or shovel to actually lift the roots of the rhubarb out?

Kevin, what are you doing with the hole that's left?

Jay Angler wrote:

Nancy Reading wrote: I have a mattock which is a far better tool for that job.

Kevin, what are you doing with the hole that's left?

I'm leaving the hole behind, and filling it in with dirt left behind.

To break the roots, I lift and pull.

I suspect this is a technique issue more than a tool issue - choosing the right tool for the right job, and working with the tool.

When I dig rhubarb, or honestly, most things, I use a good quality spade to slice a circle around the plant, pry with the spade to lift it out, then shake the dirt back in. I cut the root into as many pieces as I want, then plant them in a shallow slice in the ground I make with my spade.

I own several spades, picked up in garage sales for $5. I like vintage ones with a heavy metal head and a long wooden handle. Yes, if I pryed too hard I could break the handle, so I don't do that. Work smart, not hard.

I have a radius digging fork, which has been the best potato digging fork I have ever used, the only one that has not bent the tines, but would never use it to pry on roots! I'm a moderately strong short woman, and I'm sure I COULD damage it if I tried.

It may also help if you choose a day after a rain, when the soil is softer.

Kevin Stanton wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:
I'm confused as to whether you are trying to dig rocks, tree roots or rhubarb roots as you mention in your last post? maybe all of them?
This is in the forest?

splitting rhubarb in an establishing food forest that some chop and drop trees are growing next to, on peatland (not quite a bog due to filling in after the last ice age).

George Ingles wrote:If you are just trying to eliminate these roots - not harvest, and the tool needs to be narrow and durable, I have a suggestion.

I'm collecting rhubarb roots for replanting to eventually have a 4ish acre rhubarb farm to pay me when I retire.

Jim Garlits wrote:Everything is a trade-off, and you can wind up with a shed full of tools you only use once or twice a year instead of five or six that you use all the time.
Jim

What if you use it for a few days every year?

I would be concerned about the damage done by digging around established trees. Their roots can extend outward 2x the height of the tree. I would focus work where minimal disturbance to highly valued trees would be done to harvest a starter stock that then gets propagated out in raised beds with friable soil. I would also suggest a digging bar for anything requiring exerting anywhere near all your strength on. Be very careful though, as my trail crew bosses would often point out that gravity, leverage and big muscles in the wrong orientation can snap bone, especially feet, hands and wrists.

Jim Garlits wrote:Everything is a trade-off, and you can wind up with a shed full of tools you only use once or twice a year instead of five or six that you use all the time.Jim

Er, is that a problem? He who dies with the most garden tools wins!

Jay Angler wrote:Here's an image of the heavy duty transplant spade from Lee Valley. I would read up about sharpening tools also...

Yup, that's the Radius Root Slayer I have. It's a tank.

I worked for an arborist years ago that had us using a transplant spade with a 5ft long solid steel handle. The thing weighed nearly 20 lbs but was the best spade by far I’ve used to dig up trees and dig holes for planting trees. We just let the weight of the tool do the work. Cut through soil like butter, as they say.

A quick search leads me to believe it’s actually called a “drain spade”. Here’s a link to something I believe is similar (sorry it’s a long link):
https://www.amleo.com/leonard-all-steel-drain-spade-with-straight-handle/p/ADS16L?mkwid=%7Cdm&pcrid=&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&kc=&prd=ADS16L&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=cpc&slid=&prd=ADS16L&pgrid=&ptaid=&gad_source=5&gad_campaignid=22042416134&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_Iy5j9mvlAMV3mtHAR2fRx9XEAQYAiABEgIGVfD_BwE

For your purposes, Kevin, I think this might be a good option. All your powerlifting muscles won’t hurt that bad boy

For slightly different purposes I’ve considered buying a broadfork and removing all but the center blade (or just making one). I’d be slicing through bamboo rhizomes, not caring too much to remove them from the ground.
If I get around to it and it works, I’ll share pictures here.

I had a custom made broadfork that would stand up to the OP’s described use.  Handles were steel pipe welded to the bottom piece where the tines / blades are attached.  The blades were cut out of flat steel bar type material.  They curved some, and were wider at the top than the bottom. I think the cross piece was also pipe material in a classic broadfork shape.

It was designed for a market farmer with 4 acres of heavy heavy heavy clay soil.  They used them for years.  When I saw one, I said “I want one”.  It weighed maybe 30 pounds.  I sold it before a move, else I would post a photo….

Any commercially available broad fork I have ever seen has had wood handles on metal frame and tines.  That design has limited use.  The load is focused on where the wood handles exits the metal socket.  Definitely not made for heavy soil.

I had a helper break a shovel handle from using more force than the handle could bear.  Then the helper said that it had been a defective handle or design or something…. I think it is important to match the load you put on the tool to the capacity of the tool, breaking a tool is no indication of strength.

We’ve all heard this:  use the right tool for the job.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BFGC9RQ/

I bought one of these about 15 years ago. I have never needed to replace it, so I can’t say if the quality now compares to the quality back then. I was a competitive powerlifter for 32 years and regularly deadlifted almost 3 times my body weight, but this fork works as well as the day I got it.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:..
As an alternative, have a look at the Radius Root Slayer. I have one (bought on sale) -- these things are absolute tanks, seriously overbuilt. Might suit you.

I second the Root Slayer recommendation, especially if you take the time to sharpen it. (A new one isn't sharp, probably for safety.)

If you really want to dig tough roots out directly, without cutting them first, you probably need something like a mini excavator with a sturdy rake attachment replacing the bucket. You may be very strong, but an excavator is stronger.

We use a spading fork.

I think my broadfork is made by meadow creatures? All steel construction. I’m actually in the garden with it this week prepping the beds.

I didn’t wanna mess around with wooden handled ones either.

Jim

Thekla McDaniels wrote:I had a custom made broadfork that would stand up to the OP’s described use.  Handles were steel pipe welded to the bottom piece where the tines / blades are attached.  The blades were cut out of flat steel bar type material.  They curved some, and were wider at the top than the bottom. I think the cross piece was also pipe material in a classic broadfork shape.


Any commercially available broad fork I have ever seen has had wood handles on metal frame and tines.  That design has limited use.  The load is focused on where the wood handles exits the metal socket.  Definitely not made for heavy soil.

This Hoss Garden Fork is the best one I've used. It is all steel construction and has a foot pad that is surprisingly helpful.

https://growhoss.com/products/garden-fork?variant=45579278287158

That doesn't mean it's completely indestructible.  You may need to adjust your technique. Try loosening all around the rhubarb at half the fork depth first, then go back at full depth to pry up the root.

Perhaps a chisel/ spade end tamping rod would work. I know the old ones are heavy and indestructible, could get one at a yard sale or flea market.